The European vision at least must be shared

Sustainable development is of considerable importance, which will not grow. Companies can become the engine, which will be the pledge of a real inclusion of sustainable development in the economic and social landscape. But different conditions must be met for this highly desirable scenario takes place indeed.

Can applications today for sustainable development in enterprises. Codes of conduct and ethical charters have been adopted, for example, supplier relations and the conditions of employment in the textile industry and large distribution, environmental standards in the chemical industry. "Activism which" develops. And concrete actions multiply, as evidenced by the number of brochures and reports dedicated to responsible environmental, social, societal. Committees of ethics, cells or sustainable development departments, hold jobs are created, and companies are regularly informed on the new tools available, etc. The shape is added at the bottom, and communications policies are developed to convey positive values to large audiences. So, the sustainable development report is varied nature. Can in this regard distinguish businesses created on ethical grounds, those that have integrated ethics in their strategic approach, those adopting the ethical approach to markets and financing, or those which take into account the environmental and/or social criteria for fear of the ethical risk.

Arises the question of the compatibility of sustainable development and the financial viability for companies. It is clear, and it is a fundamental point, that sustainable development can be a source of opportunities more constraints, through eco-efficiency, value added products, the improvement of the image, induced technological innovation... But here is to be distinguished large business more directly to take advantage of sustainable development and SMEs, for which often is a source of constraints that impair the competitiveness.

Sustainable development give the importance it deserves assumes to remove ambiguities. The first deals with the concept itself, too often reduced to its environmental dimension, at the expense of social and ethical aspects. The second relates to the borders of the involvement of enterprises, which are sometimes charged loads and the responsibilities of the community. The third concerns the meaning of the regulatory action: ownership by all sustainable development requires a climate of confidence and freedom. This requires that regulatory approaches are not coercive, but also that the indicators used by companies and rating agencies give rise to a certain homogeneity. If it is close to the situation on the environmental assessment, it is the purpose of the social point of view and societal. Differences of one nation to the other speakers, such as the cultures of the rating agencies, although businesses have imperatively needs a clear and legible framework on which to rely.

With all these challenges, policy, in the French scale or European, must take into account five major axes. First, it is important to promote a rather than binding contractual approach: promote the self-policing of the employees, complete contract commitments with suppliers, raise awareness and educate consumers and customers, train leaders to the diversity of the solutions. Contracts state federations of enterprises should be encouraged, because they lead to collective commitments based, allowing the progress of each without threatening development and competitiveness.

The second axis concerns the State, to which it is to unify the many attempts at definition of quantified indicators of sustainable development, including to enable each country to be on the international scene. The European vision, at least, must be shared. It is also important to continue to reflect on the effectiveness of the tax measures for sustainable development. Companies will be much more effective that they are not constraints and benefit from incentives.

The third axis refers to the need for awareness and training of business to sustainable development. This applies especially to SMEs, on the one hand because they do not always have the means to define or to fund a policy, on the other hand because their competitiveness can sometimes paradoxically suffer from the policy of sustainable development of major groups, particularly when they are the suppliers. This implies to educate SMEs and their leaders to these issues, including with regard to their international relations. The consular Chambers can contribute to this awareness.

More generally, the role of the consular Chambers as regional centres for information and consultation must be reinforced. Large schools of management and engineers must continue to develop the expertise and lessons which companies have and will need. And the Afnor, in France, must continue to develop a systemic approach supplementing those which have been designed in an anglo-saxon context.

The fourth axis relates to private initiatives, which must be supported, with a view to consistency. Can be the collaboration of Governments with NGOs in the code of conduct or trade fair, the United Kingdom and the Switzerland showed the example. This concerns also the harmonization and consistency of the rating of the rating agencies.

It finally support the initiatives of fair trade with developing countries. It will escape not here a difference in the standards adopted, to match the level of developing countries to some extent. In return, a great job of training and awareness needs to be done in developing countries to achieve the acceptance of new standards. It is also to facilitate partnerships between businesses and fair trade organizations, to increase the competitiveness of the products concerned, to approve the awarding bodies and to implement procedures for systematic evaluation of the impact of fair trade. Then you can work on a better articulation of trade policy and development assistance, to encourage the countries concerned to adapt to this new order; developing countries themselves to get used to make sustainable development a source of economic and social opportunities and not constraints and pressures on the part of developed countries.

With sustainable development, it is the right of future generations who burst into our societies. It is to learn how to fully integrate this long-term vision, which requires large qualities of adaptation, anticipation, of discernment. Thus, sustainable development must be understood as an economic response to the new challenges of the global village. The result is that it must be integrated as a strategic approach that integrates both the ecological urgency more manifest social risks related to the changes experienced by our societies, and the ethical principles guaranteeing fairness in economic development and trade between the companies and nations