Politicians make the policy. But it’s often left to business to implement it. For this reason RioPlus Business is featuring submissions from the private sector across the globe in the lead up to Rio+20.
The aim is to demonstrate how Sustainable Development is becoming a reality in every continent, country and city.Today’s article asks, what does it take to be sustainability leader?
By Gillian Martin Mehers
People are the key to change and in order to truly achieve sustainable development, we must invest in leadership.
For the past 20 years, LEAD has helped emerging leaders from around the world to develop the skills to steer humanity onto a sustainable path.
We have learned that leadership is a complex topic and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. There are, however, several key behaviours that are demonstrated by successful sustainability leaders.
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is about seeing opportunities where others see challenges. Adeolu Odusote, a LEAD Fellow from Nigeria, saw an opportunity to reduce his country’s dependence on crude oil and develop a more sustainable source of energy.
He realised that the cassava, a staple Nigerian crop that is easily converted into ethanol, could be used as an alternative to fossil fuels. Adeolu’s plan to create biofuel plantations initially faced opposition due to fears that the nation’s food and water security would be put at risk.
He was able to show, however, that sustainable management of the plantations would protect the local ecosystem and water supply and ensure that food production was not compromised.
Work started on the $122 million pilot ethanol facility [...]
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