Hello Everyone
My job is to try to make forestry more sustainable in Indonesia.
Like in most countries the government is obsessed with GDP and companies with shareholder value. Sadly we also have significant corruption, especially in my industry, which adds another layer of complexity.
The fact that most decisions are dominated by financial goals makes my job very difficult. It would be much easier if businesses and governments gave more value to environmental and social benefits. But I guess most people trying to make the world more sustainable feel this way. Recently, I been doing some reading online about alternatives to GDP and shareholder value in attempt to get better understanding of the options and trends.
I see that
stakeholder capitalism seems to be gaining support among many business leaders. To me this seems to be a big improvement over shareholder capitalism. But how well will it work in practice? And will it provide sufficient priority to solving environmental issues?
I also note that
several alternatives have been proposed to GDP. But which option is likely have the best environmental and social outcomes? And realistically will any of them ever gain widespread support?
I also done a bit of reading about
Doughnut Economics which seems to be a much more realistic way to understand economies. But I wonder what the reception has been like from mainstream economists? And what are the chances that a framework like this will ever become the norm?
I would appreciate opinions from people who know more about these topics that I do.
I would also welcome links to online resources or suggestions about books to read.
Please forgive any writing mistakes, English is not my first language.