Environmental and social injustices are disproportionately borne by people of colour – whether it is higher rates of air pollution, unsafe drinking water or exposure to toxic waste and chemicals. Many join the field of sustainability to create a better world. But a better world for whom, and defined by whom? 

I am one of the co-founders of Diversity in Sustainability, a membership network that aims to develop a sustainability profession that is more representative of the world we want to see. We ran the State of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Sustainability Survey to understand the demographics of the sustainability sector, barriers for entry and advancement, individual experiences of equity and inclusion within the sector, and organizational approaches to equity, diversity and inclusion. We received 1,500 responses mainly from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom from sustainability professionals working for corporations and non-profits, as well as public sector employees and self-employed individuals.

Among our findings was that sustainability is an elite, privileged sector to work in – attracting those who have the means to do so. We found that 77% of sustainability professionals grew up in middle- or upper-class households, 62% have master’s degrees, and the most senior positions in sustainability organizations are disproportionately held by white men. In addition to high social mobility and educational attainment, a barrier is created when entry includes a reliance on unpaid internships and poorly paid entry-level roles in some of the world’s most expensive cities. These barriers to entry exclude the people that typically suffer from environmental and social injustices.

Many join the field of sustainability to create a better world. But a better world for whom, and defined by whom?

Looking at the tenure of professionals in sustainability, those with 16 or more years of experience are typically white, and those in leadership roles are disproportionately white men. Early entrants to an industry often have the benefit of shaping the industry, its values, and systems, and worldviews can persist over time. Can such a narrow demographic really create a better world, or are we exacerbating existing inequities? 

While we see a shift happening, with 42% of sustainability professionals aged 25 to 34 being people of colour, and 54% of sustainability professionals aged 18 to 24 being people of colour, those in positions of power need to take a more considered approach to succession planning to avoid a drop-off in retention. We also need to integrate alternative views on sustainability – whether it’s traditional cultural knowledge that has existed for millennia or those who truly understand on-the-ground realities of the social and environmental injustices affecting their communities. 

While there are more diverse junior staff members coming up in sustainability organizations, we also need to focus on their experience. Those who identify as Black, South Asian, and those from materially poor and working-class backgrounds feel left behind in the profession. Only 34% of Black sustainability professionals felt that being a diverse member of society didn’t hold them back from advancing in their organization, while for South Asians it was 38%, and for those from materially poor and working-class backgrounds, 41%. This suggests we have much to do to ensure that we clear away barriers and advance those who can challenge the dominant worldviews in the sector. 

In a year of extraordinary weather events, from Siberia to Mozambique to Louisiana to Germany to Brazil, COP26 will dictate much of what happens in the world in terms of climate change. We cannot continue down a path where sustainability remains the domain of the privileged. We need to see more diversity among those leading the charge toward a more sustainable future. 

Heather Mak is one of the co-founders of Diversity in Sustainability and the author of the State of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Sustainability Survey.

The post We need more diverse leadership in the sustainability sector appeared first on Corporate Knights.

Data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that nearly one-third of COVID-19 patients are black, even though they make up just 13% of the U.S. population. Numbers are similar for COVID-19 death rates. This pattern is true across nearly all jurisdictions that collect data.

In Canada, we don’t collect race-based data, but the information we have indicates a similar trend. People in North Montreal, the lowest-income neighbourhood in the Montreal Metropolitan Area, are falling ill and dying in greater per-capita numbers than in other neighbourhoods. Stats from Toronto Public Health show higher infection rates in areas with greater proportions of low-income people or newcomers.

Like climate change, COVID-19 is a threat-multiplier. Both crises compound and highlight existing inequities. As early as 2009, Scientific American pointed out that climate change will impact the poor most. Those who’ve had the smallest role in creating carbon emissions will pay the greatest price.

These days, there’s much talk about stimulus and recovery investments that could help us build back better, putting us in a stronger position to weather future shocks and crises. These are crucial discussions, but they must address equity.

Recent Anstice polling shows that we’re more compassionate and caring right now. People generally want others to be safe, have food, be able to pay their rent and have a chance to thrive in the future.

Even before the pandemic, an Abacus Data survey showed that Canadians are more supportive of climate and energy transition policies if policymakers demonstrate that they’ve thought about equity and included measures to ensure people who have been more marginalized aren’t negatively impacted by these policies.

And in a recent Ipsos public opinion poll, 61% of Canadians expressed that in the economic recovery from COVID-19, it’s important that government actions prioritize climate change.

Taken together, these polls suggest a path forward. If values have shifted toward care and compassion and away from consumerism, and if people in Canada are more supportive of energy transition policies and investments, then now is the time to advance policy and investments that address equity and reduce climate risk while creating more just, inclusive communities.

There are reasons to be hopeful.

The Canadian Urban Sustainability Practitioners have a new tool that explores energy poverty.  It shows that in my community, Vancouver, visible minority households are twice as likely to experience energy poverty. Often inequities are hidden, but if we can see them, we can begin to address them. And this will likely resonate with people, especially right now. Tools like this could help governments make decisions that address greenhouse gas reductions, job creation, health and equity.

For example, instead of incentives for single-family housing retrofits, there may be more co-benefits to addressing retrofits for low-income, multi-family housing or social housing. There may also be more public support for these initiatives.

In online meeting rooms across the country, elected officials and government staff at all levels are debating how to advance climate policies that also improve health and resilience as we emerge from the pandemic. Some are putting active transportation infrastructure in place to help with physical distancing and provide healthy mobility options that get people outdoors. Others are considering building retrofit projects that create jobs.

I hope they also consider the polling that shows people’s values are coalescing around empathy and caring, and that even before the pandemic, there was higher support for policies that address equity.

We now have the opportunity to work together to build a future that’s headed toward net-zero carbon, that’s more resilient, healthier, equitable and inclusive. We’ll need to rely on our values, clarity of purpose and courage to try new things, and to learn and adapt so that we can truly build back better.

Sherry Yano is the community renewable energy manager at the David Suzuki Foundation

The post Leaders must address equity to build back better appeared first on Corporate Knights.

So how are Canada’s corporations doing when it comes to putting more women at the helm? A slew of annual reports on the topic come out every fall. Kingsdale Advisors, a strategic shareholder advisory firm, noted that we’re slowly chipping away at the glass ceiling. All 240 companies on the TSX Composite (representing roughly 70% of the total market cap on the Toronto Stock Exchange) now have at least one woman on their boards. In 2019, 92% (55 of 60) of the TSX 60 had at least two women on their boards.

The law firm Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt also looked at diversity disclosure practices this fall and found:

• Among the 657 Canadian companies that report on the number of women directors on their boards, women held 18.2% of total board seats.
• Among TSX 60 companies, women hold just over 30% of seats.
• Notably, 52.7% of TSX 60 companies have adopted a target for the proportion of female directors on their boards, compared to 22.5% of companies overall.

According to latest ranking from Equileap, just 17 Canadian companies have gender-balanced boards.

Notably, 52.7% of TSX 60 companies have adopted a target for the proportion of female directors on the board, compared to 22.5% of companies overall.

On the flipside, the TSX 60 performed abysmally when it came to hiring female CEOs. Just 1.7% of TSX 60 companies had female CEOs, compared to 3.5% of all disclosing companies.

How is Canada faring comparing to our southern neighbours? Back in March of 2019, Equileap called out Canadian TSX 60 companies for scoring lower on its gender equality ranking than American S&P 100 firms. Six months later, the average Canadian company score of 27% may have marginally beat out the wider US average by 2 percentage points, but Equileap notes, “Looking at the country breakdown, Australia, France and the Nordics, led by Sweden, re-main the best performing countries on gender equality overall.”

A version of this story appears in the Fall Issue of Corporate Knights magazine.

The post Ladies first: All 240 TSX Composite companies now have at least one female director appeared first on Corporate Knights.