Four days in Barcelona,  and today we found common themes and a meeting of the minds at the European Academy of Business and Society (EABIS) – with business and academic leadership from Spain, Italy, Chile, Belgium, Germany, Cyprus, Nigeria (and Boston!)  

New and unfamiliar faces, but common themes around corporate governance, responsibility and sustainability – evolving competitive advantage to collaborative advantage. 

Today we find alignment with the practical sustainable development solutions Portland has been implementing for years.  It’s a timely and reaffirming introduction to the presentation we’ll deliver tomorrow on new, collaborative economic development frameworks.

Ten compelling numbers from Simon Zadek, Chief Executive of AccountAbility, set the tone for the day:

• 17:  The number of Gigatons emission reduction necessary to reach by 2020 in order to stay below 450 ppm – the amount of carbon from which there is no point of return to reverse global warming damage
• 4 Parts Per Million per year of our global economy’s current collective emission output
• 500:  China builds two 500MW coal plants per week
• 1.5 Billion people rely on the Himalayan icecap for water.  At the current melt rate – that water supply will be depleted within 2-3 decades.
• $20 million – the amount of money necessary to close one business deal in a year in Copenhagen, Denmark – money which could supply a global health program for a majority of third world nations
• $45 million spent annually on dog and cat food
• 2,600 registered lobbyists in Washington D.C. working against any global contract to affect climate change (the total number of registered lobbyists is 2700 – less than 100 advocating for climate change solutions)
• 196 separate countries governing the UNFCC – requiring unanimous consent for any global contract on climate change
• 0% likelihood that an agreement will come out of the Copenhagen Climate Conference in December
• 99 % likelihood that Siemens will drive a new, low-carbon growth economy

This may look like a daunting list of statistics, but for any entrepreneur watching the global economic shift – it’s an enormous opportunity. 

We have the technology, research and innovation.  Now all we need is the will and mass collaboration.