In a period of difficult economic recovery what the UK needs most is sustainable growth. However if this is to be truly sustainable, we need to both rebalance and decarbonise our economy. The problem is that policies in these two areas are often pulling in different directions:

On Friday, it still looked like there would be little breakthrough at the Durban Climate Talks. However, Connie Hedegaard, the Commission Climate Minister and previously one of the youngest politicians to enter parliament in Denmark, has secured a landmark victory at the 11th hour.

This was the message from both the Prime Minister and the Trade Minister Lord Green at a major Summit on exporting held in London last week.
Launching 'Exporting for Growth' in the UK, PM David Cameron, HSBC Chief Executive Brian Robertson and PWC Chair Ian Powell all spoke extremely supportively of boosting the UK's export platform. Nick Baird, UK Trade & Investment's Chief Executive launched some new initiatives including teaming up with founding Dragons' Den panellist Doug Richard and Yell to get 3,500 businesses into workshops all over the country to ensure they are able to exploit the global opportunities offered by the internet.

The PM's message was clear - we need to excel in trade if we are to grow the UK economy at a time when global economies are under huge pressures. The challenge is to get more SME's exporting and to do so, there needs to be greater engagement between the public and private sectors in supporting and developing our exporters.

Here in the West Midlands we have a proud history of international trade. Many of our companies are already doing well in international markets with innovative, cutting edge products - but we need our existing exporters to export more; and more companies to start exporting.

At the Summit there were over 400 representatives from intermediary organisations - banks, lawyers, accountants, consultants, trade associations, Chambers of Commerce, etc discussing how we can do this.

Nationally a number of promising initiatives are already underway such as:
- HSBC has introduced a Business Thinking programme including support for Trade Missions and Mentoring for SME exporters working with UK Trade & Investment.
- Barclays is working with UK Trade & Investment, utilising their customer base and expertise in Sub Saharan Africa to promote exports.
- Lloyds is launching a programme of Export Mentors working with the Manufacturing Technologies Association and UK Trade & Investment.

But this sort of cooperation should not be limited to the "big boys" in London. There is much we can do at the local level. Here in the West Midlands we will be holding our own Exporting for Growth Summit on 28th February for regional SMEs and intermediaries.

In the meantime if anybody has any thoughts or ideas on how UK Trade & Investment in the West Midlands might work more with local partners to help exporters I would be delighted to hear from them!

If you'd like more details of the announcements made at the Exporting for Growth Summit last week, have a look at the website: http://www.ukti.gov.uk/pt_pt/uktihome/media/item/217400.html

A Chief Executive once told me: "We have a sustainability programme in place, but getting all the employees engaged remains difficult. You have commitment at the top and middle levels of the company, but below that people don't care. The bricklayer does not think about waste and landfill when he works. He just wants to lay bricks and go home."

This comment confirms the untold truth that when it comes to sustainability, the only measure of success is behavioural change, not the number of glossy Sustainability / Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Reports published.

One message to delegates: Don't wait for governments, changes start with you.

nice graph. by Scriberia.

This week saw the publication of the government's overdue review of waste policy in England. Its launch has been notable perhaps for the chorus of condemnation by an unusual mix of trade associations, retailers and campaign groups.

If you enter a Sustainability/CSR/Environment competition and lose, you should ask for a review of the judging process, plus a refund for the time and money spent for the application.

Over the last thirty years, the corporatisation of sustainability has led to a multitude of annual events. During these events, media publishers, trade associations and other professional event organisations aim to present awards to the greenest companies. Similarly, rankings of the Top 100 Green Companies are now common features of the annual calendar. Yet, no one seems to question the biases and problems of these often costly (for the losers) PR exercises.

Promises made before elections are usually broken. David Cameron is not living up by his pledge to lead the "greenest government ever". These are some of the conclusions of Jonathon Porrit's review, on the Government's green record during its first year in office.

The 53-page document reveals that little progress has been made on sustainability policies. One of the reasons is the conflict at Whitehall between departments.

I saw reported in the Post last month that our intrepid restaurant critic was taken aback by the proactive way Carluccios responded to criticism (incidentally their restaurant in Stratford is one of my favourite places!) so I hereby offer one of our largest companies the same opportunity. It is in fulfilment of my brief to name names and my previous attempt to bring down the dreadful online shopping business La Redoute has either failed as they are still in business or perhaps I succeeded and they have made major changes? Either way, I wouldn't know because of course I don't shop there any more. So I am now going to direct my attention to a local supermarket in the hope of assisting the new(ish) CEO Philip Clarke understand where there might be a weakness in the juggernaut that is TESCO.

Reading all the tweets and online comments about the Paradise Jumper, it seems we're really living in a society where Individual and Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSR) don't mean anything to anyone. People ask companies to care about their stakeholders, but those same people don't care about their fellow citizens. How do you expect corporations to take you seriously then?

Since yesterday afternoon, people complain about the Paradise Jumper, they say "Why is this man doing this to us? Why doesn't he die in silence?" No newspaper or no one in the pubs, bars, restaurants and social media raised the questions "Why is this man doing this? What can we do to help him?"