“The New World of Sustainable Business”

On September 9, 2014, the Curaçao Business Council for Sustainable Development (Bedrijvenplatform Milieu or BPM) held a seminar titled “The New World of Sustainable Business.” BPM, founded in November 2007, is a non-profit organization promoting sustainable development and knowledge/experience exchange for businesses, pertaining to Environment, Quality, Occupational Health and Safety management (EQOHS) in Curaçao. In order to do this, BPM provides businesses with a platform for communicating and disseminating information with other businesses, professionals and the community at large.

Bridging the gap
During the seminar, a variety of speakers spoke about topics focused on making the private sector more sustainable and bridging the gap between the public and private sectors, as well as the third sector (non-profit). Today, environmental and financial sustainability through corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a key concern for businesses around the world and this was one of the many steps that BPM has taken to ensure that CSR is on the radar of companies in Curaçao as well. The day started off with an address by the President of BPM, Mr. John Amarica. He outlined the urgency of the issue at hand and the importance of developing partnerships and synergies among the different businesses and sectors in Curaçao. Mr. Paul van Kessel, a speaker from the Stichting Rijk in the Netherlands, then spoke about implementing sustainable procurement in a business to save money and reduce environmental impact.

CSR credibility
Next, Dr. Ralf Wieriks explained the approaches towards CSR and how assurance is important for CSR credibility. Ms. Deva Dee Siliee, co-founder and director of Curaçao Cares, gave a short presentation regarding the role of the private sector within society and how it connects to the public sector and third sector, highlighting the recent rise of social entrepreneurship. Mr. Sharnon Isenia from Indigo Blue Consult presented a different approach to CSR and sustainability, through the co-op business structure. Lastly, Mr. Patrick Newton of KPMG presented the 10 sustainability “mega-forces,” and the importance of transitioning to a blue and then green economy, promoting innovation leading to sustainable business solutions.

Workshops
After a morning full of presentations, two workshops were held, one on implementing and another on CSR. The workshops, led by experts, gave participants the chance to learn more about these two concepts through hands-on activities.

The day ended with a panel discussion about Curaçao and the world of sustainable business, with the aim of taking steps to transition to a circular sustainable economy. The role of the government in supporting the private sector was a recurring theme throughout the day, particularly during the panel discussion. It was also suggested that Curaçao is in a unique position to take a leading role in sustainable development across the region, thus highlighting the need to establish a Sustainability Center in Curaçao.

The BPM seminar was just a start to what we hope will be fruitful collaboration among private, public and non-profit sector in Curaçao, in hopes of creating synergy to lead the Caribbean and Latin America in sustainable development and CSR.