Entrepreneurs without money XXVII. El Salvador possible entrepreneurship journey with China: Environmental Context explained.
Good afternoon. Sorry for not writing before. I was supposed to publish a couple of days ago. But it has been a hard week. I have been dealing with my own issues related to living in San Salvador. As you may know, I am working very hard to be free to do what I really wish to do: to become an author, in addition to my consulting activities. And there are some who oppose it. As usual.
However, some good news: Last Saturday, I was published for the first time in my whole life, in one of the main local newspapers. Click here: El Concepto del “Negocio Core”. It is basically the same article I published in this blog (2 November 2017), but this time in a simple way, and in Spanish. I am thankful for this publication gift. So blessed. With gratitude, thanks!
Today it is the turn of the environmental context. This is another of the contexts to analyze when performing an Entrepreneurial Contextual Analysis.
A lot has been written and has been researched about the environment. Before starting this dimension with acuteness, I would like to reframe what is the Environmental Context for Eleonora Escalante Strategy. Let me ask you: What comes into your mind when I tell you the word environment? For one minute. Close your eyes. And tell me what comes into your brain when you hear the word “environment”?
And now, let´s share those ideas. Some of you have thought about trees, about an arboretum botanical collection. Others probably thought about the ocean-waves and the sand. Others probably imagined a huge plantation of a specific plant; let´s say grapes, oranges, bananas or blueberries-strawberries. Others will appoint at the sky and the beautiful blue with several figures of clouds. In addition, others may have thought in the air, soil and water contamination. A different group will tell the word sustainability, meanwhile, others will probably think about the rivers and the lakes, and the beautiful fauna and flora of the world. And so on. Each of us has an alternative perspective of the word environment. Our brains will tell what we believe or what we perceive is the environment.
In addition, you may tell me: The environment is as peaceful as wild. The extremes of nature are blended all together in one piece. For example, we can´t think of the ocean only as a serene and pacific place. The ocean is also full of hurricanes, storms, harsh waves, and even tsunamis. What does this juxtaposition mean? It means the nature (in all its configurations) is always defined between extremes. However, the environment has its own cycle of balance. Originally, God made its miraculous nature to be in balance.
The tricky mess is that our planet environment is out of balance. The equilibrium has been lost and it is our ancestors´ fault. I am not an expert in climate change, but we don´t need to be one to realize “our earth is out of steadiness”. There are several climate change experts working in multinationals, United Nations, Universities and other research centers, which are extremely worried about this imbalance in the environment.
The issue is beyond the increasing number of natural disasters, or the augmentation of temperature, or the ocean pollution or the disappearance of species. These are the consequences of the planet imbalance. But what about the causes? And this is what we have to change. The causes. By changing the causes, we are stopping the consequences.
Maybe, natural disasters are the main concern for climate change experts. Natural disasters are increasing poverty, destroying living species, physical infrastructure, economies, and fragile natural ecosystems. But the reality is, that no matter what could be the cause, “natural disasters are occurring at an increased rate and, judging by rare official warnings, it will only get worse”.
Annual reported economic damages and time trend from disasters: 1980 – 2015. Source: UNISDR
Each natural disaster has a consequence in terms of economic damages. If you see the graph above, you can follow the increasing trend of them over time. In addition, the frequency and intensity of them are rising. The frequency of hydrological and meteorological disasters has been augmenting considerably. The imbalance of the environment is a reality and every single entrepreneurial project has to consider the “green pro-environment” context in every single endeavor analysis. See the next slide please:
If you wish to see the last slide in PDF format, click here please: Eliescalante Environment repair model-An abstraction.
In relation to the China-El Salvador Possible Commercial Relations, every single project that will be planned, conducted or realized must have to comply with the environmental standards proposed by the leading climate change entities. The World Bank has designed and promoted those standards. In addition, the International Finance Corporation (dedicated to the private sector development) has a list of environmental performance standards. What if a specific country or village doesn´t have ENVIRONMENTAL standards? That is the main cause of so many current environmental troubles. LACK OF CORRECT STANDARDS. And each country has to design and create the environmental policies for each industry. And the law enforcement to fulfill them.
The entities which are leading the standards of our planet recovery are diverse. If the damage of our earth is triggered by causes of global scale, it needs recovery solutions on a global scale. If the environmental damage is localized, or it is caused at a local scale, it needs recovery and restoration solutions on a local scale.
El Salvador has to consider the environmental standards for each and all projects to be developed with public financing, international cooperation or private sector investments. In the case of international funds projects for our country, regardless if the sources are from China, or USA, or Canada, or Brazil or Australia or any other G20 country; El Salvador has to be a pioneer in environmental protection, prevention, promotion, restoration, and renewal. It is going to be difficult, but it will be worthy.
Thank you. On my next post, we will continue exploring the ethical context. Stay tuned.
Source References which inspired me to write this article:
http://www.kit.edu/kit/english/22538.php
https://watchers.news/2016/04/26/the-world-is-unprepared-for-impending-natural-disasters/
https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/climatechange
Disclaimer: All the presentation slides shown on this blog are prepared by Eleonora Escalante MBA-MEng. Nevertheless, all the pictures or videos shown on this blog are not mine. I do not own any of the lovely photos or images posted unless otherwise stated.
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