ESG
ultimately have the effect that ’ s intended . Katz responds , “ Exactly . And in fact , I would actually argue that it ' s not even the consumer because what I witnessed is this ; the corporations are having trouble hiring staff . They ' re not getting great minds anymore because Gen Z , and the next generation after them as well , are not going to be working at an organisation that ' s killing the earth . It ' s a purpose economy that we ' re entering .
“ Look at the tens of millions of students that march through the streets against climate change . Do you think that generation is going to work for you if you ' re just putting chemicals in a bottle and killing the earth ? No , they ' re going to protest against you . You either get on board with the Renaissance , or you get out of the way .”
Henkel , for one , is getting on board . “ Henkel is a family company . That ' s why they were such an early adopter because they just did it because they knew it was right . There ' s a fiduciary duty in a publicly held company . The CEO must steward the return of the shareholder above all else . They could be jailed if they don ' t . So they don ' t risk that . They make commitments , ‘ in 20 years from now we ' ll use a hundred per cent recycled content ’. But you ' re not going to be there . So it ' s safe for you to make that commitment because the CEO who takes over the role after you is not bound by that . This is capitalism . This is a capitalism issue . It ' s not a societal issue . It ' s not entrepreneurship . It ' s the sickness of capitalism .
“ Ultimately , what we need to do is tax virgin plastic and redistribute the taxation from the virgin material to have recycling become more profitable and more efficient and create a greater reward for it all . That ' s what has to occur . It ' s very simple .”
116 September 2021