By Jonathan Weimers, Director of Sustainability, WE Sustainability Consulting
In the sustainability world, there’s an old, tired debate: Profit vs. Planet.
Let me be decisive: That choice is false.
It is an intellectual trap that guarantees failure. If your mission is genuine, large-scale environmental impact— if you truly want to solve problems like those the G20 just highlighted—then your solution must be profitable.
Why? Because only profitable solutions are scalable.
Only profitable solutions can attract the capital required to grow from a pilot project to a global programme.
Profit isn't the mission; it is the engine of change and the non-negotiable proof that your solution works and will last.
The G20’s recent mandate, driven by South Africa, confirms this economic logic. It proves that environmental problems are now financial problems that require hard, bankable business solutions.
The G20 is calling for a crackdown on Environmental Crime—the illegal trade, the theft of resources, the waste dumping.
The Financial Logic: This crime is fraud. It destabilises economies and wipes out investment value. It creates massive risk for every legitimate business and financial institution like Old Mutual.
Our focus is not on saving a particular tree; it’s on securing the supply chain and protecting capital from criminal networks.
We use our financial muscle and our technology to ensure zero tolerance for instability.
Integrity should equal profit.
The G20’s commitment to improving Air Quality is a direct investment in human capital and long-term economic stability.
The Financial Logic: Poor air quality is an invisible tax on our clients and our economies. It drives up healthcare costs and drags down productivity.
By mandating action, the G20 is accelerating the shift to profitable, clean technologies.
We must back the solutions—in clean transport, clean energy, and smart cities—that make economies healthier, more productive, and therefore safer for long-term investments.
We are not just "doing good"; we are de-risking the future.
The G20 has given us a clear roadmap. We have identified the problems (crime, pollution) and the necessary solution (profitable, scalable technology).
To my colleagues, the purists and the pioneers: if your goal is truly to leave a better planet, then you must embrace the mechanism that allows your vision to become a reality for billions, not just hundreds.
That mechanism is a sustainable, proven, and profitable business model.
The time for small projects is over.
Let's execute on this mandate and prove that the most powerful force for change is a solution that is both clean and cash-flow positive.
