Sustainability & Stakeholder Capitalism to shape future of Ireland

Ibec, the group that represents Irish business, has said that sustainability and stakeholder capitalism must be embraced more systematically by Government to address the business, societal and environmental challenges posed to Ireland over the next decade. 

In a speech (attached below) at the Ibec Business Leaders Conference 2021, held online this year, Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said that for stability and prosperity to transpire in the post-Covid, post-Brexit landscape, Government must use the institutions at its disposal to support a forum that centrally positions stakeholders in the national decision-making process. Such a collective stakeholder mechanism will be critical in determining an Ireland that underpins a fairer, more sustainable business model and natural environment, and by extension, a more sustainable society.
  
Ibec CEO Danny McCoy said: “An effective stake in any society depends upon having the economic capacity to participate fully. It is the success of the business model in this generation that has allowed people to have a stake in our society and to stay in Ireland, if they want, to build a family, to build a career, to build a future.
 
“Stakeholder engagement can facilitate the mediation of these trade-offs, be that in the sharing of the island, the just transition from the environmental agenda, or the stakeholder agenda in terms of how the labour market operates. 

“We now have the structures and institutions, like the Labour Employer Economic Forum (LEEF), that allow us bring sustainability and stakeholder capitalism into Ireland’s economy and society. We need to enhance these structures and underpin them in the policymaking process. This is the future of realising the stakeholder and sustainability agenda in Ireland. Now is the time for business leaders to support this agenda.” 

This year’s Ibec Business Leaders Conference was sponsored by Accenture, Aon, MERC Partners| Spencer Stewart and McCann Fitzgerald.