Article by Low Ming Hwee and Lin Hui-Yi, two Tsinghua MBA student and members of Net Impact, a global non-profit organization which is committed to developing young leaders who seek to use business to have a positive impact on the world.

Mr. Chandran Nair, the Founder and CEO of the social venture think-tank, Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT), shared on his definition of what is “sustainable” on November 27, 2009. He looked at sustainability in terms of the world’s consumption, and explored the implications of limited resources and increasing wants.

Mr. Nair challenged the students to imagine the future, such as when the two largest populations in the world, China and India, have more people aspiring to drive and have cars. With such strain on resources, the government would have to intervene. Some of the students questioned the concept of the government making decisions for the people and Mr. Nair cited the examples of the governments in China and Singapore as having intervened from a holistic angle by limiting car ownership and/or traveling while providing more efficient public transport. Having previously chaired a environmental consulting company with operations across Asia Pacific and having lived in various countries, Mr. Nair was able to bring in his observations of different corporate, government and community factors.

Another area of concern was that of food. This was especially so in terms of seafood as the world had seen the collapse of the fishing industries in parts of the world. There would be further pressure on seafood sustainability as Asia’s income levels continue to rise and lead to higher demand for seafood, which is enjoyed in many Asian cuisines.

The very interactive exchange ended with a student asking Mr. Nair what could be done at the immediate individual level to play a part in ensuring sustainability for the world. Mr. Nair stressed on the need for everyone to be engaged in such issues. And from the business front, to consider the responsibilities and value of price on externalities. For example, service chains should not continuously seek to lower the cost of the service chain through lower cost labor. Instead, businesses could start to re-perceive business models and charge for carbon footprints, but the impact would be an immediate increase in price. However, the surcharge on price of carbon would direct consumption towards local sources and thus greatly reducing the intensive use of resource involved in distribution in many business models today.

The take away from Mr. Nair’s talk was clear; urgency in sustainability.

Tsinghua MBA Net Impact is a recently formed chapter of the global non-profit organization Net Impact, which is committed to developing young leaders who seek to use business to have a positive impact on the world. We at Tsinghua represent the first student Net Impact chapter in all of Mainland China and are part of a global network that includes Harvard, Stanford, INSEAD and Wharton business schools. We currently have a membership of close to 75 students from diverse backgrounds and schools within Tsinghua.

The mission of our chapter is to create opportunities for our Tsinghua classmates to expand their network, learn about ways social responsibility is changing how business is done around the world, and provide opportunities to actively participate in projects and internships with various socially-minded companies and organizations. We engage with companies and experts, and organize regular campus talks on topics like CSR, social ventures and sustainability. We are also planning to hold a major forum in Spring 2010.