I wish I could say that 2012 will be a kinder, gentler year. However, we are in the death throes of an outdated system and the thrashing about is likely to go on for some time. There are hopeful signs. We are in a period of radical redesign across all sectors – from the energy sector innovating around algae to the financial sector tentatively exploring impact investing to multinational food companies committing to 100% sustainable sourcing. Experimentation with different models of doing business is occurring in all corners of the globe.
The consumer, too, is getting in the act. In the west, our focus as consumers has been about having more – having more in a way that would require the consumption of several planets. The focus on cheapness over all else is a construct that emerged after the second world war. Before then, value reigned – value meant a higher price, but it also meant workmanship and durability.
A recent study by Young and Rubicam, which tracks 750,000 consumers in 50 countries every year for 17 years, identified the biggest shift in consumer attitudes that they have ever seen – one they believe is here to stay. In the US, they see Americans "returning to bedrock American virtues – thrift, faith, creativity, hard work, community and more – in order to build new lives of purpose and connection". Consumers are beginning to reject "cheap and more" as they search for a better balance in their lives.
This shift runs across all demographics, but I see it most clearly expressed by young people in their 20s, who are looking for what they call "authenticity", opportunities to get away from hyper-consumerism and make pickles in their basements, find cool clothes at thrift shops, understand the origin of the stuff they buy and spend their nights out listening to live music in small settings. So, 2012 will continue to be a time of turmoil, and we will continue to be depressed and angered by the rapid deterioration of the political and economic systems around us, but we can be hopeful that a phoenix will arise from the ashes – perhaps not in 2012, but at least its egg is there in the flames.
Tensie Whelan is president of the Rainforest Alliance
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