Taking care of what happens Next
Dialogue Philanthropic body complements education, environment projects, writes top businessman
Philanthropy today has a greater role in making society a better place than ever before. Philanthropic organisations can be catalysts for positive change. Think of what the US$40 billion Gates Foundation has done for global health initiatives and you will understand the scale and scope of philanthropy in helping address some of the world’s challenges.
This is not to say that the efforts of foundations are taking the place of the government — they aren’t and nor should they try to. But philanthropy can complement the state by taking up some of the slack created by constrained resources. It can also facilitate experimentation at the edges of traditional systems.
The increasing role for philanthropy comes during a time of unprecedented change. The most obvious are the technological advances — virtually every single aspect of our lives is being touched in some way by technology — but also socio-political change brought on by global population growth and globalisation.
When I was born there were 4 billion people in the world. There are now 7 billion and we are on our way to 9 billion by 2050.
This growth is creating huge new markets, often in areas that are New Zealand’s strengths. With billions of new mouths to feed, clothe and house, our country is well placed to increase its per capita wealth by growing and creating products other people want.
But not all the impacts are positive. Population growth is putting a huge strain on the natural resources of the planet. Humanity’s environmental footprint grows ever larger.
Furthermore, global changes are creating winners and losers. As American journalist Tom Friedman has put it, “average is over”. You can no longer automatically expect that doing an average job will lead to an average lifestyle.
We now live in a world which is equalising across countries but often with greater inequality within a country. We have seen a hollowing out of the middle class, as jobs that used to be carried out by a human have been outsourced to technology or to emerging nations.
Expanding and improving education is key to adapting to change, enhancing economic mobility and confronting global challenges. We need new and innovative ways of educating our people. Our education system will need to teach skills aimed at the new requirements of our changing world: creating value through ideas, technology-enabled roles, service roles for the economy, new forms of communications and international business. The ability to retrain throughout life and adapt to a changing pattern of workforce requirements will be essential.
Protection and conservation of the environment is also critical. New Zealand