"Call us eco-furious": HEC Transition students call for a radical transformation of the system
On December 1, 2022, three Master's students took to the podium at the 9th Economic Summit to deliver a speech on the theme "The transition has not begun" to an audience of business leaders, political decision-makers and journalists. Organized by Challenges magazine, this two-day conference explored the concept of "bifurcation(s)".
« We are eco-furious ! »
HEC Transition Students @ Economy Summit (Paris, 2022)
Auteur/Author of this article: Frédéric Voirin
It was the student-engineers of AgroParisTech who brought the word "bifurcation" to the forefront, in a resounding speech on the occasion of their graduation in April 2022. Questioning an education that participates in the "social and ecological devastation underway," their call to branch out was a call to abandon the engineering careers they were promised, to refuse to serve this system" to explore other paths and other ways of life.
Bifurcate or transform
After having generated numerous echoes in the academic world - including at HEC with Anne-Fleur Goll's speech at the graduation ceremony in June 2022 - and a lively debate of ideas in the media, it is now the economic and corporate world that is seizing on this subject.
"Refoundation. Transition. Bifurcation... These three words are dancing when it comes to reflecting on the evolution of our economies and capitalism," writes Challenges in the introduction to its 9th economic summit, whose theme was "Bifurcation(s). Towards another capitalism". This concept "symbolizes the doubts of a generation theoretically educated to invent the progress of our societies".
Valentine Japiot, Louis Fidel and Zoë Bantignies-Le-Bars, our three students and members of the HEC Transition club, who took the stage at the Palais de Tokyo, also claim a form of radicalism but different from their AgroParisTech comrades, although they pay homage to them, because they call for changing the system from within.
As they put the responsibility of "What will be your legacy?" in front of the business leaders, they detailed in their speech a set of measures for a radical transformation of the companies, their business models, the professions, the CSR and our system in the broad sense.
"To those who want to change the system from within, please do not leave the monopoly to the supporters of immobility. To the deserters, thank you for pushing the boundaries of possible careers, making us realize that we can say no. We need everyone in this system to radically transform."
We asked them about their approach after this conference.
Valentine Japiot, is in Master in Management, Project, Innovation, Design major
Louis Fidel is in Master in Management, double degree with SciencesPo
Zoë Bantignies-Le-Bars, is in Master in Sustainability and Social Innovation
Watch the Replay of HEC Transition Students' speech here
You repeated several times in your speech that the ecological transition has not begun, why?
The formula is deliberately a little provocative. Things are speeding up of course, but we are still lacking structural changes. The electric SUV, an energy aberration, is a symbol of this. Given the trajectory we are on, perhaps the alert to remember is to start accelerating our adaptation.
A form of anger is indeed rising within our generation
You have claimed to be "eco-furious". Can you explain what that means?
This phrase is meant to counteract eco-anxiety, which can be paralyzing. A form of anger is indeed rising within our generation, which is told on the one hand that it is needed to transform companies, and on the other that it is too "radical" or "idealistic" when it proposes concrete ideas. This message seems to have made an impression. So much the better.
According to you, CSR must be synonymous with skills and not with communication, in order to "make sobriety desirable": what do you think should be done?
The first essential course of action is to transform HEC's teaching, the Grande Ecole program, but also the Executive courses, which enable us to reach senior executives today.
Regarding the cost of the transition, the question of social justice is essential. Today, we have been operating with universal shields, for gas or petrol, which are extremely expensive. We need to think about mechanisms that target the most vulnerable.
One example of a lever is accounting. There is nothing universal about current accounting methods, which have been hegemonic for less than 40 years. They only reflect financial flows and prevent the serious integration of environmental and social predations in the way companies are valued. Alternative, ecological accounting methods are emerging today. The one that seems to us to be the most ambitious is the CARE method developed by researchers at AgroParisTech and Dauphine, which makes it possible to integrate all of a company's relationships with its natural environment.
Concerning the cost of the transition, the question of social justice is essential.
Valérie Baudson (H.94), CEO of Amundi and Eric Lombard (H.81), CEO of the Caisse des Dépôts, praised your motivation and thanked you for wanting to change the world of capitalist companies. Were you able to exchange with other participants during this 9th summit of the economy and what did you retain?
We were able to ask questions to the leaders during their interventions throughout the afternoon but we are not sure that the speech was listened to in depth, at least by the people in the room, who mostly applauded the symbolism of what we represent: committed, serious and radical young people.
We are not sure at this stage that our proposals to cap the IRR at 15% or to pave the way for a change in accounting standards have been accepted. We may have to repeat this on other occasions!
Develop a culture of deconsumerism by avoiding that the most precarious people are asked to "deconsume".
You said from the stage that we must "produce better and produce less". With this in mind, Hélène Valade, director of environmental development for the LVMH group, explained that her group generates 6 million tons of CO2 per year, but also that its fashion houses are doing upcycling (recycling yarns and leathers) and repairing 100,000 items each year. A few minutes earlier, Jérôme Fourquet of IFOP stated that 70% of users of second-hand clothing resale applications reinvest their earnings in the purchase of new clothes. How do you see these challenges of changing consumption patterns and new eco-friendly business models?
It's great news that we're starting to talk so much about second hand, i.e. reuse, which goes much further than recycling. But beware of the rebound effect of course, consumption patterns must be rethought. In our speech we say that "the stake is to transform ourselves to come back within the planetary limits. We will have to produce better, and for the most part, produce less". In this case we are talking about the company but it applies very well to the consumer: we will also have to consume better and consume less, and therefore make a culture of deconsumption emerge. The difficulty is to avoid asking the most precarious people to "deconsume".
The challenge is to transform ourselves in order to return to the framework of planetary limits
From a collective point of view, we need to think democratically about the place of advertising in the public space, and certainly about its reduction. From an individual point of view, we must progressively try to reappropriate what we consume and the environmental footprint linked to it: first we get informed, then we reduce, we redefine our needs, we favor reuse, second hand, sharing...
In short, on the one hand we modify the commercial imaginary, on the other hand we encourage the reappropriation of the materiality of our consumption, especially the "immaterial" consumption. In particular, in our environment, we will not cut out a reflection on the use of the airplane. We need to change the way we think about travel, what it means to have a change of scenery, and to be responsible.
Adam Melki (H.21), co-president of HEC Transition and co-founder of the HEC Biodiversity Academy, reminded us that the professional projection to age 40 was illusory in the face of the urgency of reducing carbon and GHG emissions by half and of putting an immediate end to energy-guzzling business models such as fast-fashion or the oil industry. How do you and your fellow HEC students, whether or not they are "deserters" of the big groups, project yourselves towards this professional world?
It's easier to know what you don't want to do than what you want to do. In any case, it will be necessary to push from all sides to transform the rules of the game: large groups, startups, SMEs, public organizations... It is then up to each one to choose where he/she feels most comfortable, with the most impact capacity! But it is absolutely necessary to occupy the ground of the big companies and institutions, keystone of the system.
In concrete terms, employee groups within the company, at all hierarchical levels, are essential to create networks of allies to turn the ship around. Entrepreneurs also have a key role in creating new "disruptive" models, and we hope they will spearhead environmentally desirable futures.
You have launched "Not acting is already choosing". Given your words, do you think this kind of summit has a real impact and what would you like to see emerge for its 10th edition?
This kind of summit is interesting to measure the progress of companies in terms of transition, their level of ambition and the changes they anticipate.
If certain subjects have gained their credentials, notably sobriety, our feeling as students is that we are still far from the "bifurcation" with the notion of radicalism that it requires.
In our speech and then in our questions, we tried to ask them about the changes in structural models that they were considering, but they often skirted around and preferred to return to more controlled subjects: innovation and technological advances, state responsibility, carbon tax... This is understandable, but biodiversity and other planetary limits sometimes seemed to be totally absent from their projections.
So what are we aiming for in the next edition? We hope that we will talk about truly radical changes for the economy and our consumption patterns, with a rise in corporate ambitions!
Also to be read
Ecological transition: can we really reinvent capital?, Challenges.fr, 1 December 2022
Louis Fidel (H.23): from the eco-anxious to the eco-furious, HEC Stories, February 16, 2022