Addressing the Global Leadership Crisis is The Most Critical Force in Making Sustainable Development a Reality.

In many cases, when people talk about environmental issues including sustainable development and sustainable development goals, they over focus on the funding, science, engineering, technology and general environmental management aspects of the solution. All these are for sure important, but they, by themselves, amount to nothing in the absence of effective and adequate leadership in general and sustainable development and leadership in global and local environmental management to be more specific.

The vital importance of leadership is behind the back of many people, yet all environmental science, knowledge, technical expertise, solutions, ideas, innovations, technology, funding and engineering is rendered useless in the absence of leadership. Let me repeat!

"All environmental science, knowledge, technical expertise, solutions, ideas, innovations, technology, funding and engineering is rendered useless in the absence of leadership."

Inadequate global environmental and sustainable development leadership, I argue is the main reason why we are failing to successfully and sustainably solve our global environmental, social and economic challenges. In other words, unless we tackle this leadership crisis, we must not expect miracles in successfully steering our planet from the catastrophic peril it faces. Unless we address the worsening global leadership crisis that we are facing, global and local our social, environmental and economic situations will only get worse. Why leadership you may ask?

1. People in formal positions of leadership have the power to make decisions and it is these decisions that determine what is done and what is not done and how and when what is done is done. The quality, quantity and timing of decisions made by those in top leadership positions have grave environmental, social and economic consequences. The problem is people in positions of leadership may not, and do not, always make the right decisions; many make catastrophic or dangers decisions that send the world towards environmental, social and economic doom instead of towards destiny. In other words

Leadership is the difference between environmental, social and economic doom and environmental, social and economic destiny.

1. Leaders decide whether or not to engage in wars. Leaders approve big decisions and destiny changing actions. But many people in positions of leadership have no idea how best to make wise decisions. They make the catastrophic, dangerous, bad or poor decisions where smart and wise environmental, social and economic decisions are required.
2. When you have people in formal positions of leadership but who are not making any decisions at all, leadership vacuums are created leading to strategic and operational inaction and to chaos and confusion. Yes, some people in positions of leadership do not decide at all. There are serious leadership vacuums in many organisations (not all organisations)

The problem is around the world almost everyone thinks that financial resources, science, management, engineering and technology are all what are required to solve the world's social, environmental and economic challenges. As much as these are important; none of these work in the absence of leadership.

Now, this maybe new to some but I believe the World Economic Forum WEF) when it says we are facing global leadership crisis. In fact, WEF is only echoing a lone voice that has been highlighted my may world- leading leadership thinkers, philosophers, strategists and knowledge workers.

According to WEF, the crisis is defined by a big disparity between leadership power, authority, responsibility and competence. But the crisis is worse than that.

Leadership is closely associated with the corporate world and the political world. People in the environment and development sector, including those in the sustainable development sector, do not pay enough attention to leadership. There is a serious leadership deficiency because in this sector, leadership and its education, training and education are not given serious attention. This needs attention is the world is to accelerate sustainable development action and catch up fast since we are behind our targets when it comes to our sustainable development goals.

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?Simon Bere, 2024