As businesses prepare to crank their operations back up after months of inactivity, the clear skies, roads and shipping lanes that have defined the pandemic lockdown period could soon be over.

The emissions decline the biggest since the Second World War that has resulted from an economic slump will quickly be reversed if companies go back to work as if the biggest wakeup call in the recent history of human activity had never happened.

Now is an opportunity for businesses to decouple economic growth from the forces that have led to the pandemic among them, exploitation of natural resources and climate change. Businesses may be under pressure to get back on their feet, but they do so with different expectations from stakeholders, commented Thomas Milburn, Southeast Asia director of sustainability consultancy Corporate Citizenship.

One lesson from working with businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic is that the economy should support society and people’s livelihoods, not the other way around, said Milburn. “Businesses with a clear sense of purpose that is attuned to the needs and well-being of society are those that we will place our trust in as employees, customers and investors, in order to rebuild better.”

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