It’s Back to the Future for sustainability, but without the DeLorean or hoverboard skateboard. When sustainability first became a real thing in the 1990s, those of us in the space came from environmental backgrounds, working to elevate sustainability as financially important. We typically used what I call garbage economics – specious claims using values untethered to reality. I peddled these concepts myself and learned the hard way that these approaches don’t fly. Eventually, sustainability crashed (the “sustainability trainwreck of the 90s”) and went dormant until the 2010’s. During that time, I changed my thinking and approach – educating practitioners about the myths and realities of sustainability’s business value in my work and writings.
Today, sustainability professionals lament about being data managers and report writers, focused on voluntary disclosures and anticipation of new regulatory developments – many of which are now under attack. They lack business chops that earn credibility and are losing organizational, funding and emotional support within their companies. We’re close to falling back into the 90s – no flux capacitor needed.
There has never been a more critical time than now to focus on the real business value of sustainability in terms of fundamentals – revenue growth, new markets, cost reduction and profit margin. Take care of that and most other things should fall into place.
In his opening remarks of GreenBiz 25 this week, Trellis Group founder/Chairman Joel Makower said:
“We we have to acknowledge that today’s progress is generally not meeting the moment… We owe it to our companies and our collective future to take a clear-eyed look at our sustainability practices, and to question those that are simply not meeting the moment.
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- We need the agency and courage to rethink everything — our goals, commitments, business models and our internal and external voice. This activity isn’t exactly new for this community, but it’s never been more critical.
- We need to think bigger, even though it may not be in our job descriptions.
- We need to focus on business value, not business virtue, and on outcomes that benefit everyday citizens.
- We need to push ourselves but, equally important, we need to push one another — by sharing knowledge and bucking us all up for the challenges ahead.
- We may even need to make management feel a bit uncomfortable by helping them understand the gravity of the moment and the risks they face.”
Advisory Board member Donato Calace attended the conference and summed up the general feeling/theme this way:
“Despite the political antagonism and regulatory uncertainty, there are still companies that will continue on the trajectory they identified originally. It may be a signal that policy won’t be the leading force anymore, and market practice will be defining the way forward.
Lots of references to going back to explaining ‘why’ and ‘what is the business case’ rather than focusing on the technicalities of the regulatory requirements.”
Not everything is a quick win. Joel said “We must act with urgency, but also with the humility to know that this is intergenerational work.” Even so, pragmatic business wins do exist now – you just have to make effort to find and communicate them properly.
Members can learn more about the business value of sustainability here. Detailed how-to resources include our Guidebooks Practical Methodology for Sustainability ROI Using Company-Specific Business Fundamentals and Simplifying ESG/Sustainability Business Value. Also, keep an eye out for a series of guidebooks starting later this month on the top real examples of sustainability business value for revenue generation, new market development, cost reductions and profit margin improvements.
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Photo credit: Xristoforov – stock.adobe.com
