Environment
Sustainability - risks and rewards By Nick Reilly Sustainability has moved beyond the initial belief that it is ‘all about the environment’. Customer interest, investor pressure and tenders have been driving more emphasis on sustainability for businesses which includes employee’s wellbeing, supply chains and communities. With our clients, we see different approaches when they think about sustainability. Typically, they can be split into a risk or reward-based approaches. We encourage people to consider both perspectives as they bring different actions and targets. If you believe there is risk to your business, by not being more sustainable, and being able to authentically evidence it, you are not alone.
Environmental From an environmental perspective, many companies fear losing points on tender submissions as they had no credible carbon reduction plan. To resolve this, they typically,
By focussing on the benefits of a carbon
and collateral that supported recruitment
reduction plan, bottom line savings can be
initiatives. They are already getting more
made. One of our wholesale clients looked at
diverse candidates for vacancies and winning
their full Scope 3 emissions for opportunities
the ‘fight for talent’.
to improve. They saved significant carbon
Strategy and collaboration
for themselves AND their largest client by reducing the number of products they
A large proportion of business, follow a
repackaged from 82% to 43%. Carbon savings
‘me too’ Sustainability strategy. Doing just
came from less packaging, waste, vehicles
enough to comply. A facilities management
involved, and miles travelled. They have
client recognised that none of their direct
saved money and made demonstrable
competitors were doing anything other than
progress towards net zero while reinforcing
‘me to’ on sustainability. They invested time
their key client relationship.
to understand their impacts, benchmark
Diversity and inclusion
measurements and set targets to progress.
Diversity and inclusion are a big part of sustainability and a challenging issue for organisations. There is a risk to be being perceived as lacking diversity and just issuing a suite of statements and policies as a solution. Policies are not enough anymore. A client in financial services absolutely saw this as an opportunity to address talent gaps. They have set themselves ambitious targets for 2030 to get a genuine diversity of thought and cultures in the business. What did they do? They started with
take action to measure carbon footprint to
education, embraced a D&I calendar
scope 3 and create a plan to get to net zero
with communications and events to build
by 2050.
awareness. This continues to generate stories
They reached out to their key customers to understand what was important to them. One key account, responded enthusiastically, recognised the potential value add, and piloted a new sustainability program with them. This has led to additional business with this account, and a strong proposition for tenders going forward.
In conclusion The biggest risk we see - doing nothing. Sustainability is not going away. Being passive risks losing customers and staff. The good news is that there is still competitive advantage to be gained by early movers.
www.sustainablex.co.uk
❛❛With our clients, we see different approaches when they think about sustainability. Typically, they can be split into a risk or reward-based approaches. We encourage people to consider both perspectives as they bring different actions and targets. 40
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www.cw-chamber.co.uk
