SUSTAINABILITY
Enhanced sustainability will nurture long term profitability Paul Smith assesses progress in this country and Denmark
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a head start. Already the UK pig industry has embraced the change in social attitudes regarding pig welfare. It is recognised as a shining light because of the emphasis on more pig friendly production systems and the sensitivities of the 21st century’s customer base. Furthermore, sustainability has become an enhanced focus for the whole of the pork chain and pig producers will have to take some ownership of this global need. Since the Covid pandemic, market research has shown that consumer concerns about sustainability issues have ascended the priorities list. In developed countries this has resulted in a changed approach to investment strategies. It is not only an ethical issue. Shrewd investors are now starting to acknowledge that companies with a strong focus on sustainability will become the companies more likely to deliver long term profitability. Accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers suggest that by 2025 as much as 75% >> of global gross domestic production could be
Credit: United Nations
hose passionately involved in addressing the everyday challenges of running a modern business, understandably, tend not to prioritise the need to adopt radical unprecedented changes which might be sneakingup on their business model. A sharp focus on ‘the here and now’ and commercial survival usually has to dominate the thinking. Times have changed. The UK pig industry, increasingly, has to operate within a global marketplace and social responsibilities are becoming an issue for corporate strategists. The United Kingdom is one of 178 countries signed-up to the United Nations 2030 Agenda For Sustainable Development. At its heart are 17 wide-ranging Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Objective 12 is about Responsible Production and Consumption whereas objective 13 is concerned with Climate Action. Like it or not, both these objectives will have a major influence on how pigs are produced in the future. We have
The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals
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