7 minute read
Sustainability: The time is now
Businesses cannot afford to ignore the importance of sustainability if they want to become fitter, faster and far better at adapting to change and unlocking value. Robert Perry, Manager of Thriving People at the Sustainable Business Council (SBC), shares his views on how Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) need to be an integral part of business strategy.
We have dipped our toes into a new future, defined by ethical consumer decision making and a purpose-driven workforce, and had a taster of what the future of work might hold.
SDGs give us a roadmap for a world we want, and the COVID-19 pandemic has proved the challenges we face cannot be dealt with in isolation. Notably, issues of health, income and education have come to the forefront during this crisis. Just like an X-ray, the pandemic has laid bare the underlying fractures of our society around inequality, diversity and inclusion. The ‘digital divide’ and the right to internet access, especially in rural areas, is a case in point.
Sustainability opportunity
As we move forward, sustainability will continue to be a driver of better consumer engagement, productivity, attraction and retention of talent, especially in disruptive labour markets, sizeable market opportunities and wider access to capital.
Investors are making decisions accordingly, and governments are pushing regulation that favours such investments. The rise of environmental, social and governance related funds is just one way the investor community acknowledges that a purpose beyond profit links to value creation in tangible ways.
The real opportunity of sustainability will be realised when business strategy creates shared value for stakeholders beyond shareholder profit. We are already seeing business do this by leveraging resources and innovation to create new solutions to some of society’s most pressing issues. In doing so, it creates a more prosperous environment in which to operate, making business more sustainable and resilient.
The COVID-19 pandemic presents both an enormous challenge and tremendous opportunities for achieving the SDGs.
The government’s living standards framework and wellbeing budget signal a new paradigm for Aotearoa, but we still have much work to do, and the clock is ticking. This truly must be the decade of action.
Time to act
Climate urgency must take centre stage in 2021. Businesses need to leverage their leadership into action, putting people at the heart of a ‘just transition’ so they thrive.
The Climate Leaders Coalition (CLC) and the SBC are working in tandem to accelerate New Zealand’s decarbonisation.
They are fronting the wave of ambition for climate action, collaboratively walking the talk on actions we said we would take under the 2019 Climate Change Response (Zero Carbon) Amendment Act.
They are committed to New Zealand reaching the ambitions set in the Zero Carbon Act and the Paris Agreement.
With New Zealand’s commitment to a zero-carbon future, we’ll be seeing the first emissions budget being set by the government later this year as it responds to the Climate Change Commission’s advice, which will be finalised in May. The government’s response to this through an Emissions Reduction Plan will provide direction on different industries’ emissions pathways.
A briefing to the government in December 2020 from the SBC and CLC sets the direction to do this. The briefing, signed by 150 of New Zealand’s leading businesses, urged the government to collaborate with businesses to accelerate New Zealand’s decarbonisation.
Its three main recommendations are:
• increasing investment in lowcarbon transport
• expanding programmes to make process heat more efficient and low carbon
• speeding up the adoption of methane reduction technologies.
Alongside this, publicly listed companies and the financial services sector will be required to provide climate risk reporting from 2023, driving a need to build capability in this area, especially around scenario planning.
Future of work – the skills imperative
The COVID-19 pandemic has been attracting home a wave of highly skilled New Zealand expats. Yet, if New Zealand does not upskill its workforce to support a productive high-value economy, the country will be left behind once borders begin to open, and the current brain gain will be temporary.
We have seen the world of work change out of necessity and at a rate we would never have imagined. It has brought about massive innovation while keeping productivity, resilience and creativity.
As leaders take action to re-energise their people and organisations, many of our members see the opportunity, the chance, to lock-in their achievements and reimagine their business’s identity, how it works, and how it grows so they’re more robust in the years ahead.
As SBC Executive Director Mike Burrell says, the level 3 and 4 lockdowns gave hints about the future of work. “Many office workers worked from home, but it wasn’t as simple for people in services and manufacturing. Economic disruption disproportionately affected the most vulnerable. If you’re middle class, working in a job with a laptop, probably you’ve done OK.”
It is essential to take a more indepth look at flexibility both now and in the transition to a low-carbon economy. An encouraging sign was the number of companies, and their innovation in mobilising resources, doing the right thing by their employees and supporting their communities in line with their social responsibility commitments.
In the words of William Gibson, “the future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed”. We see that clearly in the New Zealand workforce.
At SBC, our new strategy sets a bold ambition for a thriving world of work that is flexible, inclusive and sustainable.
Some people have the skills that allow them to adapt and thrive during disruption and change. But not everyone has had a positive education experience or the opportunities to develop skills to adapt to the rapid changes in technology and access pathways in order to move into more skilled roles.
Business is working together to change that. SBC has launched a new micro-credential programme that any New Zealand business can access, to prepare their staff for the future.
SBC brought together several SBC members from different sectors, including Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED, now part of Auckland Unlimited), Sanford, IAG, BNZ and NZ Steel with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment to find solutions and prepare staff for the future.
One of the areas of innovation was to support those who are most at risk of being negatively affected by these changes, notably Māori and Pacific peoples and particularly those with low literacy or numeracy skills. Businesses have identified a gap in learning approaches between formal tertiary qualifications and informal workplace training, which could be filled by delivering micro-credentials.
One of the projects that emerged through a co-design process and rapid prototyping was the Future Ready: Money confidence microcredential pilot. ATEED worked closely with Education Unlimited, drawing on their experience as adult learning facilitators working in low literacy and numeracy environments, to turn the prototype into the microcredential that was delivered to staff at Sanford in early 2020.
Leadership in times of change and disruption
Climate change, COVID-19 and social inequality are just a few of the challenges facing us on our journey to build a thriving and sustainable future for all, which lies at the heart of SBC’s purpose.
Each of these challenges highlights the interconnected nature of our world. They demonstrate that urgent action is needed, yet driving change is complex because no issue exists in isolation. They mean making difficult decisions and trade-offs. Today’s business leaders need a particular set of skills to drive this change. Skills such as resilience and an innovative mindset to adapt to the ‘new normal’. They need to be able to lead transformational change that crosses organisational boundaries.
Our flagship sustainability leadership programme hones these skills. It has been developed specifically for business leaders who have accountability for environmental and social outcomes. Unique to this programme is that participants can apply new skills, ideas and learnings to live projects, as well as connect with other leaders across Aotearoa.
Businesses have come alive with the opportunities that exist from embracing sustainable thinking. This programme champions businesses to be at the forefront of environmental and social sustainability by enabling their people to become changemakers. By growing our leaders’ capability, we can continue to create a New Zealand where business, people and nature thrive together.
Robert Perry manages the Thriving People portfolio at the Sustainable Business Council. He champions business leadership and collective action that support employee wellbeing, positively impact communities and wider society and put people at the heart of our transition to a zero-carbon economy. Robert has over 20 years’ experience providing strategic leadership on critical sustainability issues and their solutions in business, consultancy and public sector organisations in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
