Companies that prioritise Sustainability are outperforming the competition

Your company's share price might be all the support you need in making the business case for pushing a Sustainability agenda.

I remember when the issue of ‘Sustainability’ was seen as an alternative view, something that Guardian readers talked about, whilst others would complain it was unrealistic, and frankly anti-business to encourage people to consume less. At times the debate was framed as a lifestyle choice only available to the rich, who could afford to pay more for ‘green’ goods and services.

It is wonderful that this has fundamentally shifted, and in part it has been the pandemic that has accelerated this change. This week I listened to Paul Polman at the UN Global Compact summit remark that a crisis can restore some wisdom. He hopes for a better and faster recovery because the world has taken a moment to realise how interconnected us humans are with the natural world. In a sense when humans, the economy and the climate are all in crisis, there is no option but to reset.

I want to make the case for optimism, because I think we can argue that the idea of sustainability has never been more mainstream or better understood; increasingly when anyone refers to sustainability they no longer mean the narrow definition (ie the environment) but rather a wider concept harking back to the origin of the word – meaning the avoidance of depleting resources. It is not sustainable to have massive social inequality or ignore our local communities and the support structures they provide.

I am a reasonably sceptical person and would not be optimistic if I thought change was reliant simply on people’s willingness to put the greater good above their own. In many cases the forces of capitalism are now kicking in – as evidenced that the stock markets are showing greater investment confidence in sustainable stock funds than traditional stock funds*. My interpretation is that we are now fast moving to a point where investors are making their long term bets on the companies that are showing how they will sustain their business models with circular or renewable practises.

Robert Marques, CEO of Natura also speaking at the summit offered a more stark summary of what the stock markets are reflecting, when he answered a question about whether all companies will eventually take the hard decisions to become truly sustainable: “Yes they will because there is no other option, you can’t run a business on a dead planet.” His own efforts in this space include fierce lobbying of the Brazilian government to protect the rainforest, and pursuing B-Corporation status for the group.

There is still a long way to go, some doubts that we can move fast enough, and still many companies and governments who do not appear to be signed up to addressing the challenges. But we have made progress and we can take positive action to keep improving.

My company Fenturi design and deliver digital learning courses to workforces at scale. We encourage all leaders to communicate their vision and strategic goals for a sustainable future, and by engaging their entire workforces into the process of solving problems and finding new ways of working. We have case studies to share about delivering courses in topics such as Sustainability and Diversity, helping them become part of the operational culture of an organisation.

We use the latest in digital delivery techniques to deliver memorable experiences, through efficiently reaching people at scale with the minimum impact on the environment. And we want to do better, so we are applying to become a B-Corp, through which we will receive their social and environmental impact score, helping us use their external expertise to identify where we can improve.

We welcome the opportunity to connect with companies who share our values. Please get in touch either via the comments below, or at [email protected].

* Reference: Morningstar stock market research as quoted in The Guardian June 13th 2020