Why SME’s Must Pick up the Sustainability Gauntlet

You’ll be In Good Company!

Increasingly, global companies with household name brands have taken the initiative.

To become green.

These companies are proving that it is possible to continue to be profitable while looking after the scarce resources we share on our planet. 

Here are just three examples of the growing number of companies with an ecologically sustainable outlook.

1.      Mars

With revenue of $33bn in 2015, this conglomerate has pledged to eliminate fossil fuels by 2040. This may sound like a long time off, but there’s a lot of change to implement in the interim to reach this goal.

2.      Skanska

The sustainability programme of one of the world’s leading project development and construction groups focusses on the areas of Safety, Ethics, Green, Corporate Community Investment, and Diversity and Inclusion. Their website states “Our sustainability leadership is also a business advantage, contributing to delivering profit and creating shareholder value.”

3.      Bibby

The UK’s second largest distribution company has made vast reductions to its carbon footprint and emissions for three consecutive years. In July 2016, they announced a further annual reduction in CO? of 5.9%.

The days of ‘greenwashing’ are over.

The word is probably self-explanatory, but just to clarify; ‘greenwashing’ refers to the process of making environmental claims for marketing purposes which can’t be backed up. I could cite some examples, but as the companies involved are often trying to do better, it wouldn’t be fair.

Transparency is the new modus operandi. For every company in the world, there is room for improvement and even when an organisation could do better, we should laud their achievements, focus on the positives and collectively learn from mistakes made along the way.

Some may consider Mars’ ambitious yet very long term goal of zero fossil by 2040 to be greenwashing – I welcome your comments on this.

What About the SME’s?

Smaller and medium size businesses are not immune to the need to become green just because of their relative size. We are all contributors to the problem, whether tiny or enormous. Therefore, we must all be part of the resolution. However minimal improvements appear to be, they are all valuable. 

As part of larger supply chains, SME’s must ‘future proof’ themselves from the demands of their clients and consumers.  

One of the key elements of becoming sustainable is scrutinizing the supply chain. Larger companies and local authorities already purporting to be environmentally conscious are exerting positive influence by only allowing tenders from suppliers who can demonstrate their eco-friendly credentials. So if you’re one of these suppliers – look out because it’s predictable that the following will happen;

• To enter into the tendering process and gain future contracts, you will have to have an environmental strategy in place
• If you don’t have one, your competitors will, so you will be losing out to them 
• Efficiencies gained go hand in hand with environmental improvement, in turn helping protect your business from uncertainty in the future.
•  As resources become ever more scarce, an outlook which takes this into account will ensure your business continues to be sustainable, as well as the planet. 

Coral Mountain is a new venture whose aim is to work with businesses and organisations that realise there is imperative to improve their environmental performance, but don’t yet have the know-how.

To find out how Coral Mountain can help your company become greener, email [email protected]