A summary of the second webinar in the Sustainable Brands Boot Camp series, Innovation Opportunities in Response to Today’s Environmental Hot Buttons: Climate Change, Water & Waste. The webinar was led by Will Sarni, CEO and founder of Domani Consulting, an integrated sustainability consulting firm, and featured examples of new, innovative business and product strategies from various markets that are successfully being brought to market in response to emerging environmental and social strains.
A recent post, Exploring Sustainability Risk Management, we discussed how current market forces are affecting business sustainability. The post, in particular, focused on business reputation as a component of sustainability risk. To further build on the discussion, today’s leaders are also focusing greater attention on supply chain risks as a key factor in business sustainability.
With global eco awareness expanding on climate issues, it is not a surprise to many that the fastest growth in CO2 levels has occurred in the last 10 years. Studies indicate that electricity generation and consumption is the largest contributor and is increasing faster than any other energy sector. However, efforts to manage electricity show the slowest decline in emissions progress.
If you think your business is too small or too service-based to benefit from going green, or you’re waiting for the hype about green and sustainability to die down, then you’re missing an opportunity to chart an upward course for your company.
As the discussion continues on the true impact of emissions on climate change, many companies are reevaluating the internal impacts pending legislation may have on costs. For the first time, businesses are evaluating emissions as a waste stream that will be part of total lifecycle cost.
I recently published a post on Triple Pundit that fleshes out the market-facing aspects of a model I’ve been working on with The FairRidge Group. Called the Sustainability Management Maturity Model (SM3), it’s a tool to help businesses assess their readiness to address business sustainability challenges and opportunities. The internal management components were outlined a few months ago on Triple Pundit – Strategy, Organization, Process, Measurement and People – which all relate to an inside-out perspective of the business.
Boards of directors are increasingly paying attention to the risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change, according to a new survey commissioned by Deloitte and Corporate Board Member magazine. The survey of 220 directors at U.S. companies with $1 billion or more in revenue highlights the board’s growing role in oversight of corporate responsibility and sustainability (CR&S). Despite the current economic environment the board’s role is undoubtedly increasing as there is greater awareness of the business risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility, sustainability and climate change. The perfect storm of emerging regulations, increased requirements for reporting and transparency, heightened pressure from investors, energy price volatility and market demands for green products and technologies is driving CR&S as a business imperative.
