The Business of Sustainability
Although some find it hard to believe, and some find it harder to accept, there are very real business opportunities offered by the ’sustainability tsunami’. What used to be a rising tide is engulfing the world of business. Those who don’t get it, won’t get it; IT being the market share that rising consumer demand, and dawning business realities are providing.
Joel Makower, the editor of GreenBuzz.com (www.greenbiz.com/) said in his column of June 18, which is entitled “Taking Care of Business”:
“Consider the past week’s headlines: GM says it will speed up production of electric cars. Wachova says it will build 300 LEED-certified banks throughout the U.S. starting this year. Dell announced plans to build the “greenest P.C. on the planet.” GE says it will double its investments in renewable energy to $4 billion by 2010. Coca-Cola announced it will reduce its water use, recycle more water used in manufacturing, and work to conserve freshwater resources worldwide.
And those are just the stories we chose to report.
The green business revolution seems to be on, and growing, with a steady stream of announcements coming from major corporate players. Some of these announcements seemed unlikely or even unimaginable just a few short years ago. Companies competing on environmental issues! Who would have suspected?”
I agree with Joel, having spent years hearing colleagues make statements like, “When the Wal-Marts of the world start acting….” [then real change will occur]. Well they have started acting, and in a big way - tripping over each other, actually. Many people can’t handle the fact that business has jumped aboard as the major driver toward a sustainability-based economy and many don’t like it a bit. You know, the ‘filthy lucre’ argument; fox in the henhouse and all that. While I certainly don’t disagree that appropriate regulatory and ethical controls of course go hand-in-hand with the business boom, I’d much rather have a ‘rein-it-in’ problem than a ‘make-it-happen’ one.
In a speech last week in Europe, the CEO of Unilever (owner of Ben and Jerry’s among many others) admonished his colleagues, that ” Social Innovation and Sustainability are the Only Game in Town” read the article and the text of his speech: (www.wbcsd.org/plugins/DocSearch/details.asp?type=DocDet&ObjectId=MjQ4MTM)
And more importantly, get ready for the reality that business is assuming a leadership role in seeking a truly sustainable economy. How we seek to ensure that the role is a responsible one is our leadership challenge.
More to come - Steve