at Globe Forum 2018 and beyond

By Jessica Pelchat

We’ve heard it all before. Business needs to get on-board with sustainability.

A study published in 2017 on Changing Consumer Behaviour shows that ”Consumers are no longer interested in the dichotomy between the environment and the economy,” they don’t feel they should have to choose.

Rather, they should be able to have both. Many businesses have begun to make changes; however, these need to stem from a true science-based understanding of sustainability to drive real transformation and disrupt the “business-as-usual” mentality.

The Question Is, Are Most Companies Doing Enough?

Simply put? Not really.

Despite more lip service being paid to concepts like shared value, natural capital, circular economy, and sustainability, most businesses continue to tack on environmental policies and move onto the next box on their checklist.

It is no longer enough to overlay policies onto a broken business model and call it a day.

We need to do more, and our society expects it.

At the GLOBE Forum 2018, organizations are coming together to dissect this very issue. In an age of increasing awareness, the demands for responsibility, transparency, and accountability have become evermore the fundamental requirements of any organization.

It’s important to recognize and address this issue if companies hope to remain in business 10-20 years from now. It starts with an understanding that for societies, economies, and businesses to thrive in the long term they must do so within the carrying capacity of the planet.

How Does Sustainability Create Business Value?

How do we know that integrating sustainability will help us generate revenue, decrease expenses, and mitigate risk?

Based on years of research and hundreds of case studies, Bob Willard, a pioneer for the business case for sustainability, showed that if a typical company were to use best practice sustainability approaches they could achieve the following:

7 Bottom Line Benefits

There are seven bottom line benefits that align with current evidence about the most significant sustainability related contributions to profit:

Of course, these numbers will vary with each sector and business, but they give you an idea of what can be expected on average.

Wondering How Sustainability Can Make a Difference In YOUR Business? Get In Touch!

At The Natural Step, we believe in the ability of businesses to adapt and reimagine themselves. Like anything worth doing, adapting does not come without challenges.

However, the outcomes are self-evident. The organizations that will succeed most in the business model of tomorrow are those that use sustainability to drive innovation – and we can help you get there. See who we’ve helped already.

The Natural Step wants to empower everyone with an understanding of how they can begin to apply sustainable practice and disruptive thinking to their status quo. Download our primer on redefining sustainability and learn more about how to get started.

Reach out to us at info@naturalstep.ca,
Or give us a shout out via one of our networks

Additional Reading on Embedding Sustainability into your Business Strategy

• Enhanced employee engagement, satisfaction, productivity and retention (see The Happiness Index and NBS, as well as this study finding that morale was 55% better in companies with strong sustainability programs)
• Risk mitigation (see study by EBS Universität on the tie between CSR and Lawsuits)
• Improved integrity & transparency (see this study showing that 90% of consumers would boycott a company if they learned of irresponsible or deceptive business practices)
• Competitive advantage (research from Unilever shows that brands are missing out on $820 billion by not pushing sustainability)
• Bottom line growth (see how sustainable brands grow 50% faster than the rest of business)
• You get to do the right thing! (and since 91% of global consumers expect companies to do more than make a profit, but also operate responsibly to address social and environmental issues, it’s something that should be taken seriously)