Developing a Plan of Action for Business Sustainability

The journey to meaningful business sustainability is gaining traction. One of its pioneers is Philippe Joubert, Executive Chairman of the Global Electricity Initiative and Guest Lecturer on the Business Sustainability Management online short course from the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).

In an exclusive video for the course, Joubert discusses the death of ‘business as usual’: too many companies aren’t paying for the services rendered to us by nature. Taking advantage of daily conveniences and relying on the availability of natural resources like air, water, and land without a second thought will have a cost that can no longer be ignored. The Earth’s resources are finite.

As Joubert, who is also the Founder and CEO of Earth on Board, states: the link between our everyday resources and the resources the planet provides has never been more apparent – and never more tenuous.

In this video, Joubert urges the C-suite to acknowledge their responsibility towards sustainable business:

The truth is that nature is no longer limited and free. In fact, it never was. Joubert warns that what we take from nature comes at a cost that business owners are increasingly compelled to pay.

Before, concerns typically revolved around the “golden triangle” of cost, quality, and time of delivery. Now, management and executive committees need to know whether their organizations and supply chains are truly resilient.

And this is where you, as a business leader, can make a meaningful change.

Driving meaningful change in business

Sustainability has reached critical mass, with world summits and economic forums monitoring issues of resource scarcity and high-risk environmental factors affecting world populations.

There’s no reason for companies to be reluctant. Sustainability makes business sense. In addition to the financial pressures of climate change, the consumer has more power than ever and is becoming a driving force of change for sustainable business practices.

“Young people are asking for a sense of who they are working with. […] Companies had to change their strategy because they couldn’t recruit more talent.”

– Philippe Joubert, Founder and CEO, Earth on Board

Innovation improves human lives

Innovation in sustainability requires a change in the mode of thinking in that businesses merely offer products and services in economic terms to companies that also demonstrate social value. Limited resources increasingly force businesses to demonstrate their ability to operate responsibly, ensuring that they act for the common good. Organizations are expected and held to a higher ideal of resource conservation because of the magnitude of their actions and their effects. The old status quo of doing business has changed irrevocably.

This is a hard-hitting truth for many businesses, which may not understand the need for this ideology. But statistics on the earth’s “ecological deficit” portrays a clear picture.

“Today the global population consumes the equivalent of 1.75 Earths in providing our resources and in absorbing our waste.”¹

Building a sustainable business

Despite its drain on resources, one would be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t like the convenience that technology brings. But how can this translate into building a sustainable business?

Companies increasingly realize that the cost and social challenges of doing business are inextricably linked. This isn’t a vague concept – cost metrics are driving businesses to care about environmental factors, especially when the volatility of natural resources is at stake. Therefore, a corporate sustainability plan is enacted not out of legal obligation, but as a necessity.

The reality is that, as organizations become more comfortable with the concepts and language of sustainability, nearly all of these terms have become common business discourse:

• Renewable energy
• Climate change
• Carbon footprint
• Resource scarcity
• Urbanization
• Deforestation
• Reuse, repurpose, recycle

Developing a business sustainability plan

As organizations begin to recognize the importance of sustainability, they’re learning to redefine business risk to the point where the financial implications of a profitable business rest on a “triple bottom line of profit, people, and the planet.”² In essence, a company that fully accounts for financial, social, and environmental factors truly understands the costs of doing business. Environmental risks have become powerful metrics for business practices and performance.

However, despite its benefits, sustainability can’t be forcibly grafted to existing business strategies. Incorporating it in such a way that the organization can realize its potential requires a level of skill and awareness. Therefore, it requires an investment in sustainability training and education.

Your next steps to a sustainability plan

First is to educate yourself and your employees. Become future-fit by learning about sustainability and discovering innovative methodologies for driving meaningful change from Joubert and other industry pioneers on the University of Cambridge Business Sustainability Management online short course.

Next, it’s key to implement your corporate sustainability plan. However, you need to ensure that the plan is as sustainable as you hope to make your business. It’s about driving its business value for:

• Your employees: How could your CSR initiative lead to employee engagement, skills development, and retention?
• Your customer: How could your CSR initiative appeal to your consumer, creating customer satisfaction and the opportunity to market?
• Your investors: How could your CSR initiative promote your business’s credibility, attracting potential investors and clients?
• Your business: How could your CSR initiative contribute to research, encourage business development, and ensure business sustainability management?

Download this CSR Strategy Toolkit to conceptualize and develop the CSR initiative that will best serve you, your company, and your community.

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Develop a sustainability plan of action that brings meaningful change to your business with this online course.