CorpComms Magazine

Will this be the year when a greater number of organisations start taking the issues around sustainability more seriously, including taking action on the real business risks and opportunities presented by the sustainability agenda?

Whatever organisations decide, the issues and challenges around sustainability are only going to intensify. By 2050, the world is expected to have 50 per cent more people than today. Indeed, 85 per cent of people on earth will live in what we currently call developing countries and represent a huge 65 to 75 per cent of global gross domestic product. And, by 2050, around 70 per cent of us will live in cities.

So this will be a world of changing aspiration and consumption patterns, reflected in increasing demand for energy, water, food, transport, housing and other services. But it will also be a world where this move to a high growth economy will need to be matched by a transition to a low carbon economy. These trends will present both enormous challenges and opportunities for companies in, for example, the provision of goods and services with a sustainable (and reliable) supply chain.

So, in answer to the question, a lot of organisations are moving forward on their sustainability journey. Recognising the scale of the issues and opportunities, a few are taking the lead. They are discovering that a robust sustainability strategy can deliver real commercial benefits and competitive advantage through, for example, product or technology innovation and trimming out costs and inefficiencies in supply chains.

Governments will, of course, also be playing their role. The Copenhagen climate change meeting last month hoped to get governments from across the world to agree to binding targets aimed at preventing dangerous global warming. This year's meeting in Mexico could possibly seal the deal. Nearer to home, a raft of sustainability legislation will be coming into force in the UK, including the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which will directly impact around 5,000 organisations.

So this could be the year that separates the winners and the losers. Only companies with a real understanding of how this future world will impact their business will survive long enough to be a part of it.

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