Doing the right thing – does it deliver value?

As the sustainability agenda evolves, the challenge for business is to look beyond green issues and focus on delivering long term business value.

To make the most of potential opportunities companies should begin with understanding their ‘sustainability footprint’. This involves looking at their impact on all stakeholder groups so improvement strategies can be developed.

Those companies leading the way are adopting sustainability practices that will help them stand out as an attractive company to do business with. One such activity is ensuring supply chain integrity, which can be a real competitive advantage when bidding for work. Also in the battle to attract talent, potential recruits are increasingly interested in company values and commitments to the wider community and society.

While measuring sustainability strategies can be difficult, there is growing evidence of their benefit to business performance. A good example of this is the FTSE4Good index, which consistently outperforms other FTSE companies.

The need to balance long-term vision with everyday issues is also crucial and complying with shifting environmental regulation remains a challenge. Looking at transport alone, a new EU regulation will reduce the levels of certain emissions from vehicles between 2009 and 2016. There will also be new emission limits for carbon dioxide from engines in 2012 and 2015. Yet a recent study by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP shows three in four UK companies still do not have a green transport plan in place.

So in rising to the sustainability challenge there is much that companies can and should be doing. While some may be tempted to shelve or defer sustainability in the current climate, this kind of short-termism would result in a missed opportunity. Ultimately, it could end up making the difference between survival and business failure.

Contact details
Email: Clare Marsh
Tel: +44 (0) 121 265 5201