Sustainability is the Challenge

The Sustainability Challenge is being introduced into Australia for the first time later this month. The  software‐based, interactive and scenario-driven sustainability game is developed for business, community, and government, while “creating the sustainable workplace” is a key purpose of the Climate Change@Work Conference in Brisbane on 29 October.

 By Ken Hickson, author of “The ABC of Carbon” wrote this article for EcoVoice this month to draw attention to the importance role Sustainability plays in towards workplace and business:

We hear talk about sustainability as if it was something new. It has been around for a while, but maybe in many different guises.

Some know it as corporate social responsibility. Some put it in the same category as “triple bottom line reporting” – concerned with environmental, social and economic behaviour and measurement in a business.

But increasingly the business world is accepting that sustainability is something that matters for the bottom line and for business every day.

Global measurement of sustainability began ten years ago. The launch of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes (DJSI) in1999 was a milestone for sustainability investing, as it enabled a significant number of market participants to move into this field and to put sustainability on the radar screen of mainstream investing.

The corporate sustainability data collected over the last decade reveals a remarkable shift in the attitude of businesses towards sustainability. In the 1990s, the integration of sustainability into business processes was driven primarily by regulatory, corporate governance and compliance requirements.

When assessments for the DJSI began ten years ago, even a significant number of the best performing companies had only vague and ad-hoc processes in place to target sustainability objectives.

Today, companies embrace corporate sustainability as a key source of competitive advantage. Management realizes that the implementation of sustainability practices helps mitigate risks and seize opportunities arising from long-term economic, environmental and social trends. At the same time, room for improvement in terms of sustainability performance remains significant across all sectors.

Sustainability has a place in my book “The ABC of Carbon” as does the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.  Here’s how it appeared:

Sustainability. Practically any company with any standing at all acknowledges the importance of ‘sustainability’. While not a traditional item on a company’s balance sheet, sustainability — also called corporate social responsibility — is increasingly figuring in ‘triple bottom line reporting’, which accounts for the economic, environmental and social performance of the business.

Somehow, sustainability links inextricably with the environment, as companies realise the impact they’re having through their energy use and the emissions they produce. And that’s where climate change comes into the equation. Here’s a brief collection of relevant links:

• Martin Loosemore and Bede Boyle brought the two together in a very helpful blueprint, Climate change and corporate social responsibility. See www.synergymcg.com
• Mathew Warren, in his Greenchip column in The Australian (6 August 2007), noted the increasing move to sustainability reporting by major companies even though it was not mandatory.
• The Financial Services Institute of Australia estimates the economy would grow by $12 billion a year if all medium and large companies reported their sustainability risk.
• An online resource that showcases the organisations in Australia that are committed to sustainability and innovation is www.sustained.com.au.
•  The release of “Towards a sustainable future”, written by Valerie Khoo, was a landmark for Australia’s corporate awareness and practice of sustainability. See www.clcreations.com.au
• The Dow Jones Sustainability World Index measures a company’s overall and industry-specific sustainability trends, using a variety of criteria including climate change strategies, energy consumption, human resources development, knowledge management, stakeholder relations and corporate governance. See www.sustainability-index.com

Some businesses make a point of stressing the value of sustainability. Many clearly parade their sustainability policies and reports.

One company that is putting its money where its mouth is the Xerox Corporation. Here’s what Patty Calkins, VP of Environment Health & Safety, for Xerox Corporation has to say in “Six reasons why sustainability is smart for your business”

I want to focus on some of the powerful business benefits that can come from successful sustainability programs. They will definitely help you turn green into black on your balance sheet.

1. Save on energy

Energy efficiency is a double-win, because it lowers greenhouse gas emissions and reduces energy costs as well. Over time, the savings can really add up.

2. Maximize efficiency

The drive to reduce the environmental impact of any business inevitably leads to an investigation of inefficiency and waste. At Xerox, we diverted more than two billion pounds of electronic waste from landfills—enough to fill 160,000 garbage trucks—by developing smart green recycling and remanufacturing programs. Net savings? Two billion dollars. That was music to our CFO’s ears.

3. Drive innovation

Global warming is the world’s greatest engineering challenge, because it requires us to dramatically change the way we work and live. Businesses that will lead this transformation by bringing breakthrough green innovations to the marketplace will undoubtedly leap into the ranks of the world’s greatest companies in the years ahead.

4. Create a competitive advantage

The drive to create eco-friendly products and services is great for the environment and great for forward-thinking businesses too. After all, polls show that businesses and consumers are placing more emphasis on buying green than ever before. So if you want to get an edge on your competition, offer environmentally friendly alternatives to your customers.

5. Build the brand

If your company makes a real contribution to the global sustainability movement, you will enhance your brand. And that will help you market your products and services, build stronger relationships with shareholders and the public, and build employee morale.

6. Get ready to trade carbon credits

All of the countries that belong to the European Union participate in a mandatory “cap and trade” carbon trading system. This system sets limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Then it rewards companies that don’t use their full emission allowance by allowing them to sell their extra “credits” to companies with excessive emissions. Cap-and-trade systems currently operate on a voluntary basis in other areas of the world. But given the growing concern about global warming, they may well become mandatory for most of the developed world in the years ahead. In that case, businesses will have another compelling economic reason to lower their carbon footprint: they will have valuable emission “credits” to sell.

The business case keeps getting better and better. In the past, green programs were often viewed as a cost to companies, not a benefit. But that attitude is changing as corporate leaders around the world discover the powerful business advantages that come from finding smarter ways to green.

Listen to what Ray Anderson, the founder of Interface, the world’s leading carpet tile manufacturing company, has to say on the subject: “I always make the business case for sustainability. It’s so compelling. Our costs are down, not up. Our products are the best they have ever been. Our people are motivated by a shared higher purpose—esprit de corps to die for. And the goodwill in the marketplace—it’s just been astonishing.”

More on sustainability from www.xerox.com/thoughtleadership_calkins

To help companies in Australia get to grips with sustainability at all levels, the Sustainability Challenge comes to the rescue.

The Sustainability Challenge is a software‐based, interactive, and scenario driven, sustainability game developed for business, community, and government by MOSS (Models of Success and Sustainability) and The Diversity Company.

It is adapted from the successful Diversity Challenge tool that has been utilised by major international corporations such as IBM, BHP Billiton, ANZ, Coca Cola‐Amatil and Shell. It provides training for business, government and community groups to address issues such as carbon trading, energy, water use, and sustainable development in a fun and stimulating way that inspires decision makers to develop actions that enhance long term value and growth.

I speak with a certain amount of knowledge of the Sustainability Challenge as I was one of a select few introduced to it a few months ago at a workshop in Sydney. I have also seen and participated in a number of sessions where the Sustainability Challenge has been tested. This happened in Brisbane at Greenfest in June, as well as at Sustainability Seminars run by MOSS and Minter Ellison throughout the country.

The latest trial run was with Mike Duggan, the Director of FWR Group for the Australian Green Development Forum in Brisbane late September. He demonstrated the use and effectiveness of the program in the area of Climate Change, Development and Risk.

Officially the Sustainability Challenge will be launched at events in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane late October/early November. Watch out for it or go to www.moss.org.au for more information.

Sustainability in the workplace is a key component of a one day conference in Brisbane on 29 October – Climate Change @ Work.

Organised by the Workplace Research Centre, University of Sydney – one of Australia’s leading authorities on working life – the conference draws attention to how climate change is changing jobs, human resource management practice, workplace relations and skill demands.

ABC Carbon, along with Griffith Business School and the Queensland Conservation Council, is pleased to be associated with this event and encourages businesses, students and representatives of NGOs to attend.

Experts from leading organisations will discuss the actions workplaces need to take to develop new approaches to green education, training and carbon reduction in the workplace. Find out how climate change could transform your workplace. Discover how some of Australia’s leading companies, including Fuji Xerox, PwC and Fosters Group are implementing strategic and practical changes.

This is your unique opportunity to get the latest insights from key thought leaders on Australia’s increased sustainability in the workplace. Go to www.wrc.org.au to register for the event. There is still room and a special price is being offered to students and members of NGOs.

Sustainability is not a novel, flash-in-the-pan management ploy to get greater productivity or greater public acceptance. It is as real as climate change and it is here to stay!

Source: www.abccarbon.com and www.ecovoice.com.au