Exciting news: We’ve launched the first of four programs in our new Sustainability In Business Series!
This program is the introduction level to a more detailed 3-part series, the goal being to provide the right initial framework for you to get started within your organization, no matter what industry you are in or how far along your sustainability journey you already are.
BUILD ORGANIZATIONAL RESILIENCE AND MOMENTUM WITH PRACTICAL TOOLS AND INSPIRATIONAL KNOWLEDGE
Our new online organizational training programs are designed to develop the knowledge, motivation, practical tools, and personal inspiration to help individuals and teams within organizations engage with and transition toward being sustainability leaders in their field.
Led by Dr. Leyla Acaroglu, UNEP Champion of the Earth and respected international expert on sustainability, systems change and strategies for advancing the circular economy, our new series on activating sustainability in business is packed with knowledge, inspiration, advice and actionable tools that enable your and your team to find unique and tangible business solutions.
Meet the Sustainability in Business Program Series with Dr Leyla Acaroglu.
About the Introduction to Sustainable and Circular Business Strategies Course
This program is practical, actionable, and easy to digest in a short period of time. We’re excited to share some highlights with you to help you see exactly what the Sustainability in Business series is all about — and why it is so crucial that we begin approaching organizational change with sustainability as a key focus. You’ll kick off your transformation by uncovering the core concepts and approaches to sustainability in business, be inspired by diverse industry case studies and then map your action plan.
The introductory program will kick off your transformation by uncovering the core concepts and approaches to sustainability in business. Be inspired by diverse industry case studies and map your action plan:
Part 1: Sustainability and Circular Economy Transformation in Business
Part 2: Case Studies of Sustainability Initiatives in Business
Part 3: Leadership and Activating Change
The below excerpts highlight how we approach sustainability in action-based, tangible ways so that you walk away with the thinking and doing tools you need to begin creating change within your organization right away. And if you want to enjoy the benefit of having live instruction with sustainability expert and UnSchool founder Leyla Acaroglu, there are still three spaces remaining for her LIVE one-week intensive Sustainability in Business Activation Program, happening this October 19-23!
SUSTAINABILITY IN BUSINESS
Sustainability is about ensuring that decisions made today don't impede the ability for future generations to have the same, if not better, quality of life as we do today. In the context of business, it's about ensuring that workers, workplaces and business structures are ethical, equitable and economically viable.
It can be hotly contested, as the term “sustainability” has come to mean many different things over the last few years. Though, the original and withstanding idea is of a powerful aspiration to make better decisions today so that we all benefit in the future. This involves considering and working toward harmonizing the social, economic and environmental aspects of the things we do, be it the businesses we run or the actions we take as workers and consumers.
All aspects of business activities draw on many complex systems that, in turn, result in multiple levels and types of pollution being put back into the atmosphere and general environment.
From production and transport emissions in producing goods and delivering them to market, to the daily waste generated in office buildings, these are all contributing factors when we look at “doing work” — factors that, in turn, impact the changing climate and the general health of our natural world.
We all know that there are ‘problems’ in the world, from social issues to environmental concerns, and the current state of our world needs a comprehensive collective objective like sustainability to help provide a framework for change. That's why the UN developed the Sustainable Development Goals (we will get to that soon). Firstly, though, we must overcome some of the legacy issues we have with the concept and framing of what it means to be sustainable. We have to bust through the myths that have been inappropriately perpetuated in order to get a better understanding of what social, economic and environmental sustainability is all about.
One of the most annoying long term ideas is that if you care about the planet, you are on the fringes of the mainstream. Given that all humans need nature to survive and that all materials come from the natural world, we need the planet to be able to sustain itself into the future. And so do businesses — without Earth’s resources, businesses can not continue operating as they are.
Globally we are facing many major environmental issues: climate change, ecosystem destruction, species loss, the waste crisis, air pollution, plastic waste, deforestation — these issues will all continue to rise this decade unless considerate and clear action is taken. All of these impacts are affecting small, medium and large businesses in a multitude of ways. Disruptions in the supply chains; increased difficulty in obtaining raw materials from areas affected by extreme weather events; increasing temperatures for the workforce and heat-related diseases (especially in the farming, fishery, agriculture and forestry sectors); higher energy demands for cooling; declining air qualities in cities; weather events that disrupt infrastructure, transportation and societies; shortage of water; industrialization and rapid urbanization as biodiversity loss and deforestation exacerbate threats and lead to food insecurity; health risks; trade risks; supply chain breakdown and reputational risks for business for failing in the implementation of adaptation and mitigation measures.
In short, the ability to work as we know it and the physical assets of companies are at stake. Natural capital is being destroyed, and ecosystems that provide important services to human communities are shifting, threatening not only human livelihood but also economic activity.
Sustainability is thus an all-encompassing strategic approach to equalizing the economic, social and environmental impacts of all actions, be it individually, in business, government or society at large. Within this lives many aspects of behavioral, technological, organizational, operational and cultural transformation that enable us all to move into a future that is more healthy, sustainable and positive than today.
Sustainability in Business involves the ability to assess, understand and then design better, more strategic outcomes to both the business operations and the influence that you have on society at large - as opposed to maintaining the status quo, ignoring the impacts of your actions and operating devoid of any consideration for the holistic consequences of your actions, thus, perpetuating purely economic motivations.
The main goal sustainability is seeking to rectify is that collectively humans have consumed more resources than the Earth can provide us with; everything comes from nature, and the Earth provides us with an abundance of resources from minerals to food. But right now we are extracting and using up raw materials at almost double the rate that the Earth can remake them. At the same time, we are also placing significant pressure on ecosystems by pumping all sorts of pollutants back out into the atmosphere, oceans and land.
This is why we need innovative ways of redesigning the way we do things to ensure that we can live within the Earth's finite systems. Since businesses are the cornerstone of the economy, they offer a significant point of intervention and positive change. By redesigning the way things are produced, organizations take more ownership over the full-life cycle impacts of products and actions — this is one of the core ideas of the Circular Economy.
We need to bust through the idea that we are trying to “save the planet” when in actual fact, we are seeking to protect ourselves. Be it from climate change or another global pandemic, the destruction of nature is, in a way, destruction of us.
Sustainability requires a cultural shift from the old way of doing things evolving into new ways of operating, communicating and delivering goods and services into the economy. So, the employee experience around these shifts will benefit from technological services that enable the feedback and information that support a seamless transformation.
Getting Sustainability into Business
There are many ways that an organization can adopt sustainability principles and introduce them into their operational, experiential and cultural aspects of their enterprise. This program is designed to help step you through this, but to summarize, the main goal is to understand the impacts by assessing the inputs (things that you need to consume to operate) and controlling the outputs (the releases you create in doing your activities), and then redesigning the products and services you offer so that they are neutral in these actions.
“At its essence, sustainability means ensuring prosperity and environmental protection without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. A sustainable world is one where people can escape poverty and enjoy decent work without harming the earth’s essential ecosystems and resources; where people can stay healthy and get the food and water they need; where everyone can access clean energy that doesn’t contribute to climate change” - Former UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon
SUSTAINABILITY BUSINESS ACTIONS
In the 101 and 102 parts of this series, we go through the steps needed to take action on these areas of sustainability in business in specific detail. Here is a summary of the types of business actions that leaders take and those that you can start to adopt as part of your action plan.
Environmental Auditing
Conducting environmental audits allows a company to understand the existing operational impacts based on several key areas of water usage, waste production, energy sources and use, as well as procurement and sourcing. The simplest way to do this is by benchmarking through existing bills and service contracts and conducting site audits. Additionally, supply chain audits can be conducted to find low environmental performers, to change suppliers who are non-compliant to environmental regulations or to work with suppliers to ensure that they advance their sustainability criteria.
Environmental Policies
An important part of communicating to stakeholders and aligning your team is the development of robust and transparent environmental policies. These can take many forms — aspirational, practical and functional. The goal is to set a commitment that people can rally around, be clear about the pathway to action and the process of review in ensuring that you can meet the set goals and targets.
Pollution Prevention
Taking action to reduce emissions to air, water, and land from general operations, transport, manufacturing and other industrial processes so that there is a measurable reduction in pollution-related emissions, The main types of pollution to consider are: carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions (often referred to as scope 1, 2 and 3 level emissions, which we go into detail in the 102 programs), air pollutants like particulate emissions, land and water contamination such as effluent runoff and of course, waste production. Every single company, no matter how small, will produce waste products in their operations, be it paper, plastic, metal or industrial chemicals — waste elimination is a central goal of the circular economy.
Environmental Management Plans
Environmental management is about considering the direct and indirect impacts of your company’s actions by understanding and working with the entire value and supply chain and taking full responsibility for the impacts of business activities. This includes conducting audits, developing policies, changing suppliers, mapping the entire value chain and ensuring that your staff and stakeholders are aware and committed to your goals. In some industries, it is required that certain environmental management regulations are adhered to, but moving beyond compliance should be the goal of all sustainability-focused businesses.
Climate Change Mitigation
The reduction, elimination and offsetting practices that reduce or buy back the greenhouse gases released by your organization are part of the strategies needed to mitigate climate change. Any actions that contribute to the release of atmospheric compounds that trap heat and increase the temperature of the Earth lead to more extreme weather events and irreversible changes to the global climate systems. Increasingly, organizations are being called upon to lead the way in developing a climate positive society.
Transition to the Circular Economy
The myriad of strategies and approaches to restructuring the business model and product design and delivery transforms a business from the old pollution and wasteful linear model to one based on closed-loop and circular approaches of value creation. This massively reduces waste and increases customer satisfaction. Materials flow through value chains that ensure that waste is recaptured, businesses move to closed-loop production models and customers adapt to reuse and recapture systems.
Supply Chain Equity
Sustainability is about social equity as much as it is about environmental protection, and many organizations now have to assess and change supply chains to ensure that there is equity to workers and producers, including fair wages, safe working conditions, a massive reduction in ecological impacts and no unethical processes, illegal activities or harmful actions embedded in the way that goods and services are produced and delivered to market.
Resource Scarcity
Global supply chains consume vast amounts of natural resources, and the exponential growth of linear products has placed significant pressure on natural systems, resulting in less available resources — with some reaching a critical point of scarcity. As resources become more expensive and rare in nature, we will see a shift toward more effective management and resource protection, waste mining and significantly more efficient methods of capturing and reusing high value materials. Global security depends on our ability to protect natural resources needed for a healthy society.
Risk Management
Many of the world’s biggest financial institutions, underwriters, investors and shareholders are now demanding that decisions be made with respect to climate change due to the real risks and threats that it poses to financial security. These concerns have been brewing for many years, and even before the start of the Covid-19 crisis, organizations were starting to rethink the way they do business so that they could meet the pressures to act on climate change, respond to resource scarcity issues and meet the growing consumer demand for zero waste and ethical supply chains.
“Environmental risks continue to dominate the results of our annual Global Risks Perception Survey (GRPS). This year, they accounted for three of the top five risks by likelihood and four by impact. Extreme weather was the risk of greatest concern, but our survey respondents are increasingly worried about environmental policy failure.” WEF, The Global Risks Report 2019
Each program in the Sustainability in Business series comes with a workbook to plan out the strategy and plan
The Sustainability in Business series of ready-to-go online training programs offer a suite of courses that support your business no matter where you are at on your sustainability journey. This 4-part series allows employees to learn a shared vocabulary, shift to more open and creative mindsets and become effectively equipped to navigate and identify complex solution opportunities for sustainability in their industry.
