We are the world
June 29th 2009 Dax Lovegrove is head of business & industry relations at WWF-UK. He says the business choices we make today will shape our opportunities far into the future. WWF-UK sees a One Planet Future, in which business makes a restorative contribution to the natural world
I have sat through many CSR presentations, workshops and consultations where businesses advise on year-onyear improvements in the carbon footprint of their offices and factories, the procurement of green electricity tariffs, and the recycling of paper cups. These are small steps in the right direction, yes. But they are not adequate to meet the global challenges we face today: If we fail to address climate change, depletion of the world’s natural capital and the increasing competition for resources, then it will ultimately be the ecological crunch that hits the private sector far harder than the current financial crisis. What’s more, those little steps aren’t helping to build businesses that last in an increasingly resource-constrained world. If you want to be in business long-term, then you have to think longterm.
Don’t just do your bit
A re-education of the corporate ‘client’, or at least enlightening business interests along these lines, is often required. Instead of companies asking themselves, how can we do our ‘bit’ to reduce impacts, we need to help them ask different questions: What is the required business response to meet global challenges? How do we innovate our way out of trouble? How do we pursue greener business models? That’s why our engagement work at WWF focuses on resource constraints and business risk. We work with all kinds of business sectors in many different ways to drive climate-safe business models and accelerate moves towards a low-carbon economy. We also have various initiatives with different business sectors looking at opportunities within low-carbon finance, carbon savings through better food consumption and production, energy services models within the power sector and the provision of more sustainable mobility. Some would say making these changes is easier in some industries than in others; some have a more ‘natural’ fit with a low carbon future. Nevertheless, we maintain a similar approach to other business sectors, including the cleaning industry.
There is certainly lots to think about in terms of environmental impact when it comes to cleaning products, not least the use of chemicals that don’t lead to algae blooms and toxic pollution. At the end of last year we teamed up with Ecover to highlight the importance of the marine environment and encourage action to protect it: During the 2008 Vendee Globe yacht race in November, the Ecover-sponsored yacht, ECOVER 3, carried the WWF panda logo on its sail. Chemicals is an obvious area of concern, but less obvious is packaging. Reducing the amount of packaging made in the first place, while recycling as much of what’s left at the end of the production chain, is an area where some businesses are making headway.
Many of you will be familiar with Eziserv's proposition: It is working with retailers to pilot liquid detergent dispensing machines for customers who can bring refillable pouches into stores. The detergent can even be piped into hypermarkets from local distribution centres, thus lessening lorry loads of bottles. One simple idea is potentially eliminating the need for all those plastic bottles that sit under our sinks, while also making dramatic transportation cuts. This is just the kind of innovative disruption WWF believes is needed to drive the ecologically-sound delivery of products and services to customers. This example also starts to present questions. What other products could utilise this technology? Could we see some major shifts in how people and industry access products? Should parts of the packaging sector start to diversify, dematerialise and provide such services?
Working together
Hopefully, innovative questions like this – and many more – will be covered by the new cleaning industry sustainability forum. It’s great news that the Cleaning and Support Services Association (CSSA) is bringing together cleaning contractors, manufacturers, distributors and other sector stakeholders to drive policy positions on sustainability and also develop member services to assist the cleaning industry to become more sustainable. I was interested to see that the chief executive was calling for a strategy that places equal weight on people, profit and planet, and will enable cleaning businesses to meet client needs and grow, both in the short and long terms. Indeed, it’s a combination of joined up advocacy with some key industry allies, thought-provoking reports and discussion of new thinking within a forum of like-minded individuals that helps to move from incrementalism to transformational action. Businesses are often more responsive to new thinking collectively rather than individually when they can see momentum building among their peers. And that means they’re likely to be doing more than recycling their paper cups.
Get in touch
If you would like to work with us on any level then get in touch with our Business and Industry Unit on 01483 412 395/4 or email business@wwf.org.uk www.wwf.org.uk |
