Recently, the concept of corporate sustainability has gained traction as the world begins to pay more and more attention to the impact of climate change. Walmart and McDonald’s, both large corporations, have listed “sustainability” as a company priority, pressuring other companies, both large and small, to incorporate sustainable approaches into their businesses.
According to Investopedia, corporate sustainability refers to a sustainable approach to business that integrates responsible, environmental, social, and governmental (economic) values. This is also known as ESG. First, let’s define the broader term, sustainability: meeting the needs of the present without damaging the future generations. The environmental pillar focuses on reducing damage to the environment such as carbon footprint and managing waste and water usage. The social pillar focuses on treating employees well and giving benefits to them. The governmental or economic pillar focuses on profitability and transparency.
So, what is recent data telling us about corporate sustainability? According to Forbes, sustainability is a priority for 65% of companies. Businesses seem to understand that they must play their part in preserving this planet and there have been multiple announcements from prominent companies in the past year promising to be sustainable. In 2022, AWS (Amazon Web Services) announced that they would be water positive by 2030, meaning that they will give more water back to communities than what is used in their operations. Forty other businesses also joined Amazon’s Climate Pledge to be fully carbon neutral by 2040.
Although the main aim of corporate sustainability should be to protect the environment, implementing environmentally conscious practices can have additional benefits. Sustainable businesses can be particularly attractive to investors, who look for businesses that make a positive impact on the world. Additionally, 62% of customers are willing to change their purchasing patterns to reduce environmental damage and 75% of millennials would spend more on environmentally-friendly products.
With all this in mind, industries should strive to change their practices as a way of showing that they care about the environment. Change in the corporate world is one step out of many that will drive change in the way the world views climate change.
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