I was very fortunate recently to be invited to listen to a talk by Daniel C. Esty hosted by Berry Simons and Beca Ltd. Daniel is a Professor of Environmental Law and Policy at Yale and co-author of the book Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage. This book has been out since 2006 and I confess, rather ashamedly, that I haven't read it, but after hearing him talk I will certainly be doing so.
For me, he condensed all of the most important ideas about how and why businesses should be sustainable into a series of excellent short sound bites which I furiously scribbled down. I share some of the ones I found most meaningful below:
No externalities. Companies must pay for the harm they cause
This is far and away his key message. Its HUGE. Imagine a world where all producers of products had to take back the waste created by the use of their products. A world where there was extended producer responsibility on chemicals, building materials, packaging. Frankly I find this mind boggling to even contemplate. However there are small examples of where this is happening already. We need to highlight this best practise, copy it and grow it. Some policy and regulations would be a really big help! We, as consumers, need to support the businesses who are already doing this.
Sustainability is a lens to drive innovation
We are not just talking technology innovation, but new thinking in EVERY domain of life: finance, policy, how you tell the story, how you engage the public etc. etc. People cling to what they know, but the way we have always done things will not work to bring us a sustainable future.
Sustainability is a journey not an endpoint
Indeed. Its a very long term game. Daniel suggests thinking in terms of 10 year plans. 20 years even.
The answer is going to be branding
Brand identity is the intangible but deeply valuable gold in all this. Transparency is not even a choice. The great brands will have products and services where the sustainability of the whole supply chain has been carefully considered and chosen. A relevant case in point: when our awesome international brand Icebreaker tenders for their international freight contract, they require their freight providers to answer a rigorous and in-depth questionnaire about the sustainability of their business.
Density is the friend of sustainability
Amen. Such an important concept that is so relevant and sadly so lost in the currentAuckland (and probably every) debate about urban intensification.
Farmers have gotten a free ride for decades
Ouch! It feels almost blasphemous to repeat this particular statement, it feels very disloyal to shine the spotlight on our fine agricultural back bone. Sadly there's a lot of truth to this. On the flipside, there is so much opportunity to improve farming practices, and in doing so, tell the story to our markets offshore who will increasingly care about this very fact.
It's not easy to be green
No- one said this would be easy. Nothing truly meaningful and worthwhile is ever easy. The greatest rewards are always outside our comfort zones. However, lets not forget we are living in a time of rapid technological change and unprecedented global connectedness thanks to the knowledge economy, smart phones, social media and internet based business. I see huge potential for this greater global connectedness to benefit the journey on the long sustainability road.
I feel, and Daniel confirmed for me, that we are on a much higher trajectory of action now. After more than 10 years of working in and on the periphery of the environmental sustainability field in NZ, I feel energised, I see a renewed sense of momentum, an imperative, because you know what? the climate is giving us feedback.
I would love to hear your thoughts on these big ideas. Have you read the book? what did you think?