The effects of climate change and the damage humans are causing to the environment have been long documented, however, it’s only in recent years that the true extent of the harm we’ve already caused to our planet has become evident.
Despite warnings from scientists for over 40 years that we would soon reach a tipping point where the changes we’ve made to the Earth would become irreversible, it took the 2015 Paris Agreement to see any real commitment to slowing and reducing harmful emissions.
The Paris Agreement was signed by 196 global parties that each entered into the legally binding treaty to slow the rate of global warming this century to below 2 degrees Celsius – preferably closer to 1.5 degrees. In doing so, the world’s most powerful nations finally stepped up to the plate to substantially reduce their harmful greenhouse emissions – much of which are known to be caused by businesses and manufacturing.
Why is sustainability so important?
In short, our world only has so many resources and our rate of consumption at present far outweighs the planet’s ability to replenish the stocks of these assets. Couple that with undeniable damage we are causing through farming, deforestation, mass manufacturing, etc and many scientists believe we could be just a matter of decades away from a climate catastrophe – and one that we’ll never be able to reverse.
What is business sustainability?
The process of building business sustainability involves looking at how a firm operates in the wider environment from the points of view of its sociological, economic and – crucially – ecological impact. Today, firms are coming under increasing pressure from both governments and consumers to act more responsibly in terms of the manufacturing and delivery of their goods and services.
Indeed, today’s consumers are more educated about the perils of climate change than ever and are increasingly voting with their wallets in terms of buying into brands that are perceived to be better for the environment. In today’s cut-throat commercial landscape, companies often struggle to find a competitive edge over their rivals and not taking a green approach can often be the difference between a customer choosing one firm over another.
Simple steps you can take to improve your company’s sustainability
Making your company greener and more environmentally aware needn’t necessarily be complicated or disruptive. Rather, there are some very simple steps you could take that will drastically reduce your firm’s carbon footprint, including:
Recycle more, recycle everything: One of the easiest ways to make your operations greener is to think more about recycling. At the very least, you should look educating your staff to recycle and provide them dedicated bins for recyclable items. Larger firms should also look at investing in recycling compactors.
Choose a green energy supplier: There are now several green energy providers that produce power in more environmentally friendly ways.
Move your firm’s IT to the cloud and embrace remote working: Through the lockdowns caused by the recent Coronavirus outbreak, firms increasingly had to move to the home-working model to allow their staff to continue their jobs. If you haven’t already, you should look at moving your digital services to a cloud service provider to save your staff from having to commute to work. As an added benefit, you’ll also considerably reduce your energy usage in the workplace, resulting in lower utility bills.