3 Reasons Why You Should Invest in Sustainability Right Now
Oil and gas companies have their work cut out for them when it comes to sustainability. When the entire industry revolves around extracting natural resources from the Earth’s crusts, it is not uncommon for oil and gas companies to be on the receiving end of criticism from activists and general public alike.
The situation is compounded further in the event of man-made disasters. For example, even though it has been six years since British Petroleum leaked more than three million barrels of light crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico in 20101 , the company is still piecing its reputation back together.
A Brand New Approach
Sustainability has undoubtedly gained traction in the corporate world beyond the oil and gas industry. However, some organisations, certainly the more conservative ones, continue to rank business profits above sustainability efforts. After all, when it comes to business, the incentives for sound environmental practices can too often be obscured by other factors, such as quarterly results, industry competition, economic issues, etc.
Today, a myopic view of business goals is a concept of the past. As economies are increasingly globalised, no business can afford to ignore the importance of environmental practices. Corporate reputation aside, irresponsible environmental practices may hurt relations with stakeholders and, in the long term, even commercial interests.
If it is still difficult to comprehend the concept that what is good for the environment can also be good for the business, here are three convincing reasons why you should jump on the green wagon:
1. Sustainability is What Consumers Want
More than a company’s products and services, consumers are increasingly measuring companies by how they deliver said products and services — where are the components or ingredients sourced? Are they from a sustainable supplier or operator? How does the company impact the environment?
For example, performance and reliability are reasons why Canon is always scoring well in terms of customer satisfaction2 . However, the company’s sustainability efforts are increasingly lending trust to the company’s brand as a whole. For example, in 2014, more than 75,000 tonnes of used products, from copying machines to cartridges, were recovered and recycled — a number that the company is proud of. These efforts eventually add up because consumers these days are more aware than ever before of social and environmental concerns. That is why being green not only saves money but can also create brand new revenue channels.
2. Sustainability Builds Trust, Period
Customers purchase more from brands that they trust, and there is perhaps no better way to build trust than to be transparent about the company’s operations, especially on the sustainability front.
Canon Singapore’s President and CEO, Kensaku Konishi, is acutely aware of the value of sustainability and transparency. “From our point of view, [Canon Singapore] believes in communicating with our interest groups and letting them know our direction and what we are doing,” he says. “That way, stakeholders and customers can feel comfortable with us and our business can become more transparent. I believe that it is the responsibility of a company to disclose what they do, because that is accountability.”
3. Sustainability Improves the Bottom Line
Speaking of saving money, sustainability is, at its core, all about improving the bottom line. This means that everything can be boiled down to efficiency, waste reduction, energy saving and resource management. Let’s take Canon, for example. To produce one tonne of Canon Business High Grade Paper, the company uses 75% less water compared to the industry average. Less water used means lower overheads, thus reducing your bottom line in the long run.
Shifting a company’s focus to sustainability is not something that can be achieved overnight. After all, even if the higher-ups are enthusiastic, you still need everybody else within the company to buy in on the idea.
That said, adopting a top-down approach to sustainability is not a bad place to start. In fact, when it comes to introducing radical initiatives, employees often look to the leader for directions. As such, begin with yourself and the upper management, and then see the effects trickle down over time. It may be troublesome in the short run, but know that at the end of the day, everybody is a winner.