One hears about businesses benefiting from revenue growth that has come from products, services and business model innovations that are in line with green stewardship. Others benefit from purchasing and using those products and services, from both increased efficiency and lower costs. The global environment also benefits from lower greenhouse gas emissions and less resource consumption.
Over the last 10 years, green stewardship has gripped popular imagination. Environmental issues have challenged our self-awareness and started many global initiatives to respond to critical issues such as global climate change and resource depletion. As a result, attitudes toward the environment are changing to encourage innovation in conservation. The benefits that arise will outlive our current generation. Regulations to implement the National Action Plan on Climate Change and other guidelines like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) are being framed and have started to get rolled out to incentivise such programmes. All businesses, whether on their own or under pressure, will have to join the green bandwagon some day and the sooner that happens, the better for them as well as for the civilization.
Leaders are already taking action. The concept of the ‘green economy’ has emerged as a potential remedial measure in an era marked by the severe challenges of climate change, energy and food security, compounded by economic uncertainty. A number of recent trends show that the green economy is growing and that with increasing consumer awareness, the demand for green products is on the rise. The success of ‘green economy’ depends on developing a number of green initiatives, green policies and programmes by different economic institutions including corporates.
For large multinationals, greening of business represents creation of new market opportunities thereby driving up revenues, reducing internal costs through internal-facing improvements (resource optimisation) and improving a company’s reputation. This way, corporate leaders seek to secure a unique competitive advantage in the global market.
Below are some examples of successful green endeavors by corporations around the world
Green initiatives improve investors’ confidence. Investors are increasingly demanding the disclosure of information on companies’ environmental and social policies, practices and performance to support their financial investment and lending decision making including company valuations.
Since a company’s financial reports do not currently sufficiently account for the full range of risks and opportunities and performance of a company there is a call for company’s to produce integrated reports. This is that a report which displays an organisation’s stewardship not only of financial capital, but also of the other “capitals” (manufactured, human, intellectual, natural and social), their interdependence and how they contribute to the company’s success.
