Is business too busy saving itself to save the environment?

20 responses to “Is business too busy saving itself to save the environment?”

1. 

   Suresh Chaganti

   6/12/2020 9:36 AM

   It is not surprising, though I hope environmental initiatives will return to being considered. Fashion, which is one of the biggest contributors to environmental damage and has the most visible initiatives planned, is also the area most hit by the pandemic. When it is a fight-or-flight situation like it is now, it is not surprising where the mindshare and wallet share would go.

   Log in to Reply
2. 

   Jeff Sward

   6/12/2020 9:39 AM

   Retailers and brands can always find a reason to defer change. Or they can embrace the fact that change and evolution are fundamental to their business and act accordingly. That’s not to say that short term survival doesn’t leap to the top of the list pretty quickly. But short term survival tactics don’t mean that long term strategic initiatives have to be abandoned. The article says it succinctly. Sustainability = table stakes.

   Log in to Reply
3. 

   David Weinand

   6/12/2020 9:47 AM

   In the short term – survival will take priority over sustainability. However, the change in consumer preferences and awareness around sustainable practices will eventually win the day and retailers and brands will have to continue or begin initiatives around making their businesses more sustainable.

   Log in to Reply
4. 

   Ron Margulis

   6/12/2020 9:49 AM

   Quick answers – yes and positive.

   If nothing else, consumers now understand the critical importance of cleaning things to keep healthy. Their hands, prep surfaces, even doorknobs and mail. They are looking ever more closely at what they’re using to sanitize everything around them. Partly because they have time but also because they see the damage harsh chemicals can do on their hands with constant washing and elsewhere. So there is a desire for products that are better for us. The question, which will be even more important if the economy continues to tank, becomes are those items affordable to everyone? Store brands will likely influence this outcome so I remain positive the trend for more environmentally-friendly products has legs and both retailers and suppliers need to bolster their corporate sustainability programs.

   Log in to Reply
5. 

   Dave Bruno

   6/12/2020 9:54 AM

   While we all need to focus on business survival in the short-term, climate change is one of the risk factors for future pandemics. We can’t afford to lose focus on this critical issue and, hopefully, consumers will push retailers to stay focused.

   Log in to Reply
6. 

   Ricardo Belmar

   6/12/2020 9:59 AM

   For brands and retailers survival has become the top priority, even at the expense of sustainability and other environmental action plans. However, consumers are not going to abandon their sustainability preferences, if anything they’ve simply added health and safety to their top priority list. That means brands and retailers won’t be able to just abandon those initiatives without paying a customer penalty. Overall, I think the pandemic will have a neutral effect on sustainability. There may be a temporary blip, but consumers won’t shift those preferences. From their perspective, consumers may feel more strongly about the environment coming out of the pandemic as they’ll see the news reports about how much lower CO2 emissions are as well as other positive indicators due to the world being in lockdown conditions.

   Log in to Reply
7. 

   Paula Rosenblum

   6/12/2020 10:07 AM

   I think the industry is still looking to Gen X and Boomers as its primary buyers. It is time to give serious thoughts to Millennials and Gen Z. And they care a lot more about the environment.

   In case no one has noticed, we are in the midst of a culture war. It’s somewhat generational, somewhat demographic and economically based, but we are in it. However, as Bob Dylan once said “The old world is rapidly changing.” I do believe the thoughtful among our young are getting a serious dose of “Humans do not have dominion over nature and it’s time to respect her.” That will include sustainability.

   I think if a retailer is not making an effort to be color blind and environmentally aware, it’s a dead man walking.

   Log in to Reply
8. 

   Lisa Goller

   6/12/2020 10:10 AM

   2020 shifted our priorities. While consumers still care about sustainability, companies face urgent issues like health, safety and solvency. Single-use straws and bags take a back seat amid layoffs and bankruptcies. Yet, over the medium to long term, sustainability will make a comeback as the economy recovers.

   Log in to Reply
9. 

   Keith Anderson

   6/12/2020 10:14 AM

   I see a lot of mainstream commentary, especially from financiers, that the twin public health and financial crises will lead shoppers to abandon their interest in sustainable products and practices, liberating retailers and brands to relax their commitments.

   Given the volatility, it can be tough to draw conclusions about how attitudes and behaviors will evolve from here.

   Here’s one data point: according to Nielsen in the U.K. for the year to date, brands with sustainability claims have outgrown conventional brands by almost 18 percentage points.

   It is certainly reasonable to question whether shoppers will “pay a premium” for sustainable commerce. But as the public health crisis has shown us, the “cost” of a decision — to individuals, communities, countries, and the world — is not always reflected in an item’s price.

   We’ve spent the better part of a century operating under the premise that shoppers should expect infinite selection, immediate gratification, ever-lower prices, and a pleasant and frictionless experience. Every time, all the time. And if you’re not growing — and ideally outpacing your peers’ growth — you’re basically already dead.

   But it’s getting harder to ignore the stark physical realities pressuring traditional business and operating models.

   Like the spread of the pandemic, climate change is on a non-linear trajectory. We can stick to the playbooks that got us here, but the impacts on public health and quality of life will only accelerate. I think the social license to operate with such a narrow lens is rapidly diminishing.

   We can’t compartmentalize the world the way we have for decades. Economic and environmental sustainability are co-dependent, not opposed to each other, but our current incentive structures and operating models urgently need reinvention if we are to avoid the worst-case scenarios and adapt.

   I think we can find inspiration among some of the entrepreneurs building companies and brands with a more holistic view, some of which are already thriving.

   They’re founding mission-driven companies that consider profit as a key (but not the singular) consideration for operating a business.

   They’re innovating product form to reduce weight and cube and remove materials or ingredients that harm life or the environment.

   They’re eliminating wasteful packaging and accelerating investments in packaging that can be economically reused or composted.

   They’re powering their offices and production or storage facilities with renewable energy.

   They’re favoring logistics models that account for climate impacts and acknowledge trade-offs in convenience.

   There are examples in nearly every category. A few standouts: Bite toothpaste bits and Georganics in oral care. Care/Of in vitamins and supplements. Leaf in shaving. Blueland in cleaning.

   My advice is to pivot from thinking of sustainability as a branding or communications tactic and get R&D, supply chain, and operations seats at the table and incentives and runway to reinvent.

   The companies building businesses optimized for the likeliest future scenarios certainly are.

   Log in to Reply
10. 

    Andrew Blatherwick

    6/12/2020 10:19 AM

    While business will certainly be focused on saving itself, there have been many things the pandemic has taught us about how we can work without many of the practices that are bad for the environment. People will probably travel less for business now as we have all become accustomed to using online calls. Many businesses will look to establish supply chains closer to home in part if not in total and many consumers have learned to live without the disposable fashion items they used to buy. This may not be labelled as an ecological strategy but will take business in that direction while business is saving itself at the same time. These two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive and we will see many benefits coming out of the changes.

    Log in to Reply
    1. 

       Scott Norris

       6/12/2020 11:38 AM

       Shorter food supply chains = better disease/contaminant tracing and containment + more local accountability + lower transportation cost and emissions + dollars stay in the region = a more resilient local economy, population, and environment.

       Copy and paste with adaptations for clothing, many consumer goods, and power production. The smart, transformative business case right now just so happens to be the one that also rebuilds local communities and saves Earth.

       Log in to Reply
11. 

    Mark Heckman

    6/12/2020 10:21 AM

    I hope one thing we can all agree upon is the importance of retail commitment to operating in an increasingly eco-friendly manner. This priority also harmonizes well with personal safety that all brick-and-mortar retailers must promote as we move forward. I do believe that one of the few silver linings of these lockdowns was to see dolphins swimming in Venice, Italy, wildlife flourishing in closed national parks and clear skies in cities that are typically fogged with exhaust. I also get the sense that we are at a new inflection point for consumer awareness and appreciation of the world around us and agree with others that shoppers will reward retailers who make concerted efforts in sustainability.

    Log in to Reply
12. 

    Stephen Rector

    6/12/2020 10:21 AM

    For retailers to pull back on their sustainability initiatives due to COVID-19 is not a smart move. I believe that there will be a positive push going forward for sustainability programs and the brands that push the farthest will be the winners.

    Log in to Reply
13. 

    Ralph Jacobson

    6/12/2020 10:24 AM

    This is all about priorities and perception. In the grocery business. Although I know of no cases of COVID-19 contamination via infected surface contact, I do know that shoppers feel better about taking disposable plastic bags rather than using their own reusable bags during the pandemic to at least give the impression of not spreading the virus. This is true even though there is just as much of a risk of an infected clerk touching the plastic bags on the rack and potentially spreading the virus. Also some retailers are struggling for their very existence, so hugging trees may not be at the top of their list of priorities right now — sorry.

    Log in to Reply
14. 

    Kai Clarke

    6/12/2020 11:12 AM

    Beggars cannot be choosers. When a business has to choose between survival or minimizing its environmental impact, most companies cannot afford the luxury of going out of business. In the short term, this is what we should expect. Longer term, we can have different discussions and manage different expectations.

    Log in to Reply
15. 

    Phil Rubin

    6/12/2020 11:32 AM

    As Paula Rosenblum aptly points out, we are in the middle of a culture war and truly polarizing times. The winning side includes not only health and safety (wear a mask in public!) and (anti-) racism but also the environment. COVID-19 underscored our vulnerability to nature and that extends beyond a virus directly to our planet. The economic recovery post-COVID in China underscores that, at least among the affluent — which is where the greatest spending power is as we recover — sustainability matters to consumers and directly impacts their spending.

    The polarization also exists between those companies (and brands) committed to doing the right things — keeping customers and employees safe, being anti-racist (and anti a bunch of other bad things like xenophobia, other religions, etc.) and saving the planet — and those who are not. This movement isn’t new, but it is fully awakened as a result of the pandemic and the recent murders of people due to nothing more than their skin color. It’s also about brands showing loyalty to customers, employees, partners and communities. Those brands committed to doing the right things will win out over the others and that is only going to accelerate in the recovery.

    Log in to Reply
16. 

    Brian Numainville

    6/12/2020 11:47 AM

    It is a mix of both short-term and long-term focus. In the immediate future, some may pull back from sustainability initiatives and reallocate resources and efforts to survival and, where they do make commitments, it might be to other culturally relevant causes. But over the longer term, paying attention to the focus of younger generations on the environment and sustainability needs to remain in play or those customers will be alienated by those who do not.

    Log in to Reply
17. 

    Craig Sundstrom

    6/12/2020 1:38 PM

    One of the challenges (IMHO the main challenge) of the sustainability movement has been to convince people it doesn’t have to mean “less,” it can (also) mean “different.” But of course “less” is one avenue, and since it’s what we’re seeing at present, it’s likely the connection will for the moment be made firmer in people’s minds; so short-term, yes, the crisis will hurt progress.

    In the longer-term though, assuming the economies of the world revive (and if they don’t then we may have arrived at a permanent “less” solution) won’t we have the same problems, demanding the same solutions? I don’t think the impediment is going to be COVID as much as a lack on political will. The trends of the past few years have hardly been encouraging, with both right and left competing to outdo each other in stupidity.

    Log in to Reply
18. 

    Mike Osorio

    6/12/2020 2:07 PM

    Short term, basic economics will pause some intended progress on sustainability commitments. Companies clearly need to stabilize. However, I believe that the previous growing collective consumer demand for sustainable practices will accelerate in the mid to long term. The surviving companies will meet consumer demand with innovations in design and production methods, supply chains, corporate transparency, and more. Impacts from COVID and Black Lives Matter cultural shifts will produce accelerated shifts toward sustainable business practices among retailers and suppliers.

    Log in to Reply
19. 

    Chuck Ehredt

    6/14/2020 10:48 AM

    I believe customers are paying very close attention to what brands are doing during this pandemic and will support brands that have aligned values. The past 3 months of physical distancing and working from home have also broken many habits formed over the past decade. Brands must obviously survive, but I do not believe looking after our environment, surviving, and growing the business are incompatible. Brands may need to cut some initiatives, but cutting CSR initiatives related to the environment would be very short-sighted for nearly any company.

    Log in to Reply