According to McKinsey’s latest survey, more than 50 percent of executives consider sustainable management of social, governance, and environmental issues extremely important. They incorporate the idea in several different facets of the business such as reputation building, overall corporate strategy, and new-product development. However, only 30 percent of managers are showing any initiative towards actually making a difference in terms of environment protection through the integration of sustainability into their business practices.
Companies are considered to be most in line with sustainability efforts when their executives state that it is one of the top three priority things in the CEO’s agenda. It gives the impression that the company is extremely effective in the environmental management department. This helps garner more points when it comes to cost-saving, growth opportunities, and reputation building. This is also why energy companies tend to be very active in this aspect.
One of the many reasons’ companies do not actively address or engage in acts of sustainability is because they do not have a clear definition of it despite the close focus of the media and consumers. A lot of the managers who claim to have an idea of what sustainability tends to believe that management-related issues of the environment such as energy efficiency, water conservation, waste management, and green-product development, fit the definition. Others believe that it is the management of social issues, and it is very few who understand that sustainability comes in more than one form. However, of course, majority of the companies look at working towards a more sustainable business as a means of creating value for their business because it would help with building a reputation, and possibly with cutting down costs of production.
There are some companies at the moment who have been setting brilliant examples when it comes to taking initiatives towards sustainability. There are a lot of companies offering their services to help others become more environment friendly, Al Etihad Energy Services Company (Etihad ESCO) is one of those.
The Dubai-based energy service has been offering their expertise when it comes to retrofitting targets that include lighting, water fixture, cooling, and opportunities for saving on electricity and water bill. The company is owned by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) . Etihad ESCO has been able to retrofit 2,178 buildings as of 2016. Their retrofit program helped the state save up to AED 34 million by saving up to 54 GWh of energy. It was also awarded the tender to develop and install solar photovoltaic systems in 640 villas for the UAE nationals all over Hatta. . A total of 7,756 PV solar panels have already been successfully placed over the roofs of 554 villas. Each villa with solar PV system can now generate 6,520KWh of power every year, which will result in the production of 3,612,357 KWh power in total.
Several different companies have attempted their hand at making the environment relatively more sustainable than it was before. For example, Adidas sold 1 million pair of shoes that had been made using ocean plastic in 2017. Apple also used the recycling robot, Daisy, to disassemble and sort through used iPhone. Nespresso has partnered with non-profit TechnoServe to rebuild the coffee industry within South of Sudan after it had been suffocated by the civil war in the country.