Despite COVID-19, many of the world’s businesses remain committed to their net zero sustainability plans, but what does improving your sustainability mean in terms of a green recovery? Like a lot of brands, you might be working hard to come up with an effective strategy to reach net zero emissions, but this is now something to prioritise. Now is the best time to invest and implement a sustainability strategy as part of the UK’s green recovery.
The benefits of having a long-term sustainability strategy make it more than worth investing your time in – ensuring you’re prepared against any future climate policies and raising a good degree of trust with the increasing number of consumers who make it a priority to look for sustainability credentials in the products and services they choose. If you’re just beginning on this journey, you should start by finding out more about what net zero is and why it’s such a hot topic for businesses who are engaging with the green economic recovery efforts post COVID-19.
Internal acknowledgement
Acknowledging and introducing sustainability into your workplace by engaging employees and leaders is also becoming a fundamental part of business, despite initial hurdles. The reality is that there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to reducing carbon emissions, but the best place to start is by getting staff onboard to advocate from within. Employees will be looking for more resilient companies post-pandemic and are over five times more likely to stay at a company where they feel a strong sense of purpose. It’s also worth noting that many remote working staff are becoming more receptive to engagement through virtual learning platforms. With the right tone of messaging, advice can go a long way.
Consumer engagement
Having buy-in from staff is a good place to start, but customer buy-in is just as important. Showcasing your sustainability credentials is a key part of improving brand loyalty as part of your strategy. Around 73% of UK consumers actively look out for ethical and sustainable products and services, while 61% of worldwide consumers would actively ditch a brand if they discovered it had poor environmental credentials. It’s more important than ever to actively show your brand is doing its part in being sustainable.
Sustainable goals
Some of the most common corporate sustainability goals may be too broad to base a strategy around, but they are still useful to know. It’s important to take full stock of your business’ emissions – including those in the supply chain – as these emissions can be up to five times more than direct operations.
Leveraging sustainability goals will protect your company against any new climate-related legislation and inspire your customers with social responsibility and positive change. Businesses that embrace and leverage sustainability also increase their market opportunity – so there’s no better time to start than now. The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) offers recommendations on understanding future risk regarding climate change.
How we can help
Energy Saving Trust offers a fully inclusive sustainability strategy service that can help your business:
- create SMART carbon reduction targets
- promote change across your sector, leading by example
- deliver long-term value with changes
- showcase sustainability credentials to consumers
- gain support from our impartial and consumer trusted brand
If you would like our expertise in sustainability plans and credentials – whether it’s to build consumer and staff trust or to develop a comprehensive sustainability strategy with a focus on reducing your businesses carbon footprint – you can contact us and a member of our team will be in touch to discuss your business needs.