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One way for businesses to make the idea of sustainability more real is
to think about it in terms of their relationships to the forests of the
world. Forests are found on every human-inhabited continent of the world.
They provide breathable air, clean water and the products required by businesses
every day, such as packaging, user manuals, forms, marketing materials,
boardroom tables—even brake pads for delivery trucks. Forests also
contribute to a stable global climate—helping to minimize business
risk.
Forests, then, play a vital role for any business, and it follows
that ensuring the long-term viability of the world’s forests is important
to business success. When businesses begin to think about their reliance
on forests they can start to act in ways that align financial objectives
and daily practices with environmental and social outcomes.
A framework for identifying key issues
Whether one thinks of forests as a defining metaphor or not, it
is important to view a company’s practices through a broad life-cycle
lens. This allows companies to recognize the intricate and inter-related
nature of environmental, social and financial issues. It also places the
company within the context of a larger supply chain, recognizing that a
company’s footprint does not begin and end at its doorstep.
Understanding the key social and environmental issues associated
with a company’s business can be challenging. Companies need a simple
framework they can apply to their own unique business operations and use
to identify key issues. A framework should be broad enough to capture the
major issues facing every business and establish a common language that
stakeholders (such as suppliers, employees and others) recognize and value.
The framework should also be presented in the context of the outcomes one
hopes to achieve, which will drive actions toward sustainability.
As an example, Metafore’s recommended reference framework considers
four broad objectives, each described in detail below.
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Maximize the value and utility of raw materials
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Employ clean production practices
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Maintain the productivity of natural systems
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Respect people and society
Maximize the value and utility of raw materials
The process of making, marketing and distributing products requires
multiple raw-material inputs such as cotton, cellulose fibers and petroleum
for making plastics and other composites. While some raw materials come
from renewable sources, others can only be used by depleting finite resources
over time.
Maximizing the value of raw materials entails favoring processes that yield the
most benefit with the fewest renewable resources that require few, if any, nonrenewable
raw-material inputs. It also means capturing the value of raw materials at the
end of a product’s useful life for reuse in another application or for
energy creation. In this sense, the idea of maximizing the value of a raw material
goes hand-in-hand with minimizing waste.
Some companies have addressed this issue by reducing the thickness—also
known as the basis weight—of book and magazine paper, or designing products
using materials that can be easily recycled and reused.
Employ clean production practices
Manufacturing, production and distribution processes can create concentrations
of substances that negatively affect air, water, earth and climate. These include
air emissions and pollutants such as solvents, mercury and greenhouse gases.
They may be part of the final product, such as a finish or bonding agent, or
even a by-product of production.
For businesses, some of the greatest challenges and opportunities related to
sustainability are in energy. Since companies use energy directly in their operations
and indirectly through the products they buy, there are many ways businesses
can make a positive impact—such as buying renewable energy or purchasing
products created with cleaner energy profiles.
Maintain the productivity of natural systems
Natural systems are the dynamic ecological processes that provide and sustain
renewable resources that living beings require. Natural systems such as forests,
oceans, wetlands and prairies produce fiber, food and other products. They also
provide other benefits such as clean air and water, biodiversity and climate
regulation. The long-term productivity of natural systems can only be maintained
through careful management designed to ensure the continuous function and production
of a range of benefits over time.
There is a growing number of independent standards for managing natural systems
that can be used to certify the quality of individual operations. Third-party
certification can be used to ensure that forests, farms and fisheries are managed
well and maintain ecosystem values.
There are some areas in which natural systems are so sensitive that management
for the production of products for broad human consumption may be inappropriate.
Natural systems may also be degraded through the conversion of one natural system
(such as a forest) to another (such as agriculture for soybeans, cotton or bamboo).
In either case, companies should ensure that products they buy or use are not
derived in ways that result in the loss of natural system functions.
Respect for people and society
To conduct business, companies rely on people, communities and the legal structures
and institutions they create. Through their products and operations, all businesses
have a range of explicit and implicit relationships with workers, consumers and
communities. Companies have a choice of acknowledging these connections and acting
in ways that respect their importance, particularly as operations and purchasing
becomes increasingly global in nature.
Wood and paper products are traded globally. In regions of the world with higher
risks of corruption and criminal activity, large volumes of timber can be harvested,
transported, processed or sold illegally. This illegal activity robs national
governments and local communities of needed revenue, undercuts prices of legally
harvested forest products on the world market and finances further conflict.
Where there are inconsistent or conflicting laws within developing countries,
the rights of indigenous peoples may be compromised, particularly where there
are valuable resources at play. International protocols can provide standards
to help businesses recognize those rights through the supply chain.
Another point to consider when factoring in the respect for people and society
into business decisions are health, safety and labor practices. These vary widely
at a global level and regulations may be absent or poorly enforced in some developing
regions of the world.
Businesses can look to international standards such as the United Nations
Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and other Business
Enterprises
with Regard to Human Rights’ to ensure that their actions and those of
their suppliers are reasonable and responsible.
Action steps for aligning business operations with social and environmental outcomes
A framework is helpful for sorting through issues, but there are several steps
any business should consider to infuse environmental and social goals with financial
goals and general business operations. They involve education on the issues,
building alliances internally and externally, and collaborating across the supply
chain to turn mutually beneficial solutions into business opportunities.
Clarify the company’s objectives based on core values, and determine what
you hope to accomplish. A comprehensive internal sustainability framework guides
future action, points the organizational compass toward measurable outcomes,
and establishes a common language that has meaning to employees, companies within
the supply chain and others. Companies that lack clarity on core values or end
goals may find themselves in a situation where corporate decisions on environmental
and social issues are determined by outsiders rather than the company’s
business-management team.
Identify and evaluate the key social and environmental issues relevant to your
business practices using a comprehensive life-cycle perspective (see framework).
Gain the support of senior management and encourage key internal champions such
as environmental specialists and procurement personnel. Company-wide energy will
be needed when the business engages its buyers and vendors to make sure they
can achieve the organization’s goals.
Conduct a preliminary supply chain audit to assess the social and environmental
issues associated with all products purchased and used for operations, facilities
and product lines. A preliminary audit will identify the types of products the
company consumes, and can reveal the complexity of a company’s supply chain,
presenting ways to streamline it.
Engage and listen to suppliers to better understand how they can help you achieve
your objectives and where they may have challenges meeting your needs. Early
engagement with suppliers and vendors will also reveal those who are most willing
to help the company.
Engage external interests and stakeholders to hear their thoughts and concerns.
There may be community groups and environmental non-governmental organizations
with a vested interest in your actions. Effective stakeholder engagement focuses
on informing, listening and responding.
Seek out experts who can help the company understand issues and terminology,
and navigate the social, political and technical landscape. Recognize the difference
between organizations advocating for specific issues or solutions and those that
can help you achieve your aims.
Communicate the company’s objectives and actions clearly to all those interested,
and continue to listen to input from both internal and external parties. Communicate
by acting with transparency whenever possible.
Seek partnerships with suppliers and others based on an alignment of values and
a mutual interest in shared outcomes. Business relationships based on shared
values provide opportunities for stronger and more effective supply chains, in
which companies help each other meet social, environmental and financial business
objectives.
Putting it all together
Sustainability does not have to be an abstract concept. Given that every business
is in the forest business, forests offer a very tangible proxy for beginning
to think and act in ways that lead a company toward sustainability.
Knowing a company’s core values is a fundamental first step in developing
corporate objectives that can align financial objectives with environmental and
social outcomes. Once values and objectives are clear, a simple but comprehensive
framework can be applied to identify key social and environmental issues unique
to a particular company’s operations.
Since the social and environmental footprint of any business extends beyond its
own walls, this is a journey that no single company can take alone. In fact,
there are enormous business opportunities in seeking out partners of all sorts—suppliers,
customers and stakeholders—that have shared values and common interests
in integrating environmental, social and financial objectives within a business
process.
These efforts can improve business partnerships and supply-chain relationships,
build allegiance with both customers and employees, and position a company brand
as a values-driven leader of positive change.
Metafore is a Portland, Ore.-based non-profit that works with business leaders
to align business objectives with environmental and social outcomes. To learn
more, visit www.metafore.org or
call (503) 224-2205.
1 University of Minnesota
Human Rights Library Web site, http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/links/norms-Aug2003.html;
U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/Sub.2/2003/12/Rev.2 (2003).
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