In January 2007 South Africa woke up to a black day when, for the first time, the whole country experienced electrical power cuts. We faced an inconvenient truth and knew then that things would never be the same — that change was in the air, so to speak.
The department of energy and minerals has said that power failures, caused largely by a lack of infrastructure maintenance, cost the economy between R2,6-billion and R8-billion a year. Meanwhile, word from our electricity supplier is that citizens should brace themselves for more power disruptions until the supply grid can be boosted with additional capacity. It all may take a few years.
The cost of keeping your business operational is alarming. One of the major banks, for example, announced it would spend R50-million on stand-by generators and uninterrupted power supply (UPS) units at its branches nationwide.
This, of course, is only one element in the bigger picture of business’s sustainment. One must also ask whether business could do more to be part of the solution to global warming.
Big business has become the most dominant institution in the global village and its ability to influence behaviour and social norms — and mobilise resources — remains unchallenged. And so it comes down to asking big business what role it can play.
In South Africa, we have a number of shining examples of corporate activism in companies such as BP, Richards Bay Aluminium and Woolworths. While we recognise their efforts, it is imperative to get the country as a whole to play its part. For corporate South Africa, it means looking at every action that can be taken to reduce the negative environmental impacts of business operations.
South Africa initiated its environment management campaign, Indalo Yethu (a Nguni word meaning ”our environment”) late last year. Conceived as a legacy project of the World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg in 2002, Indalo Yethu essentially seeks to promote the appreciation of responsible environmental action and activism in the daily lives of all South Africans. It advocates that humans can derive tangible and measurable benefits from better consumption patterns and improved waste management, while protecting and conserving natural resources.
It requires reaching government’s policy makers, the private sector, civil society formations, communities, young people and women — essentially all sectors of society — within the context of their daily lives.
Central to the activist message is the call to ”do what you can”. In the private sector, leadership should be encouraged to improve environmental management practices within the corporate walls, not only through supplier-relationship management and corporate social investment, but by tapping into the collective energy and consciousness of their organisations. Business has to concede that there is a problem, and that the products we produce are contributing to it.
Secondly, it is critical that business work together with government to influence any future policies and legislation.
Lastly, business must look at its current operating methodologies and identify opportunities for immediate behaviour change.
Consider, for example, that a leading bank houses close to 6 000 employees within its superblock precinct in the centre of Johannesburg. A great deal can be done to enhance environmental awareness in day-to-day living within the workplace, from the use of recyclable materials in their staff kitchen and restaurants and energy-efficient lighting at each desk, to water and waste management throughout the branch network. Other opportunities include:
- reduce energy consumption,
- recycle waste,
- re-use resources,
- use water efficiently,
- promote natural systems,
- reduce use of chemicals, and
- use efficient transport.
For any enterprise, the critical point of success should be to demonstrate, in the short term at least, that we can relieve the pressure on the national energy infrastructure. To a great extent, this can be achieved by galvanising organisations to take cognisance of their ability to be active participants in the solution at the same time as other stakeholders, such as our cities, move to influence building efficiency and urban planning.
Campaigns like Indalo Yethu will seek to engage corporations and jointly develop what can be loosely termed ”the green codes of good practice”. However, one must recognise that a business struggling to increase its effectiveness and profit, while lowering operational expense, is unlikely to voluntarily invest time and money in changes to make it more environmentally friendly.
Success would depend on a number of factors, with building design and material the major ones. A company that owns its own building is also more likely to invest in ”greening” its environment. Most companies can start by doing a quick scan of its building, followed by a detailed energy audit, which should result in the implementation of energy-efficiency measures.
In terms of cost, it has long been confirmed that it is cheaper to get it right in the beginning than to retrofit a building to be green.
Hence the call to ”do what you can”. South African companies need to be anxious about global warming and energy use and its impact on their business — and act. We must preserve our energy capacity, because it is far more cost-effective and environmentally friendly to promote energy efficiency rather than to invest in additional capacity.
What cannot be overlooked is the uncomfortable truth of our situation. That light at the end of the tunnel better be a low-wattage bulb, lest it trips the main switch and plunges us back into darkness.
Donald Kau is an executive director at Meropa Communications and a Greening the Future judge. He writes in his personal capacity