The issue that dominated world media in 2007 was climate change. It grabbed headlines and filled column inches almost daily. Surely there is not a business leader on the planet who hasn’t given consideration yet to how his or her company will be impacted by climate change and what the company can do to minimise risk and find opportunities.
Climate change became a mainstream political issue; it is becoming a mainstream trade issue; it is certainly a business strategy challenge; and presents both incredible risk and opportunities. But it is not the only environmental issue that has arisen on the global agenda.
Water also grabbed headlines in 2007. It came in floods in some parts of the country. It never stopped coming, it seemed, during the Johannesburg summer, and yet other parts of the country suffered crop-threatening droughts. The pattern was mirrored all over the world.
“It’s hard to imagine why some people still think that environmental issues are peripheral to business. Of course, not all the environmental issues business faces on a daily basis are quite so dramatic. It might be pollution management or new product design or a better way of protecting environmental services. But often these issues have a big impact on many peoples’ lives. They are core to strategy, core to staying in business for the long term, core to managing risk and core to achieving efficiency. Environmental issues are some of the hardest challenges business faces — at least in part because they cannot be entirely controlled.
As judges of the Mail & Guardian‘s “Greening the Future” competition, every year we look forward to those entries that demonstrate that business is contributing to a better, greener future.
The entries that win are those that demonstrate links to core business strategy, those that provide evidence of innovation in resolving issues that are critical to the business and the broader community. It might be climate change or energy efficiency or using less water or protecting biodiversity. Most importantly we would like to see some analysis of why the company tackled the particular issue and why the particular response makes sense. It might not be an issue that manifests in the operational field, but there must be a compelling reason why it is being addressed and if it isn’t a business-Âspecific issue, how, in time, it will be owned and driven for the greater good.
Innovation sets good entries apart. Equally important is that the initiative is commerically and environmentally sustainable. We are looking for programmes that will survive once the media spotlight is turned off. We need to know how they will become ingrained in the company approach and be followed by further improvements in time.
Karin Ireton is the head of sustainable development — markets and economics at Anglo American and chairs the Greening the Future judging committee