World Environment Day 2022 and Sustainability – How does this affect your business?

Every year since 1973, World Environment Day has been observed around the world on 5 June. With WED this year falling on Sunday, and on the fourth year of the platinum jubilee weekend for HM Queen Elizabeth II, one can be forgiven for not paying much attention to World Environment Day 50 years after it started.

This year’s theme for World Environment Day is “We have #OnlyOneEarth. Let’s take care of it.” ‘Planet’ is one of 3 key pillars of sustainability, the other two are ‘People’ and ‘Profit’.

‘The environment’ is with us year-round, and mindful of this it’s fitting to share some thoughts and facts about the environment, sustainability and business.

Every business has a direct link with the ‘environment’ (Planet) and ‘social’ (People) aspects of the three pillars of sustainability! Therefore, we need to be mindful of what can be done to ensure that social, environmental and economic indicators are embedded in the day-to-day activities of our respective businesses, not treated as a ‘bolt on’. ‘Bolt ons’ are often costly and ineffective in the long term.

The environment and sustainability are relevant to various aspects of businesses. These include:

*MARKETING: Did you know your website can be designed to ensure lower levels of carbon are emitted during use by visitors and images uploaded?

*IT and WEBSITE: Is the server hosting your website powered by renewable energy?

*TRAVEL: For jobs that can be done away from the office or factory, can your employees choose hotdesking, hybrid or remote work?

*TRANSPORT/VEHICLES: How are you preparing for the transition from petrol and diesel-powered vehicles used in your business when legislation across the UK will stop new ones being manufactured in another decade or earlier?

*HUMAN RESOURCES: If your business supplies larger organisations, how will you supply them with evidence of your carbon emissions (their scope 3 emissions) and ‘modern slavery’ does not exist in how your treat hired employees or suppliers?

*SUPPLY CHAIN: How prepared are you to deal with questions around ‘circularity’ and carbon emissions targets in your supply chain, upstream and downstream?

After many years of ‘greenwashing’, the global meeting of the Conference of Parties in Glasgow, UK last November (COP 26) brought climate change, carbon emissions and net zero into public discourse. However, there is much confusion and misunderstanding about terms such as ‘being green’, ‘reducing carbon emissions’, ‘committing to net zero’, ‘sustainability’. Indeed, sometimes ‘environmental sustainability’ is used incorrectly to refer to climate change or responsible use of natural resources when in fact what is meant is about taking care of the environment in perpetuity.

For businesses, environmental, social and economic indicators matter. It is important that you know what’s relevant to your business and takes action now to ensure you and your business are well prepared and can be even more competitive as the UK makes the inevitable transition to a low carbon economy.

Prepared by Veronica Broomes, Sustainability Consultant & Managing Director of Peak Homes Yorkshire’s Sustainability Audit service for “Improving sustainability in homes and businesses through energy efficiency, waste reduction and lower carbon emissions”

Learn more about Sustainability and your business, check out: https://bit.ly/3l8wTuu

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