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Can Profitable And Sustainable Growth Coexist?

Aamir Paul, President, North America Operations, Schneider Electric.

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It’s a question I frequently hear from customers, peers in the energy industry and other tech leaders who wonder if we can prioritize both in the current environment.

And my answer, always, is this: the alternative cannot.

As leaders, we understand the effects of climate change—we see them as we contend with power outages, pandemics 단기알바 and the loss of resources. We talk about acting more sustainably. But 37% of the Fortune Global 500 haven’t yet made a climate commitment, let alone have taken substantive action to decarbonize. I believe these organizations will be left behind.

The reason is clear: sustainability is intrinsically connected to profitability. You must invest in it to survive.

Sustainability As A Business Opportunity

Decarbonization investments aren’t just a business imperative. They’re business opportunities.

Let’s start with energy costs, which comprise a significant portion of an organization’s operational budget. Sustainable technologies—from digital software that tracks energy use to electrification and microgrids—are designed to make you run efficiently from an energy standpoint, resulting in lower operating expenses.

Leading real estate service provider JLL is a prime example of an organization utilizing digital and electric decarbonization solutions to impact the bottom line. By connecting its building’s power, controls, indoor air quality monitors and other efficiency tools under a single system, it reduced energy use by 30%.

Next, consider that we live in a world where sustainability is an investor, consumer and employee priority. These decarbonization innovations don’t just save money on the operational front; they also build business loyalty. Are you operating a net-zero building? Have you just invested in a microgrid? News like that garners positive attention from your stakeholders through more investments, higher sales and committed employees.

Sustainability As A Tool For Overcoming Global Challenges, Locally

Whether we are talking about macroeconomics, the environment, or geopolitics—there’s no shortage of global challenges. But tackling them as a point-solution problem isn’t a long-term strategy. So, what is?

Systemic sustainability—where solutions and strategies are baked into each organizational facet—is one of the most effective and available ways for us to overcome climate change, energy reliability, supply chain hurdles and other crises.

Those sustainability technologies I outlined above are efficiency drivers, helping curb carbon emissions and reducing energy when deployed on a large scale. They also enhance energy reliability, with solar panels, battery storage, microgrids, etc., backing up our aging electrical grid, so there is no need to stop operations during a utility outage or to avoid peak energy pricing.

Of course, the sustainability conversation involves so much more than widgets and solutions; We can’t talk about systemic sustainability without addressing the value chain. What’s particularly striking is the connection between sustainable material sourcing and business success. In a survey of over 350 companies, Stanford Business researchers found that 63% of buyers and 73% of suppliers believed sustainable procurement helped them endure the pandemic.

Sustainability As An Ecosystem Builder

Digging deeper into the supply chain topic is vital when discussing the connection between profits and decarbonization. After all, supply chain emissions are 12 times larger than operational emissions, meaning no one company can decarbonize alone.

As the tremendous impact of Scope 3 emissions becomes better known, sustainable companies naturally create ecosystems with other sustainable companies to maximize efforts—leaving everyone else behind.

Consider Walmart. Through Project Gigaton™, this global powerhouse engages (read: educates, supports and recognizes) suppliers with a goal to reduce or avoid one million metric tons of greenhouse gases across its global value chain by 2030. Suppliers—eager to continue their strategic partnerships with this revenue leader, learn how to source more environmentally friendly raw materials and use renewable energy. Already at 57% of its goal with more than half of the project timeline to go, Walmart and its suppliers are proving that partnering for sustainability is good for business and profits.

Can Walmart’s approach be scaled down? Absolutely. The key is knowing who the partners are and allying with them to plan, act, report and refine across the sustainability journey.

By showing commitment and action, sustainability partnerships are a natural gateway toward growth. They encourage investors to invest, consumers to purchase and employees to want to work there.

Sustainability Requires Leadership

What’s most interesting to me is how personal these conversations of sustainability and profitability really are. So often, to turn sustainability ambitions into action, it takes a leader who both feels a personal responsibility to act and, second, understands there is no tradeoff between doing good for business and the world.

Sustainability leaders around us, like Rose Marcario of Patagonia, Leena Nair of Unilever and Andrew Anagnost of Autodesk, are ordinary people doing extraordinary work. They understand the business benefits, and they find partners to fast-track strategies.

They know that to do good, you have to be good. And to be successful, you have to be sustainable.

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