This is one of the best articles I have seen regarding misconceptions around sustainability.

 

Per the article, here are five of the most common myths about sustainability:

 

  • ESG is sustainability – People regularly use them interchangeably, yet they are opposite each other. ESG is a framework for assessing outside-in risk. It asks: What environmental, social, or governance issues could impact our financial performance? In other words, what could go wrong that might hurt the company’s economic value? It’s not a moral stance – it’s business hygiene. As a due diligence tool for investors, it’s critical but narrow. Sustainability, by contrast, is inside-out value creation. It starts from a different question: Where do we leave our biggest mark on people and planet? And how can we turn that into long-term value? It’s broader, opportunity-driven, and anchored in strategy, innovation, and purpose. It’s not about avoiding risk – it’s about creating value.

Bottom line: ESG is like getting your cholesterol checked, essential for spotting early warning signs that could threaten the company’s health. Sustainability is the balanced diet, exercise, and good sleep that keeps the whole system performing over the long term. You need both, but we shouldn’t confuse them.

 

  • Sustainability = climate – Climate is critical, but it is only one of the nine parts of sustainability. Further, six of those nine are in trouble.  So, yes, we need to look at climate change.  But we cannot exclusively focus on it, as biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, ocean acidification, stratospheric ozone depletion, atmospheric aerosol loading and the introduction of novel entities, all need attention.

Bottom line:  We have a lot of work to do!

 

  • Sustainability = cost – Most SMEs resist even talking about sustainability as they are convinced it will ‘cost too much.’ Those that are willing to have a conversation always ask, “What is it going to cost me?”  However, all our clients, who renew every year, have enjoyed a positive ROI since they started.  Why is there such a disconnect between myth and reality on this point?  From what we have seen, most SMEs put sustainability solely on the cost side of their P&L, while our clients see that, if done right, it sits on both the cost AND the revenue side.  When you become certified sustainable, you are going to have some projects that have expected investment breakevens, but you are also going to have the ability to use your certification as a revenue-side brand builder.

Bottom line:  Stop thinking that sustainability is just a cost-side play.  It can be the smartest, most strategic and profitable play you will make.

 

  • Sustainable companies/products do not sell – We hear company leaders regularly say, “My clients never ask me if I am sustainable. This is not something they want.”  If that were true, why is there so much greenwashing and why are there hundreds of studies that show that sustainable companies and products are outselling their non-sustainable peers?

Bottom line:  Certified sustainable companies are lapping the field.

 

  • It’s Game Over for sustainability – Some people are followers. If a loud voice yells that sustainability is dead, they are happy to swallow the hype.  But that does not change the reality that we are consuming 1.8 Earths every year.  The need is greater today than it was yesterday and it will be greater tomorrow than it is today.

Bottom line:  The need and demand for sustainability is not going away.  The decision is simply over being a leader or being a follower.

 

If the above resonates and you decide you want to be a leader, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.