The Age of Sustainability Certification Confirmation Has Begun

Question:  If your company is not environmentally certified sustainable and you are competing against a company that is, besides slashing your price/margin, how do you plan to compete, given the below?

Per this article, a study of +1,000 small to mid-sized businesses found that prior to engaging a supplier, partner or stakeholder

• 89% will check sustainability credentials
• 58% will ask for their certification
• 34% will review the company’s green policies and practices on its website
• 31% will check the company reports and mission statements that outline green objectives
• 28% will ask the company about its attitude towards sustainability
• 22% will check references regarding sustainability

Given what we do, we are excited by the numbers, but admit they appear high.  We have been seeing data with numbers roughly 50% of these.

If we go with what we have seen, which might be stale, but is certainly more conservative, we arrive at the following 

• 45% will check sustainability credentials
• 29% will ask for their certification
• 17% will review the company’s green policies and practices on its website
• 16% will check the company reports and mission statements that outline green objectives
• 14% will ask the company about its attitude towards sustainability
• 11% will check references regarding sustainability

Either way, we all know what the trend line is….and the top numbers may already be more accurate.

What is your plan?  If you don’t have one, watch this and contact us.

Per this article, carbon credits face scrutiny as a corporate path to carbon neutrality and Net Zero.

The article states that many companies are trying to buy their way to credibility, by using carbon credits to enhance their reputation, rather than using the credits as part of a sustainability plan.

We completely agree and will not help organizations that are not willing to develop a plan and execution to transition away from the use of carbon credits.

Our analogy of carbon credits is to think of them as training wheels for your bicycle.  Remember when you received your first bike?  You desperately wanted to ride it, but did not yet know how to balance yourself.  So your parents installed training wheels on the bike.  This was wonderful at first.   But then the neighbor kids starting teasing you and you wanted to get rid of those training wheels as fast as possible.  So you worked hard at learning how to ride that bike without the training wheels and used them less and less, until, you no longer needed them.

Think of carbon credits the same way.

We tell all our clients the process they should take is to start with pursuit and achievement of sustainability certification.  With the proper sustainability certification program, you will have action items for reduction of your carbon.

Then, with your sustainability certification action item list in hand, get your carbon footprint report done, so you can see what your current and future exposure is.

With the proper sustainability plan and execution, your carbon footprint should trend downward every year.

This allows you to use (audited and legitimate) carbon credits, IN THE SHORT TERM, to address the gap; knowing that next year you will use less, and the next year even less, until, just like the training wheels, you no longer need the carbon credits.

In this way, the carbon credits are used in conjunction with your sustainability plan, at progressively reduced amounts, as you pursue carbon neutrality or Net Zero, as part of your sustainability plan.

If you are seeking carbon neutrality or Net Zero status, Edenark Group can help you with the process and certification.  However, don’t call us if all you want to do is buy carbon credits year after year.  We can’t support that.

Edenark Group has a relationship with OneBlueOcean and the CEOs of the two companies are friends.

OneBlueOcean is pursuing a noble cause and is doing wonderful work. 

If you have a passion for our oceans, they are an organization you should know.

We occasionally share some of the videos produced by OneBlueOcean.

Here is Episode 2 of the In Search of Sunrise series.

Enjoy!

It is Mental Health Awareness Month and that should cause us to not only think about the mental health of individuals, but also of the combined mental health of organizations.

This article is titled ‘Sustainability and Employee Wellness:  The Hidden Connection’ and talks about the (often unnoticed) benefits an organization gains on employee wellness by pursuing a sustainability program.

The benefits might be hidden to some but the connection between sustainability and wellness is not hidden to Edenark Group.  Our entire business is based on the premise that if you feel better you will want to do more for others…..and if you do more for others, you feel better.  All of this leads to improved financial performance for the organization.

Sustainability and Wellness are two sides of the same coin for us.

We built the Edenark Group ISO 14001 sustainability certification program to INCLUDE a people-piece that addresses employee performance, health and happiness.  Via this webinar, the first thing we tell people, who are thinking about a sustainability program, is to make sure the program they select includes a people-piece.

Stating it more directly, a sustainability program is not complete if it does not have a people piece that addresses the most important part of an organization – the people.

As for us, we have a high-altitude oxygen gym – Gym For The Brain – a wellness website – A Better World Starts With Me – that is designed to address the Big 5 (insomnia, stress, anxiety, physical pain and mental acuity) and a neurofeedback center – Center For Brain Training.

Our program helps employees feel better; while helping the organization get in front of things like workplace violence, achieve higher productivity, benefit the planet, and make more money.

Nothing hidden in our program.

Per this article from Reuters, bankers and money managers whose job title includes Sustainability or ESG, are earning 38% more than their peers who do not have Sustainability or ESG in their titles.

That’s a sizable difference and does not include bonuses.

People don’t get paid more to do things that produce less profit.  They get paid more when more money is being made.

Per this article, McKinsey / NielsenIQ studied 600,000 products from 44,000 brands, from 2017 -2022 and arrived at these results

• There is a clear and material link between ESG-related claims and consumer spending
• Specifically, ESG-related brands out-performed their non-sustainable peers by 40%

Further,  

• Consumers continue to shift their spending toward ESG products
• All brand sizes (large, medium and small) saw benefit from being sustainable / ESG
• The more specific your claim, the greater your growth
• More claims produced greater growth

In summary,

• Like so many other studies, this study shows that sustainable / ESG brands are able to satisfy consumer demand and grow faster
• It also explains why so many organizations Greenwash – they want the benefit without the work

Edenark Group will do the majority of the work to help you become certified sustainable.  This will allow you to support your claims, satisfy the consumer, and grow faster than your peers. 

Watch this webinar and contact us.  You will be happy you did.

Per a 2022 Deloitte study of 2,000+ business leaders

• 97% have already felt negative impact of climate change
• 96% expect climate change to impact strategy over next 3 years
• 89% agree there is a climate emergency
• 81% have personally been impacted by climate events over the past year
• 79% believe the world is at a climate tipping point (up from 59% in 2021)
• 75% feel pressure by consumers/clients to act on climate change
• 66% feel pressured to act driven by competitors/peers
• 65% feel pressure to act by employees

• However, 88% believe we can limit the worst impacts if we act immediately

In his opening letter to the study, Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO, ends with, “It’s time to prove we’re up to the challenge.”

If your company wishes to join the thousands of other companies that have taken up the challenge, please contact us.

Mental Health Awareness Month is the perfect time for Gym For The Brain to update its website.

Every week we are part of life-changing success stories and are thrilled to be helping clients improve their performance, health and happiness.

All Gym For The Brain products are offered via Edenark Group’s A Better World Starts With Me.

Visit us.  You will be happy you did.

For organizational leaders who support the environment and ensuring a future for our children….and wish to be a leader and voice for same….there is no better program than the Edenark Group ISO 14001

This presentation explains why you might want to do the right thing and how it will become a good thing.