By Srinath Sridharan
Sustainability is neither a buzzword nor jargon. It is a core-driver in our daily lives. The negative impact of climate change is more evident with changes across the social, environmental, and financial landscapes, and it is affecting all of us. In the business world, sustainability is no longer a “nice to have” but a “must do”. If we don’t get our sustainability act right—together as a planet—we are staring at massive damages.
The efforts to achieve environmentally-sustainable economic development largely will have to start at the local level, while we factor in the interdependence of nations, societies and global economies. Individual countries, in conjunction with their industrial stakeholders, will need to develop approaches to solving sustainability problems that are tailored to their own rate of economic development, cultures, religions, and political systems. Among so many aspects of preserving our natural resources, we have to gear up with exponentially-increased speed on reversing the shrinking of the planet’s biodiversity, using renewable energy sources, reforestation, retrofitting our factories, water-conservation, pollution control, etc. In short, sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. When we talk about sustainability, we generally think mostly, or only, about the environment. We have to start thinking of the social aspects too. As a common factor across these, technology will be an important player.
All enterprise initiatives around sustainability should have measurable goals with milestones to track, and not be dependent only on certain people within the teams, and should leverage commercially available digital tools. Call it MAD if you will: Measurement-based, Attrition-proof, Digital-led. The manufacturing, transportation, agriculture and construction sectors define where we work and play, what we eat and how goods and services are transported. However, their adverse impact on the environment is high. In order to minimise this negative impact, it is essential to understand the problem in detail and in its full magnitude. Quantifying the impact is not a straight-line method and hence it becomes important to establish the baselines well.
The solution is complex, multi-variable-dependent and would benefit from use of technology. Technology can help in measuring and increasing productivity, offering efficiency and cost-savings, reducing product waste, chemicals and resources, and analysing and tracking progress, all of which can help minimise the negative impact on the environment. For example, precision application equipment can reduce the amount of water and chemicals needed to operate today’s farms, and advanced technologies like robots, drones and various types of sensors can help agricultural businesses become more environmentally-friendly. The environmental benefits of technology in agriculture include a reduced impact on natural ecosystems and less runoff of chemicals into rivers.
Unlocking the solution to industrialisation’s impact on the environment won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight. In the traditional business template, digital technology and environmental sustainability seem mutually exclusive and unrelated. One is driven by sweeping technological change brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. These could transform global manufacturing, industrial processes, and labour. Put simply, it is about efficiencies. The other is driven by a combination of climate and environmental degradation and geopolitical instability, all of which demand a new approach that prioritises resource-governance and environmental stewardship.
Businesses increasingly recognise that it will be impossible to meet the consumers’ growing demand for products and services purely through a linear increase in production and consumption. We won’t be able to address the ecological and social challenges of the day without fundamental business model innovation and adopting consciously newer and better ways of living. Simply changing the ownership of brown assets won’t happen overnight or solve the problems of these fossil-fuel based sectors. The solution is to stay invested in these brown assets to facilitate their transition to green. At the present crossroads, without digital technology, it would be harder for companies to lessen their pollution footprint or manage waste.
Sustainability goals and consequent efforts would determine if an enterprise would survive! No wonder, leading corporate boards track every milestone of enterprise sustainability and outcomes.
As one of the most populous nations, with the youth dominating the present, India has a clear and large stake in this key aspect of preserving nature. Its enterprises are expected to share the vision and to help India play a pivotal role in the global climate change transformation. In this journey, the sustainability goals of the enterprises will have to spell ‘I.N.D.I.A’: Integrated-to-enterprise-survival, Net-Zero-focussed, Digital-enabled, Innovation-prepared, with Audacious-goals!
The writer is a corporate advisor & independent markets commentator. Twitter: @ssmumbai. Views are personal.