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Sustainable development
Expectations for corporate performance are rising rapidly in such areas as governance, ethical behaviour, sustainable development, environmental impact, trading and employment practices, workplace management, and community involvement.
Stakeholders expect business management to be explicit, transparent, and accountable.
An European challenge
The renewed EU sustainable development strategy was adopted by the European Council in June 2006. It is an overarching strategy for all EU policies which sets out how we can meet the needs of present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The sustainable development strategy deals in an integrated way with economic, environmental and social issues and lists the following seven key challenges:
- Climate change and clean energy
- Sustainable transport
- Sustainable consumption and production
- Conservation and management of natural resources
- Public health
- Social inclusion, demography and migration
- Global poverty
Industry challenges
“There is no doubt that human activities have contributed to influencing the climate of the planet and we must act quickly and effectively”, Barack Obama, president of the US
Until recently, many businesses have viewed sustainability as a public relations issue that adds little bottom-line value. Not anymore. Increasing regulation, investor activism and changing consumer behaviour have increased the importance of “going green.” Meanwhile, advances in technology are making enterprise sustainability much more feasible. If you don’t get in front of these trends, your competition surely will.
Today, any miscalculation on sustainability-related issues can have tremendous repercussions on public perceptions of a company and its values. More and more we see that sustainable business practices are essential to maintain competitive advantage in the long term.
The current economic and financial crisis has shown that sustainability is also a key factor for the financial systems and the economy as a whole. Measures to support the real economy and to reduce the social impact of the current crisis must be compatible with long-term sustainability goals and a strategy of green, smart growth.
What we can do
Deloitte can help you explore the resources to learn how businesses can measure, improve and sustain environmental and social performance while driving growth and value.
