Environmental Sustainability: Priorities for Business

Environmental sustainability is defined as the maximum reduction of the impact of any human activity on the ecosystem in which a specific activity takes place. Ecosystem that includes the natural heritage and thermodynamic balances of a circumscribed area as well as the interactions that occur in a concatenated manner within the range of all participating actors. It means that a company has as its ecosystem the entire supply chain and communities that participate directly or indirectly in the life cycle of the goods and services produced by the company.

In order to reduce the impact on the ecosystem, companies must reduce the environmental footprint caused by a specific action and compensate for its effects. This requires planning ecosystem interventions to restore the altered balance. The sustainability is a requirement dictated not only by the need to safeguard the good of the planet and the environment but also by the need to protect one's own well-being. Indeed, if a company reduces the negative impacts on its ecosystem, it helps to improve and make favourable the contexts in which it operates and develops. In addition, it will be a source of satisfaction for the stakeholders who will reward the organisation on the business level.

The ability to produce income and work on a sustained basis defines a successful company. For several years now, sustainability has been added as a goal to be pursued in order to improve business performance. The three pillars of the United Nations for corporate sustainability are respect for the environment, valuing people and transparent corporate governance (Environment, Social, Governance). These are three aspects of the new way of doing business that define the dimensions of sustainability when the company rather than looking only at profit decides to focus also on the environmental and social impacts that its activities generate. Aware of the benefits of this type of corporate strategy, more and more companies are embracing the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility that is, the voluntary responsibility to take care of the environment.

The Greenitaly 2022 report by Unioncamere and the Symbola Foundation underlines how green companies are more competitive than those that do not invest in innovative technologies. Choosing environmental sustainability increases the value of the company and the turnover. Manufacturing companies with fewer than 500 employees increased turnover by 49% in 2022 by investing in green technologies compared to 39% for companies that did not invest in green. In addition, employment rose by 23% and exports by 35% for the former group alone against 16% and 26% for the latter. Data that are prompting more and more entrepreneurs to activate sustainability projects, such as the innovative regeneration project Oasis of Biodiversity developed by 3Bee.

Businesses must take into account the advantages of choosing environmental sustainability. The first consideration is the increased awareness of citizens regarding innovative practices and environmental protection. Customers already pay more attention to a sustainable lifestyle today and in the near futurewill become more and more demanding with regard to sustainability. Business must therefore take into account the competitive advantage that can be achieved by pleasing the conscious citizen, who is willing to spend more money to buy goods and services from companies that promote sustainable products. It is necessary to build a sustainable reputation and direct corporate activities towards the creation of sustainable products and services in order to increase stakeholders and strengthen trust in the company itself.

By communicating corporate sustainability, your company can build a long-term relationship with customers, a relationship based on trust. To this end, it must be remembered that greenwashing is the biggest mistake you can make. Consumers are alert to greenwashing and do not forgive misrepresentation or half-truths. Sustainability data must be clear and transparent and available for consultation by anyone who wants to verify the company's claims. This is why companies must focus on proper corporate reporting, an ever-evolving requirement to account for non-financial impacts to stakeholders, employees as well as customers. And it is precisely the loyal consumers who ensure the success of the company.

Competitiveness and loyal customers are two advantages of opting for environmental sustainability. Added to this is improved access to finance provided by banking institutions and investors. These actors are interested in organisations that invest in the direction of sustainability and decide to act without losing sight of the goal of environmental protection. By demonstrating, for example, that they want to preserve the biodiversity of the planet with the support of a scientific partner such as 3Bee, it will be clear that they want to support the sustainable transition. Similar considerations reaching ESG criteria with the adoption of innovative business models and technologies aimed at reducing environmental impact.

To be competitive and adapt to the market your company must be aware of its position of dependence on external factors and the need to optimise business operations to align and anticipate customer demand. Those who continue to ignore the importance of sustainability will play an increasingly marginal role in the market. The future is about environmental, social and governance concerns, i.e. ESG, key dimensions for business success within the ecosystem in which they operate. The business lever for medium- to long-term competitiveness is environmental sustainability and, consequently, one must accelerate in the direction of a sustainable approach in order to increase the value of one's business. A proactive reaction aimed at changing business models will also be useful in the short term to address the difficulties of the moment.

The Deloitte Private Observatory confirmed the increasing focus of companies on sustainability and the implementation of artificial intelligence to reap the benefits of the ecological transition. Eight out of ten companies either place environmental sustainability high on their agenda or say they are convinced that sustainability can preserve business value by enabling better adaptability to social, economic and environmental change. Two-thirds of the companies surveyed by the Observatory, then, give importance to the ESG areas, favouring the social component (38%) followed by the environmental component (33%) and, finally, governance (22%). Awareness of the importance of sustainability must lead to changes in business models beginning with a different cultural approach.

Aware of the need for environmental sustainability, your company must enable the transformation of business models. You need to make a concrete commitment to change and demonstrate that you are willing to implement ecological transitions. In this context, 3Bee provides technology solutions for the protection of biodiversity by supporting companies in achieving the SDGs targets. The technology must be used to measure sustainability in quantitative terms and to contribute more to sustainable innovation in order to create added value for the company. Processes and products must be re-engineered for the benefit of the environment and society, bearing in mind that the 'business as usual' perspective is outdated and it is increasingly necessary to move towards a real transition. Are you a company interested in starting a journey towards biodiversity?



Article edited by Valentina Trogu