Commercial Realities Of Sustainable Business
Published: 20 March 2010
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7 pages, 2 figures
Executive Summary
If asked, “What do energy, climate change and sustainability trends mean for your business?” most executives respond that these are long-term trends with the potential to impact the firm’s profitability in the future. But does this perspective maximize shareholder value? This report finds that uncertainty on global and national climate policy, oil prices below $80 a barrel, the impact of the Great Recession and recent criticism of climate science block the development of sustainability governance and vision. But this uncertainty obscures economy-wide market trends that offer firms immediate revenue upside. In the UK firms will spend $5.3 billion on climate change and sustainability initiatives in 2010, growing to $8.4 billion by 2013. Many firms invest—under the radar — in low carbon projects and cleantech innovation. The global consulting community invests to ride the wave of sustainable business programmes. Strategic thinkers go further: they create new business models and risk/reward structures.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
STRATEGIC THINKING TURNS CONFUSION INTO PROFIT
CEOs Seek Clarity On Climate Change Trends, But Get Uncertainty
Firms Lack The Governance And Vision To Prioritise Carbon Plans
Economy-Wide Sustainability Trends Offer Immediate Revenue Upside
Strategic Thinkers Create New Business Models For A Low Carbon World
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Three Phases Of Sustainable Business Market Transition 2000 To 2020
Figure 2. UK Climate Change And Sustainability Market Is Worth $5.3 Billion In 2010
COMPANIES MENTIONED
Alcatel-Lucent, Arcelor-Mittal, Better Place, BHP Billiton, CH2M Hill, Cisco, Deloitte, Drax Group, Eaton, Environment Agency, GE, HP, IBM, Marks & Spencer, Masdar City, Morgan Stanley, Orange, PwC, RBS, Renault, RWE, Scott Wilson, Triodos, Utilyx, Wal-Mart, Yahoo!