Sustainable development integrates environmental impacts and social consequences with economic activity. For sustainable development to prevail, these three elements need to be aligned and balanced.

Companies are facing a wide range of sustainability challenges, such as:
• resource scarcity – from peak oil to precious minerals and rare metals; from water to fisheries,   forestry and agriculture
• climate change – from mitigation to adaptation
• conflicting trends – from the constant demand to continue growing their market, to the need to
  re-engineer their business models to be sustainable into the future

Companies that transform innovations into a sustainable revolution will succeed
To create a revolution, innovations typically do all three of the following:
• offer customer convenience
• provide clear business opportunities, and
• lead to an avalanche of mass take up.

Compare, for example, the transformational success of the information technology revolution in the last two decades.

To be sustainable, companies, industries and markets need to:
• transform current linear business models into circular, closed loop economies
• use only sustainably produced and renewable resources
• produce more from less, and
• use ‘waste’ streams as raw materials.

To be responsible, companies need to demonstrate the highest standards of ethical practices and good governance in societies which feed their supply chain and in which they market their goods and services.

Sustainability is on the boardroom agenda
In our experience, sustainability strategy, risks, opportunities and performance rank in the top 10 issues right across a wide range of sectors throughout the economic supply chain, including:
• Resurces – oil & gas, mining, biofuels, agriculture, fisheries
• Utilities – energy, renewables, water, transport, telecommunications
• Building, construction and property
• Processing and Manufacturing – industrial and consumer goods
• Retailing and Services
• Financial services – banks, insurance, investment.

To find out more about our experience in sustainable business in your sector, please contact us