by Caroline Rennie
How transparent is transparent? Well, how about publishing the webcast of your internal Sustainability meetings and presentations online on a site that has your goals, actions, performance, stories and videos? That’s what Wal-Mart has done here. Mike Duke, the new CEO, speaks to his vision (and how it continues Lee Scott’s) for Wal-Mart and sustainability, and notes strongly that employees who chose not to come because they were “too busy” might want to re-evaluate their priorities. And then he talks about Wal-Mart’s expectations of their suppliers.
There’s not a lot of wiggle room in this. Not for suppliers, not for employees, and not for the company. We’re all invited to look. I’m paying attention sitting in a small town in Switzerland. I may be alone. But it’s not very likely. So the world has a chance to pay attention to Wal-Mart, its commitments, how it’s doing, and what it’s expectations are. Welcome to the new reality. Wal-Mart’s the largest retailer in the world. It is one of the few companies to have seen a considerable rise in profits this past year. And it has the most ambitious environmental commitment I’ve seen:
- To be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy.
- To create zero waste.
- To sell products that sustain our resources and environment.
What are the implications of this? If you’re a supplier to Wal-Mart, or a supplier to a supplier to Wal-Mart, you want to be working towards these goals – and you want to be doing it in a cost-effective way. Wal-Mart’s not going to spend more on doing this. They are looking at sustainability as an immediate value generator and a strategic wealth generator: the message is, companies that figure out how to work in a way today that will enable them to survive energy, water and material shortages in the near and more distant future, will have an advantage. And the sooner you do that, the more you can do it on your terms, and the better a partner to Wal-Mart you’ll be.
And while Wal-Mart’s commitments are particularly sharp and compelling, Carrefour, Tesco, M&S and other retailers have ambitious targets too.
- Carrefour’s sustainability programme concentrates on four priority areas: 1) Helping to fight climate change, 2) Acting to preserve biodiversity and natural resources; 3) Promoting methods of production and marketing that respect the environment; 4) Fostering fair, sustainable consumption.
- “I am determined that Tesco should be a leader in helping to create a low-carbon economy. We now have to make sustainability a significant, mainstream driver of consumption. I see this as a tremendous opportunity for Tesco.” Sir Terry Leahy, CEO Tesco
- Marks & Spencers: “We aim to use materials from only the most sustainable sources protecting the environment and the world’s natural resources for future generations…”
These companies didn’t get to the top of the league by being wooly-headed enviornmentalists. And they don’t want to stay there by being hard-core depletists. Take their lead – sustainability means growth.
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