Peter White on The current climate

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We always talk about the three pillars of sustainable development –environmental, social, and economic, but in the current climate we seem to be most absorbed with the latter two, and environmental concerns have become overshadowed. I write this from the UK, where we have been shocked by the recent outbreak of rioting and looting on the streets of our cities, and you may well be reading this in Scandinavia, where the tragic events in Norway have left that country also looking into its soul to understand what happened. To match the social concerns, the global economic fluctuations have caused so many ups and downs that we are all starting to feel somewhat seasick. But even though the attention is elsewhere, the environmental issues still continue, and on the horizon we have the UNFCCC CoP17 meeting in Durban and then the Rio +20 conference coming next year. How do we maintain the focus on the environmental issues against the current social and economic climates? One of the most common questions I get asked is whether I see sustainability efforts weakening because of the economic downturn. My reply is that if the efforts stop in a downturn, then they can’t really be sustainable. Sustainability efforts can’t be add-ons, separate from a business’s core strategy, or from a product’s brand equity and performance – they need to be part of the everyday fabric. The same is true of maintaining consumer focus and attention on sustainability in the current climate. It’s important to promote small but meaningful acts that make their lifestyles become more sustainable. In a downturn, consumers look for value, but that does not mean they abandon their values – the solution is to link them together. Even in a thriving economic climate, data from around the world are remarkably consistent in understanding how consumers behave in relation to purchase and use of products. Most consumers want products to work well and give value, as well as being more sustainable. Only about 15% of consumers will accept a trade-off between product performance or price, with sustainability. Conversely, around 70% of consumers – the “sustainable mainstream” – will buy and use a more sustainable product if it comes with no trade-offs in performance or value. In the current tough economic climate this notion of “no-trade-offs” or of linking value to values is even more relevant. So how do we keep making progress on environmental sustainability given the current summer’s social and economic climate? Make it part of everyday life, a small and simple, but significant act – perhaps as simple as washing clothes in cold water instead of warm or hot. And make sure that you don’t ask consumers to compromise on what they need – performance and value as well as sustainability. Skrivet av Peter White på Hagainitiativets blogg.