Companies that ignore their impact on the environment don’t just alienate customers and turn off investors. Ultimately, says a new business brief from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), they face “existential challenges”.
The GEO for Business brief, Adapt to Survive: Business transformation in a time of uncertainty calls on businesses to dramatically reduce their environmental footprints. Failure to make the transformation, it warns, is a risk to their survival.
A how-to guide for businesses looking to transition to more sustainable practices and operations, the brief, which is the first of a series,builds on UNEP’s flagship report, the Global Environment Outlook 6 (GEO-6), a 2019 scientific study that examined the health of the planet. According to the brief, unless the world slashes the environmental degradation caused by energy, food and waste systems, many of the earth’s natural systems will collapse.
“Now is the time to put nature at the heart of all decision making and embark on transforming our world.” emphasizes Joyce Msuya, UNEP Deputy Executive Director.
“The private sector has the resources and ingenuity to steer us towards a greener future. This is the smart choice. This is the only choice. Business leaders that think long-term must act collaboratively, across sectors to embed sustainability into our definitions of success” she adds.
The GEO for Business inaugural brief calls for businesses to embrace a “nature-positive” economic model – one that reduces their carbon footprint, conserves natural resources and safeguards biodiversity while creating value for nature and people. Read more…
