Myth Busting
Myth: ESG has no financial or commercial value and is the preserve of the patagonia wearing fringe companies and consumers.
MythBusters was a TV show running on Discovery from 2003-18, where the two protagonists the sartorial Jamie Hyneman and his co-presenter Adam Savage tried to uncover the truth surrounding many urban myths, often those exaggerated in action movies or pop culture. This could cover the existence of UFOs, whether the NASA moon landing was really a hoax, right through to whether an action hero escaping a pursuing villain could actually be shot by a pistol if they were under water. The answer to the latter is apparently no.
So what’s this got to do with Carbon, ESG and food? This week ESG Today reported on the findings of a recent report published by the prestigious Institute for Business Value, part of IBM. The report does its own piece of Myth busting that messrs Hyneman & Savage would be proud of. The Myth that ESG harms profitability from their research is deemed not just a myth but labelled as misinformation, which leads to poor business decision-making. IBM found that more than 70% of executives see ESG as a revenue enabler, where consumers increasingly focus on companies’ sustainability performance when making purchasing and employment decisions.
The nub is that research reveals that mature ESG capabilities create business value;
ESG leaders are 43% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability.
95% of companies have ESG goals, only 10% have made significant progress toward meeting them.
Only 2 in 10 of customers say they trust the statements companies make about environmental sustainability—down from 5 in 10 just two years ago.
What's more the 2,500 executives interviewed listed these challenges with the management of data, creating an obstacle to ESG reporting & ultimately results:
73% stated an overload of manual data is a challenge
70% confirmed a difficulty in consolidating or manipulating data,
69% reporting difficulty in mapping data across brands and geographies.
Compelling reading, but how do we bring this down to earth? How does this work in practice and for companies which are not in the S&P 100?
At Zedible we are seeing real world examples of companies using our platform to understand the CO2 drivers for their businesses and therefore able to reduce Co2 intensity for themselves and their clients. We believe this race to the top within the context of carbon reduction will see best in bread manufacturers, wholesale suppliers and hospitality delivery partners, ultimately gain market share, grow revenue, drive profitability….oh and of course navigate towards a low carbon future.
Myth….Busted: A credible and reportable ESG strategy wins new business, drives profitability and sets companies and organisations up to thrive for the future.
