How will Walmart do it?
For most major companies, the pursuit of sustainability no longer revolves around the question of “Why?” but has now become a question of “How?” and “How quickly?”
Walmart is at exactly this point right now. They have recently reaffirmed their commitment to reducing their environmental footprint in spite the worldwide recession and have taken some incredibly bold first steps. Each of their 100,000 suppliers will be asked to voluntarily disclose data that will inform their score on a standardized Sustainability Index, and this action alone has spurred thousands of companies around the world to calculate their carbon footprint and take note of the excess material that they generate.
And we know it’s not enough. Read our analysis of Walmart's sustainability challenges. Right now, no major corporation can make the claim that the value they create for community and global ecosystems outweigh their impacts - no company is sustainable. They all share a common sustainability challenge, and are increasingly working and learning with each other.
In this spirit of this quest for shared knowledge we offer lessons learned from three of our partners that Walmart may observe as they continue their journey. Nike, a TNS partner for over 10 years, has found great value in going beyond their early tactical actions to embrace sustainability innovation as one of the core tenants of its business culture. Dow has been meticulously measuring and studying its impacts for 15 years and has being incredibly transparent in displaying its progress and challenges. And Givaudan, a major player in the fragrances and flavours industry, has taken a whole-systems look at the sustainability of their value chain and is now launching a new sustainability programme with an ambitious scope.
None of these companies, just like Walmart, can be said to have it all figured out when it comes to sustainability. And Nike, Dow, and Walmart have each faced powerful onslaughts in the past from environmental and social campaigners. They each have history, and some of it is exceedingly difficult from the sustainability perspective. Even today there are parts of their operations that are far from exemplary, yet they have each begun a journey and it is a very serious one indeed, for them and for us all.
All of these companies also have something incredibly valuable to share with Walmart and each other. Sustainability requires an engagement of internal and external stakeholders, a long-term commitment to innovation, detailed measurement, careful and strategic planning. The good news for all of these companies is that The Natural Step Framework provides a way to address all of these questions of “how,” “how quickly” and many more, all at once. We look forward to continuing the journey with them.
Read full series:
>Walmart: Living better by saving…
>Givaudan senses the challenge and opportunity in getting it right
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