I was presenting about megatrends at the West Flemish Chambers of Commerce last week, to an interesting mix of Flemish owners of medium-sized, international companies. When presenting findings on sustainability and the influence of 'conscious buying', some interesting discussion followed.
Most of these entrepreneurs thought the whole trend towards sustainability is over-hyped, although some were indirectly affected by it (for instance, one producer of frozen vegetables was part of a Life Cycle Assessment of one of its customers, and as a result had to make sure there were toilets available on the farming land of its suppliers). My counter-argument was that customers increasingly demanded it, so the trend could be used as a marketing or branding message, but more so it offers some specific opportunities for innovative, new revenues as well.
Apparently this has been discussed at the WEF meeting in Davos 2011 as well. In this video, Daniel Esty, professor at Yale, comments on some discussions about sustainability in Davos. According to him businesses increasingly use sustainability arguments and initiatives to drive revenue and build on their brand image.
So, whatever the reason (and there are more to be found than the above), my take is that sustainability will become increasingly important within the corporate world...
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