The Business Case for Sustainability

While corporate sustainability is not a new concept, companies often fail to apply sustainability principles at the core of business, instead choosing to use them as a peripheral strategy for better competitive advantage, market positioning or pure reputation-building.

To define sustainability as just “green” or “social responsibility” in the corporate context is to deprive it of its power to drive economic value and societal change. Sustainability must be connected to the conscience of an organization, but just as importantly, it needs to be seen as a platform for greater business growth and innovation. It must become so much a part of a company's fabric that it is perceived as an essential pillar of core business operations.

Weaving sustainability into the fabric of any company, especially a global one, requires change of perspective, renewed commitment and overarching dedication to the principles of sustainability. To effectively do this, companies must be committed to the three pillars of sustainability — economic, social and environmental conditions — which help define the parameters under which a company can contribute to sustainable progress. To meet these commitments, any company that is serious about sustainability must adopt a culture of continuous improvement.

In 1995, Dow set important public sustainability goals. Since then, Dow has met or exceeded most of these goals and continues to strive to improve upon all of them.

In 2005, Dow set the bar even higher with the introduction of a more ambitious, next-generation set of goals. These 2015 Sustainability Goals focus on efforts beyond Dow's own walls, committing Dow to creating stronger relationships within the communities in which it operates, improving product stewardship and accelerating innovation to solve some of the world's most pressing problems and reducing its global footprint. The goals focus on sustainable chemistry, energy efficiency, climate change, breakthroughs to world challenges, product safety leadership, local protection of human health and the environment and contributing to community success.

As a direct result of our effort to achieve these goals, Dow became the first chemical company to earn the Robert W. Campbell Award from the National Safety Council. The award recognizes companies that uphold environmental, health and safety as a key business value and clearly link measurable achievement in EHS performance to productivity and profitability.

Corporations aiming to advance their enterprise-level sustainability commitments must first understand and acknowledge what sustainability can accomplish from a business value perspective, how it can revolutionize innovation pipelines and the opportunities for unprecedented collaborations through corporate-driven sustainability initiatives.

SUSTAINABILITY: WHAT IT MEANS AND WHY IT MATTERS

To be able to make the case for sustainability, it is imperative for corporate executives to realize the power of sustainability for a company's growth and development. Moving beyond corporate social responsibility or environmental consciences, companies must understand that finding creative solutions that improve bottom line performance while enhancing value to society should, in fact, be the new business model. True incorporation of corporate sustainability means viewing it as an integral part of business, corporate practices and culture.

Sustainability must be an integral part of business strategy, product development, talent development and capital investment. And, as consumer demand for sustainable products continues to rise exponentially, companies increasingly are responding by funneling financing and investment in research and development for more sustainable products.

One of the most prominent mega trends, which is indicative of future market opportunity, is the accelerating investment and growth of renewable energy solutions and green technologies. Dow has leveraged this mega trend to advance R&D and fund projects that seek to meet the future energy needs and consumer demand for greener products and services.