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Rand Ekman, AIA, Chief Sustainability Officer of HKS, stepped out of his comfort zone to attend GreenBiz 17 in February, and COTE asked him to share some thoughts.
I went to GreenBiz 17 with questions: How do other industries address sustainability? What is important to their business? How does this relate to the architectural profession? Are there ways that my firm, and others, can provide value to our clients that we have not yet explored? What is important to investors and how mature is this market?
GreenBiz 17 was attended by nearly 900 sustainability leaders from global corporations. A partnership with Arizona State University was visible. Attendees ranged from corporate sustainability team members to senior management. A wide range of industries was present.
The building industry was visible due to the presence of building products . Only a few design firms were present. Building industry participants were present, including the International Living Futures Institute, and the Health Product Declaration Collaborative. The discussion was very different from what the architecture and engineering services industry currently deliberates. Measured impact matters. of global supply chains matter. Real estate is only one piece of a corporation’s Environmental Social Governance (ESG) reporting. Transparency includes broad ESG content and data toward creating shareholder value and investment return. Energy is present, but carbon ruled. Green investment is sharply on the rise.
There were seven recurring themes: impact, supply chains, global, stakeholders, transparency, carbon, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The actual, quantified impact of sustainability efforts is a big subject. I did not directly experience the tools for impact assessment, a number of firms that conduct this research and reporting work for corporations—SustainAbility, S&P Dow Jones / Trucost, and RobecoSAM—were present. It was made very clear that available investment dollars exceed the available green investment instruments. From 2014 to 2016 sustainable investing grew 33 percent to include $8.72 trillion in assets under management in the U.S. The Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) is the impact assessment tool for investments in the responsible real estate market.
Supply chains and how to address ESG principles in a company’s supply chain was an active topic of conversation. This subject varied depending on the but included issues related to toxic materials and human health, resource use, land use, supplier diversity, labor practices, organics, and many others. Companies are focused on robustly engaging their supply chains in meaningful ways. PepsiCo presented an initiative to tie their corporate Code of Conduct to their supply chain. They expect to have this done by 2025 as it will require the incorporation of the code of conduct in all of their contracts globally. Influencing the corporate supply chain is a core theme.
The perspective of the (corporate) participants was clearly global. There was discussion about politics or policy with a focus on business’s strength and contribution. A number of reasons seem to be behind this, most fundamentally that the reputation and brand presence of any company is global and attending to issues of business risk requires a long-term perspective. Along with this was the reality that a healthy ecosystem is necessary for a sustainable and healthy business enterprise. Climate change, water supply and human health and well-being are universal issues.
The term “stakeholders” was used frequently, usually referring to those that had “skin in the game”. Frequently this was the investor and financial but expanded quickly up and down the supply chain to include consumers, and providers. It was clear that a perspective regarding the viability of a business depended on attending to all stakeholders.
Transparency was another constant. I participated in an invited Supply Chain Transparency Summit prior to the start of GreenBiz17. This summit started with senior representatives from , Home Depot, General and BASF. to advance transparency is clear, but not all companies are enthusiastic and there is application. Risk management, brand security, product development and corporate responsibility all factor into a company’s engagement.
Carbon was the currency of the day. I came away feeling that there was a great deal to learn relative to financial markets and financial risk and feeling enormously excited that the business risk and opportunity related to sustainability and carbon accounting is an active and growing part of business management and investment strategies. The business community can and is leading the way independent of the direction that political winds may blow.
Repeatedly, I heard the UN Sustainable Development Goals framework used as a means to focus their environmental, social governance efforts. It was clear that not all of these issues are relevant to every company, but the framework was perceived as useful. Businesses clearly have strong contributions to make and are working through how to make the appropriate connections.
My final impression of GreenBiz 17 is that the business community continues to work hard and meaningfully toward a more purposeful and sustainable world. It is important to the organization and all constituent stakeholders. Financial markets are rapidly maturing enabling bottled up investment markets to be put to work in ways that we have yet to fully explore. The global perspective of business is mitigating national differences and political administrations.
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