Easy Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development for businesses

How many times have we read an article about Sustainability, green actions or renewable energy?  Perhaps several times!
But, are all these programs, projects, concepts or actions solving the big issue?
The truth is that Sustainability is a complex issue which includes more and more concepts and opinions everyday that add more complexity to the subject. Climate Change, Ozone hole, GHG management, CER’s, REC’s, Environmental Management Systems, Corporate Social Responsibility, Kyoto Protocol, Global Report Initiative, are just some of these concepts.
The Natural Step, a non profit organization founded in the early 80's has developed a new approach to Strategic sustainability that has impressed me because its clear analysis of the situation and the common sense and consensus it applies to solve the big problem we are facing.

What we are seeing today is a battle played by different actors that try to fix some issues with a lack of perspective and understanding of the global problem. We are lost in the details and we are not capable to achieve a common understanding of the circumstances that are destroying the System (Ecological and Social) and therefore we don't share a common goal of how to solve it. We are drilling holes instead of looking at sustainability from a bird eye’s perspective.

So when did this start?

There is scientific consensus about this unsustainable society started with the Industrialization era. High polluting manufacturing processes, products based on hazardous materials and metals difficult to recycle, and also multiple human actions that systematically undermined the ecological and social conditions are the main causes that industrialization has brought.

Who can solve it? The typical answer is everybody, governments, businesses and society as a whole. However the main role has to be played by businesses: Of the world’s 100 largest entities today, well over half are not nation-states but corporations. But of course business will be more active if customers can force them to act NOW!

So what do companies have to start doing?

Understanding the issue from a global perspective: The Sustainability Challenge. Organizations must understand how the system works and the interrelation of all its components (everything is connected: i.e CFCs were seen as a good idea and then after years we realized their impact in the ozone layer). They also have to think in their activities considering the whole supply chain; from their suppliers to their customers. A car company can think that by substituting some heavy materials from it’s cars for a new lighter material could help to reduce gas consumption and therefore GHG emissions, but it should also consider the impact of that material in the Earth’s crust once the car finishes its life, because the material could not be biodegradable or foreign to Nature, polluting the soils and adding chemicals that could end up in the vegetables we eat. It should also consider the impact of the processes needed to produce it and also the waste that they generate when customers stop using them.

The Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, FSSD from The Natural Step, offers a goof methodology for business to comprehend their responsibility in achieving sustainability through five key steps.

1) The System: First thing is trying to understand the system (society within the Biosphere) and the causes that are destroying it. Because knowing what is causing our destruction will allow us to stop it in the long run. Here there is a lot to understand and scientist help us to achieve consensus explaining how the System works (solar energy entering, photosynthesis, The Conservation Law, 2^nd Law of Thermodynamics,…)

2) Success: Shared Sustainability Principles that The Natural Step summarize in 4. In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing:

a.      ...concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust

b.      … concentrations of substances produced by society

c.       … degradation by physical means

Additionally, in that society …

d.      … people are not subject to conditions that systematically undermine their capacity to meet their needs.

So it is clear that just focusing in these four conditions businesses can do a lot for a Sustainable Society.  Does it not sound easier than other specific approaches and not lost in the details as some articles about energy efficiency, GHG management, green practices, … All of then are good but only if they are result of a global vision that takes into account all the interdependences of the system and it is flexible enough to change actions in case they are not driving us to a successful scenario. It is simple, as the chess game. We know the basic principles (rules) and know how to play to reach the final goal.

3) Strategy: Knowing the sustainability principles is a good starting point but businesses need to put them as constraints in their company’s vision. To be strategic we need to know where we want to go: a sustainable world. Companies need to think about how to achieve their vision with these new sustainability constraints. For that purpose they can use a methodology for solving complex systems: Backcasting from principles. Yes, instead of analyzing what they are doing in the present and plan the actions to achieve their vision (forecasting); they have to imagine that they have already achieved their vision (their activities are sustainable in a Sustainable World) and back to the present to plan the first steps that will guide them in the right direction. The big issue the companies have faced is that the System is constantly changing and new issues, technologies, interdependencies appear so they do not know the entire way to achieve sustainability or even worse there are no solutions today to achieve the sustainability vision. It is like playing soccer or chess you know the principles (rules) that will allow you win and in the game you have to apply them progressively.

4) Actions:  To implement the strategies the businesses have to design different actions and programs. One way is to analyze their present activities, procedures, products and services and figure out the ways they are contributing to violate the 4 sustainability principles. For example, Panrico, a Spanish bread company, has recently launched a new individual package for their donuts, it is made of plastic and its goal is keeping the donuts fresh for at least one week. The big issue is that before they were distributed to restaurants in big carton boxes and now these individual plastic packages are violating the sustainable principle 2, increasing concentrations of substances produced by society (plastic takes to Nature 100 years to decompose). These actions need to be prioritized according to the creation of flexible platforms for achieving the Sustainability vision or ensuring good return on investment.

5) Tools: There an extensive number of environmental and management tools that can be used to help organizations implement, monitor and improve their sustainable strategies. From the environmental tools ISO14001, to Life Cycle Assessment, Cradle to Cradle, Factor X to classic strategy management tools as dashboards or the Balance Score Card. The key is to understand the organization´s business and the benefits from each tool they can get.

This is only a summary of my understanding about how to guide organizations in their journey to strategic sustainable development and the FSSD from The Natural Step.

I would like to finish with some quotes from leaders who have faced the challenge of sustainability as an opportunity and responsibility with the world and who have inspired me to continue studying ways to help companies to be part of the solution.

Business cannot succeed in a World that fails”. Bertrand Collomb, Chairman and former CEO, Lafarge, SA

For Wal-Mart to be successful and continue to grow, we must operate in a world that is healthy and successful… we believe that these initiatives and many more to come will make us a more competitive and innovative company, and one that is more relevant to our customers. Lee Scott, CEO, Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Now, however we have reached a level of maturity in the organization where the sustainability work can be truly integrated in our everyday business agenda and strategies. Sustainability is no longer an activity on its own but it is totally integrated in everything we do. I am convinced that this will make a big difference in the years to come.” IKEA’s global CEO Anders Dahlvig