Nowadays you often hear the word “sustainability” which, in general terms, means continuity and endurance of systems and processes. It is also interchangeably used for “sustainable development,” a much broader concept. For this column, I will use sustainability in the context of business sustainability, defined as managing the “triple bottom line”—a process by which businesses manage their financial, social and environmental risks, obligations and opportunities.
In a post by Nancy Himmelfarb of GreenBiz, companies like Unilever, with the “Unilever Sustainable Living Plan,” and Nike, with its “Sustainable Innovation Imperative,” have long been seen as business leaders in sustainability. These companies demonstrate a clear vision and commitment to sustainability and are experts at integrating sustainability with their business goals and operations. But what about associations? As industry advocates, shouldn’t they take a leadership role in advancing sustainability efforts?
Most companies need sustainability support, and associations are uniquely positioned to guide them and promote their efforts. Associations can—and should—leverage their position to improve the sustainability performance of businesses across entire industries. According to Himmelfarb, here’s why associations are well suited to get the job done:
Associations understand the issues that matter most to members. By virtue of their unique role, associations possess very broad industry intelligence. My organization, the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP), has been publishing its annual sustainability report (SR) since 2008 within the framework of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the de facto global sustainability-reporting standard.
The ADFIAP also has a sustainability officer who records and tracks our performance based on sustainability-reporting indicators. He conducts SR seminars and helps our members prepare the SR.
Associations are positioned to bring members and stakeholders together. As conveners, associations can bring together members and other stakeholders, acknowledge diverse and sometimes conflicting stakeholder interests, supply technical expertise and knowledge, and facilitate agreement on industry-wide sustainability goals and voluntary performance standards. Facilitating the development of sustainability goals and standards with extensive industry participation and buy in is the first step to improve sustainability performance industry-wide.
Associations can drive change. After defining sustainability goals, associations should support performance improvement by issuing calls to action for members. Encourage members to adopt sustainability standards, facilitate pilot programs and collaborate on research to address sustainability challenges. Associations should also recognize top performers by promoting success stories, best practices and lessons learned with other businesses, consumers and the public at large.
In addition, associations should talk about sustainability and what it means to the industry, communities and the world at large. These engagements can be big or small, and might include industry forums or events, as well as bite-size messages or moments, to reach all potential audiences on topics that interest them.
Associations should also consider publishing a sustainability report with disclosures on industry performance, remembering that sustainability is a journey and that the public expects transparency, not perfection.
Business has always been a source of sustainability innovation, and associations can do more to catalyze and support business efforts. Are you ready to take on the challenge?
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The column contributor, Octavio Peralta, is concurrently the secretary-general of the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific and the CEO and founder of the PCAAE.
The PCAAE is holding the Associations Summit 5 and the Ang Susi Awards 2017 on November 22 and 23 at the Philippine International Convention Center.
E-mail inquiries@adfiap.org for more details.