Over the last few decades, we’ve seen businesses who famously have been big pollution producers, start working with and campaigning for climate change issues. This has become more of a factor in recent years, but importantly, they are working together now for a number of reasons.
Public Pressure To Do More
One of the main indicators that has pushed businesses to adopt a climate change stance, has been the pressure from the public. Many people within the public sector have promised to not take their customs to corporations who contribute to climate change.
Not only has this led to a loss of business for many organisations, but it brings a lot of negative press coverage, which puts off business partners and employees from working with the company. So, for the right reasons or not, businesses have started to adopt a new culture of change to help combat environmental challenges.
The Next Generation Taking Over
One of the more recent reasons we have started seeing change, has been due to the next generation. As with any new generation, they always come in citing the need for change, and the new generation now has been brought up to be educated on environmental issues.
Now, this generation have started getting jobs and important roles, which is why there are many young people running to be an MP and run for city councillor positions, because they feel empowered to make a change for the better.
Vocational Outlets For Business Owners
With the pressure of climate change forcing business owners to change their business practices, many universities, colleges and schools have decided to help in this pursuit. This means that there are a range of different courses that long-term business owners, those looking into start-ups and employees in general can all use to help with sustainability in the workplace.
These courses allow businesses to find ways to build more resilient business models that are capable of surviving in a net zero economy. You’d be able to understand the risks associated to businesses with climate change, and be able to explore low carbon initiatives. The benefits of businesses being aware of climate change are countless with these tailored courses, and will see businesses thrive.
What usually puts businesses off from going through with climate action, is that they think it’ll be too costly. Of course, it can be argued that it’s invaluable to look after the planet, but even from a business point of view, studies show that businesses will be able to make money long-term from switching to a low-carbon range of products and services.
Government Regulations
One of the big reasons that businesses have started to intertwine their business culture with environmental specifics, is because of new government regulations. For example, the government will introduce new tax measures and fines from time to time, in order to keep businesses in line with environmental laws.
The main concerns that the government may have regarding how a business operates, will be about how they use water and energy, as well as how they source raw materials and how they dispose of them, and especially with how they produce pollution and other emissions.
Usually, businesses will have to be assessed from time to time, from either a government employee, or an independent regulator, to ensure your business is having as little of an impact on the environment as possible. Usually, they will produce a report and a rating that businesses will be able to view, in order to see what they can to change things.
It’s important for businesses to be aware of the regulations, at both local and national levels, in order to avoid fines and bad publicity.
How Businesses Should Respond
Whether they’ve been assessed yet or not, businesses should still be trying to get ahead of their environmental issues. One great way to do this, is to set emission reduction targets, as then you as a business will have something to work towards.
Businesses should also listen to their customer base when it comes to environmental issues, as they are one of the main priorities. Aside from customers, businesses can actually get professional advice from an environmental consultant. Of course, some businesses will benefit from this more than others.
As a business, you can start on a small scale, and at a step at a time, in order to not get too overwhelmed. For example, you could minimise the packaging you use, both in terms of how something is wrapped, and the contained it will be shipped in.
Waste and fumes are one of the biggest contributors to a negative environmental impact, and should be one of the main long-term goals of the business to reduce. This can be done via working towards better energy supply, such as renewable, over a ten-year period.
