Sustainability Science

As the world plans its economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, it faces a crossroads - turn towards a greener, more resilient future or tip into a carbon-heavy trap that fails to limit global warming, a top climate finance official said.

Yannick Glemarec, executive director of the multi-billion-dollar Green Climate Fund (GCF), said the jury was still out on which direction will be taken, as governments are still deciding stimulus spending.

“If we can succeed in greening the economic stimulus measures, we will be able to effect a major course correction - one of the greatest ones in history,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.

If you were to believe the mainstream business media, there would be no question whatsoever that the twin crises of a pandemic and a recession have pretty much put the kibosh on sustainable business activity. I mean, why, amid all this human and economic carnage, should companies be focused on anything besides keeping their doors open?

Last month, for example, the Wall Street Journal published a piece ("Sustainability Was Corporate America’s Buzzword. This Crisis Changes That") proclaiming that when it comes to corporate commitments and programs, "executives have called a timeout." It said in part:

Today, every occupant of every C-suite is trying to figure out what they’re willing to throw overboard as the economic storm spawned by the pandemic is swamping their ships. Businesses that were planning to help save the world are now simply saving themselves.

US-based sustainable e-platform EarthHero is on a mission to make sustainable shopping the new norm, aiming to be the go-to platform for manufacturers making products with the planets’ best interest in mind and making shopping eco-friendly products easy, convenient and accessible.

If there was ever a doubt the first signs of a more sustainable planet are emerging from the pandemic, consider this statement, a key finding from a recent Oxford Economics study of 1,000 supply chain executives:

“Sustainability will be a growing focus for organizations across industries over the coming years as they seek to meet internal goals, satisfy consumer demand, and comply with regulations.”

In addition, a majority of respondents from the Oxford study say their organizations have a plan to reduce carbon emissions (71%), supply chain leaders (the top 12% of respondents) are even more in tune with the importance of sustainability, with 86% say a sustainable supply chain is a competitive differentiator, compared with 68% of other respondents.

Short of wasting all this food, isn’t the food industry set up to donate products to food banks or large school systems feeding their communities? How could the supply chain be altered to make the industry more sustainable?

Yes, some of this is happening. But again, this requires a different distribution capacity and takes time to adjust to. Food waste has been a big problem in the U.S. food system with many causes. According to a study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, globally around one-third of all food produced is lost or wasted along the food chain from production to consumption. This is exacerbated in the pandemic. Our food system travels long distances, on average 1,200-1,500 miles, to get to the plate. It’s a complex problem that requires creative solutions from productivity, ecosystem diversity, supply chain, technology and consumer behavior issues.

The global supply chains are under huge pressure as Covid -19 has created 'manufacturing deserts' due to the lockdown conditions in various countries and manufacturing output will take at least 12 months to recover to 2019 levels, a report says.
 
According to a new report from Baker McKenzie and Oxford Economics, Beyond COVID 19: Supply Chain Resilience Holds Key to Recovery, the pandemic has produced an unprecedented global supply chain crisis, stemming from a lack of mapping and flexibility around the multiple layers of global supply chains and a lack of diversification in sourcing strategies. 

Build Back Better: the unmissable opportunity to build a sustainable economic future

A post COVID world is one that will look quite different to a pre-COVID world. We've seen in the last few weeks this echo chamber almost of calls saying we need to take this opportunity, this tragic situation that we have today, to build back better says Christopher Kaminker, Head of Sustainable Investment Research and Strategy at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.

Rather than redrawing global sourcing maps, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated and deepened a number of pre-existing trends - including a diversification of supplier portfolios - new research suggests. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has made timely disclosures more important than ever but longer-term strategic matters must continue to be given due regard. SGX RegCo, Singapore's stock exchange, shares the most important social aspects that should be included in sustainability reporting.

Last week, we saw digital democracy in action — a record number of leading businesses called on members of Congress to create a climate-sensitive, resilient recovery. And they did it from the comfort of their homes.

More than 300 CEOs and representatives from Fortune 500 firms, and medium and small businesses, logged on for 85 virtual meetings to tell lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that the US must build back better from the ravages of COVID-19.

Corporate social responsibility, or CSR, has become a shorthand for what companies do to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their businesses. Until now it’s been a mashup of philanthropy, employee engagement, renewable energy programs and investor relations. But the coronavirus pandemic will press industries and investors to make sure CSR is truly connected to delivering value.

The frenzy around sustainability and ESG investing at the end of last year might have led to some froth, but this is a moment when the wheat will be separated from the chaff, says John Goldstein, head of the sustainable finance group at Goldman Sachs.

It’s becoming clearer by the hour that the coronavirus pandemic represents an unprecedented global threat to both public health and global economies. The speed of the crisis and the change to our everyday existence, as well as the threat to our most vulnerable, is astonishing and has all of us reflecting on our values and investments.

But even in these dark early days, it’s possible to make out what could be a silver lining: The crisis points to the potential of a new normal that’s better for our climate future as investors reweight their portfolios in light of current events.