Sustainability
The weight-loss drug Mounjaro was a rare boon. Something that previously required hard work and persistence can now be fixed without a person even having to get out of their chair. Mounjaro is an anomaly in the world we live in today. It’s unusual for something that previously might have required literal blood, sweat and tears to be surmounted in such a short timeframe.
Arnold Schwarzenegger didn’t become Mr. Universe overnight, and Rome wasn’t built in a day. All of these achievements require effort, commitment and investment.
The same is true for our energy transition and the sustainability that will result. There will not be a silver bullet to make our work sustainable. Driving toward sustainability will require hard work, persistence and change. If we think it won’t, we are either in denial, or deluded.
A key factor in the success of the challenging drive toward sustainability is having a goal. And sticking to it. It’s easy to change direction when things get difficult (and they will), but those who succeed and lead will stand firm and move toward their goal rather than away from it when the going gets tough, or the shareholders ask.
The impact of rowing back when you’ve set off toward a goal is exactly the same as if you were rowing a boat across a lake. You have changed direction and are now heading home toward the safe place you started… further away from your objective. This of course means you will get to the objective later, or not at all. You could even come last in the rowing race. Nobody wants the wooden spoon.
Sustainability targets are hard fought and need both financial and time investments. If we turn around and row back, it will cost us more overall to reach the objective. Remember that the goal has a value, as well as a cost. Reaching the goal will bring more value to our businesses, the environment, and eventually the bottom line than the cost. If it didn’t achieve this, what would be the point of the objective?
Value does not equal cost, even though a large proportion of business operators seem to act as though it does. The value of sustainability to a business exceeds the additional cost of the new, clean equipment that you have to buy, and the short term impact of a higher cash invoice.
The value of sustainability can be measured by; new projects won, graduates recruited and retained, the avoided health claims from sick employees exposed to pollution, the money saved by not having to deal with environmental fines, the higher taxes we can avoid that are required to support the NHS and the Environment Agency to deal with national climate driven events… the list goes on. These are high level items that you may think you don’t or can’t influence, and have a tenuous link to your accounts.
We should, and must account for these factors on our bottom lines. Traditional finance accounting and organisational structures are not set up to understand and exploit these value measures, but if they were, we would easily see that a pound spent here, saves two over there, and brings an overall positive benefit. There is work to do to bring this picture together and direct finances and funds to the right places to get the best value.
To start this process, we must not row backwards. There is no Mounjaro jab coming to fix our sustainability and environmental issues. We’ve all got to lift the weights and lay the bricks to get to the objective. The value is there for us to win.
At TCP, we help businesses turn sustainability goals into reality with equipment, experience and expertise that will move you forward, not backward. It’s not a silver bullet, but it’s a smart step toward the bigger picture.
Written by Jim Irvine
TCP Eco, Development & Operations Director
