Should businesses invest in becoming more sustainable?
In an ever-changing world, businesses are shifting from shareholder capitalism focused on short-term thinking to stakeholder capitalism with long-term, centre-stage focus on the planetary and societal impacts of business operations. Consumers are behind this shift seeing through greenwashing and purpose-led marketing campaigns. They want action and they want it now. And, as a result, so do your shareholders.
This matters a great deal in the digital world and to the resilience of your business. The pandemic prompted an increased uptake of digital solutions and expedited a move towards mass digitisation as everyday life was forced to move online. Across the world, screen time rocketed and a world constructed by fibres and algorithms became the new normal.
However, there are consequences to this. As digital technology evolves, so does its environmental footprint. Pressure on businesses has come top- down and bottom-up to do something about it. Stakeholders are demanding transparency and customers are driving new ethical business trends as awareness on business impact on the environment grows.