Why Sustainability Matters

Guest Blog By Krista Badiane

You hear the word “sustainability” everywhere these days. And even though it may sound like corporate jargon, it’s anything but. In fact, it’s the very principle that underpins how most companies operate.  

So what does it actually mean? Being sustainable means taking action to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of generations to come. It’s about taking a long-term view and working in balance with the natural environment. It’s about success today, but not at the expense of success tomorrow.

Sustainable businesses help make sure that we have – and continue to have – what we need to keep us and our world healthy. Like having safe water to drink, clean air to breathe and good food to eat, and not covering our planet (or filling our oceans) with waste.

Put like that, sustainability seems pretty important, right?

It is – and it’s particularly so at this moment because of the pressures of climate change, and resource constraints associated with population growth, urbanization and rising consumption. More than 2.4 billion people lack access to basic sanitation. Global warming has caused sea levels to rise by almost 20cm since 1900, and quadrupled the number of natural disasters since 1970. Around 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted every year, yet around one in nine people are undernourished.  

Photo: Alfonso Navarro 

There’s a growing awareness, across all parts of society, that this needs to change. The change needs to be big. And it needs to be now.

Of course, no one business can address all these global issues, but many of us see these “challenges” as business opportunities, a chance to turn them on their head and create value, purpose and positive impact. That’s why, from employees to consumers (I’ll talk more about consumers in my next post), we all want to see low-carbon manufacturing, recyclable packaging and healthy food. Because we all have a stake in what the world will be like tomorrow, next year, or in a decade’s time.

So that’s why sustainability matters and why companies like The GFB want to do the right things in good-for-you ways.

Krista Badiane is an Account Director at Flag Communication

Read more about what sustainability means to The GFB, the progress the company is making and its goals for the future in its 2017 Sustainability Report.