75 Green Businesses You Can Start to Make Money and Make a Difference. Glenn Croston
OPPORTUNITY 12 Chief Sustainability Officer
| The Market Need | Businesses need to understand and act on risks and opportunities of environmental issues |
| The Mission | Guide businesses to compete and succeed in the new green playing field |
| Knowledge to Start | Business, sustainability |
| Capital Required | $ (as a job in a company); $$ (to start a small consulting business) |
| Timing to Start | Weeks to months (to create a position) |
| Special Challenges | Motivating corporate commitment and action |
There is a green-business revolution under way, and businesses are working hard to understand what it means for them. What risks does it expose them to? What opportunities does it create? Company executives have spent their careers focused on other issues and often don’t know how to react to the pressures of the green wave. To lead them through the risks, challenges, and opportunities in the brave new green world, many businesses are creating a new position in the company: the chief sustainability officer (CSO). Whether it is called the chief sustainability officer, chief environmental officer, or chief green, this position is an opportunity for the right person to help companies ride the green wave to success. It can also lead to a new business working as a consultant helping others to go green.
Green issues are not limited to green companies producing solar power, organic food, or organic clothing, and if business is going to be green, the change cannot be limited to businesses whose main focus is the environment. Major corporations such as DuPont and Wal-Mart are changing how they do business to reduce their carbon footprint, and cut down on waste and pollution. DuPont has taken the initiative to reduce its carbon footprint 72 percent since 1990, and is selling green products in fields such as solar power and fuel cells. The largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart, is investing hundreds of millions of dollars to increase energy efficiency, reduce packaging, and produce renewable energy. Wal-Mart also is driving its immense chain of suppliers to make similar changes. These changes are not always easy, and they would often not happen without strong environmental leadership within the company.
Ensuring company compliance with regulations is one responsibility of the chief sustainability officer. Compliance includes dealing with existing regulations to reduce pollution, such as the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act, and addressing future legislation. Some businesses still are assuming a wait-and-see attitude about climate-change legislation in the United States, but those that get started early will be ahead of the game when legislation finally arrives, giving them a competitive advantage.
The responsibilities of the chief green extend far beyond sticking to the letter of the law. Business leaders are realizing that being green is something they want and need to do to build a better world and a better business. Reducing a company’s carbon footprint is the right thing to do and may be essential to stay competitive. Investors are asking businesses to outline their business risks related to climate change, and how the business contributes to the problem. Revealing this risk may even be required in the United States under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, U.S. government legislation about the rules of financial disclosure. Businesses also are being asked to describe their climate footprint and what programs they have in place to offset that footprint. Businesses without a good handle on their environmental footprints may lose customers.
The chief green is responsible not just for cutting back on greenhouse gas emissions, but also for helping the business to attend to the old-fashioned bottom line: making money. Businesses that consider green factors are finding opportunities in a changing world and using them to create good business. Does your company produce a great deal of waste and pay others to dispose of it? Cutting back on the waste will save money. How can you help eliminate wasted energy or develop economically attractive options for using renewable energy? What does your company make or do? Can you reduce packaging? Can you green your office? If you are in plastics, can you produce bio-plastics or find creative ways to encourage recycling?
MOVING BETWEEN WORLDS
Those not ready to create a green position within a company or small companies or those that cannot afford a full-time position devoted to green issues may turn to external consultants, experts with experience moving companies toward sustainability (see Opportunity 61 ). The roles are related and individuals may work as a green chief in their career and later perhaps move to consulting. ❦
RELATED TREND
As part of the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, Google’s Bill Weihl and others are developing computing systems to be more energy efficient. PCs consume a surprising amount of energy, a lot of which is wasted. The more pervasive computers become, the more important it is that they be as efficient and green as possible. “There are a few efficient PCs on the market, not many yet,” Weihl says, “but in the next three or four years, they will be the norm.”
Going green is a big opportunity, but there are risks the move will be seen as “greenwashing,” seeking the appearance of greenness while lacking substance. The green community increasingly is skeptical of the growing chorus of companies suddenly proclaiming their greenness, suspecting they are hoping to capitalize on a trend. To avoid this, implement the initiative first, and then let the public know about it—not the other way around.
Bill Weihl is the green energy czar at Google and helped to negate Google’s carbon footprint in 2007 through a variety of measures. He sees the position of chief sustainability officer position becoming increasingly common and more important. Google may not be your average company, but like many, it is working to use energy more efficiently and create a more sustainable economy. For Weihl, the CSO understands and implements best practices across departments to “get out in front [by] pushing these issues.” A green chief also helps companies shape legislation and make the most of opportunities created by climate legislation like AB-32 in California requiring a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. For Weihl, “Success will be to put myself out of business”—the day when being green is not an extra effort but part of daily business.
ECO-TIP
A word of warning: Keep your job title professional. It might be fun, but Jason Kovak of WorldatWork, an association of human resources professionals based in Scottsdale, Arizona, advises against using the “Doctor of Green,” or other titles that might be hard to take seriously. Try telling your new job title to your friends and see if they can keep a straight face before you print your business cards.
To be the chief green, you need to understand environmental issues. A growing number of schools have programs related to sustainability, producing a cadre of graduates trained to lead the way. Having an advanced degree may help, but it’s more important that you be eager and open to learn, and make use of experts from a wide range of backgrounds. Topping those with the experience to minimize environmental risks, deal with compliance, and capitalize on green business opportunities will help achieve those goals.
The opportunities include:
While being