Over the past five years, we’ve seen sustainability steadily move from the periphery to the heart of business. Companies have adopted sustainability practices for a host of reasons depending on the industries and geographies in which they operate. Their practices—which focus on maximizing the positive and minimizing the negative effects on social, environmental and economic issues—contribute to a global movement committed to building a better world. Society clearly benefits from their actions. So do employees and shareholders. As many companies have learned, embedding sustainability practices across the organization translates into critical performance benefits such as revenue growth, cost reductions, better risk management and stronger brand positioning. Today’s economic downturn, driven in large part by the frozen global credit markets, has placed an immediate premium on liquidity. As a result, companies are casting a critical eye towards all investments and initiatives, including those focused on sustainability. Increasingly, sustainability programs are in the cross-hairs. Some are halted completely. Others are scaled back. Others are delayed.

Eric M Lowitt, Andrew J Hoffman, Judith Walls, Anna M Caffrey

1 Feb 2009