Alfa CNG

Sustainability is the new buzzword today as companies actively seek to reduce their carbon footprint and invest in creating eco-friendly products and solutions. As eco-strategy expert, Andrew Winston, puts it, 'a green wave is sweeping the business world' as organizations increasingly realize the importance of going green.

Sustainability and sustainable issues have traditionally been viewed as an extension of a company's CSR programme. However, this perception is undergoing a distinct change today as companies realize that sustainability can lead to wealth creation.

According to Andrew, who has incidentally co-authored a book on this topic with Dan Esty of Yale University titled 'Green to Gold', the best companies are innovatively focusing on sustainability to create value in four fundamental ways - It can help drive new revenues, enhance brand value, cut costs through eco-efficiency measures and reduce risks related to changing consumer tastes and regulations.

Ecomagination

GE has already shown the way with its innovative venture, Ecomagination which illustrates its commitment to develop products and solutions that address environmental challenges and generate profitable growth. Ecomagination focuses on key areas of the company's business including energy, technology, manufacturing and transportation.

Products developed under the Ecomagination brand include locomotives for use on China's mainline rail system which reduce emissions and are more fuel efficient than other locomotives, LED traffic and road signals which result in significant energy savings and require lower maintenance and innovative wind turbines.

Ecomagination products have resulted in substantial revenues running into billions of dollars for GE, making it one of the company's most successful initiatives. This is a clear example of how sustainability can help create profits for stakeholders.

Closer to home as well, there are several companies which have taken the initiative to both reduce their carbon footprint and harness the power of sustainable solutions for the greater common good. Mahindra, for instance, has launched several eco-friendly products such as India's first bio-diesel tractor, the Alfa CNG, which is a dynamic three wheeler cargo carrier and the Bijlee, the first-of-its-kind electric three wheeler in India. Most recently, M&M launched the environment friendly Bolero Pik-Up CNG, the first CNG model to be launched in the large Pickup category which offers savings of up to 40% on costs as compared to a comparable diesel vehicle.

So how can companies make sustainability work to their advantage?

Andrew Winston suggests three initial steps:

• Companies must first understand how their business impacts the environment across the value chain. Do suppliers, for instance, follow environment-friendly practices?

• Organizations also need to know what others think of their environmental performance. This would include perceptions held by employees, customers and perhaps even NGOs.

• Last but not the least, businesses must take stock of their core competencies when it comes to creating environment-friendly and energy-efficient products and actively work towards developing the same.