The last few years have marked a turning point in addressing global sustainability. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are shaping discussion around critical global issues, including inequality, economic opportunity, resource scarcity, and migration. Business is emerging as an important actor on these issues, and retailers in particular are in a position to help localize the SDG’s by establishing and responding to requirements across a diverse set of stakeholders – product manufacturers, consumers, governmental entities, and communities. Constraints for action can be both internal and external, for instance, insufficient institutional and financial capacity, different cross-stakeholder expectations, variance in regulatory requirements across jurisdictions. Yet, the opportunities are real, and there are examples of success from which to learn.
The Better Retail Better World campaign, coordinated by the British Retail Consortium, has identified 5 SDGs for collaborative action – SDG 8, Decent work & economic growth; SDG 10, reducing inequalities, SDG 11, sustainable cities and communities; SDG 12, responsible consumption & production; and SDG 13, climate action – a good starting point for retail focus based on the unique strengths and attributes of the industry. Still, each retailer needs to start with what is material to their organizations to make the changes they feel they have most ability to impact positively. Fashion retailers engaging with the Better Cotton Initiative, for instance, can help support farmers in achieving more sustainability in their farming practice, secure fair wages, and in turn, help enhance the quality of lives of their families.
One challenge is in simplifying the complexity of the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs) and concepts like the circular economy into easily understood messages so in Sept 2019 Retailers came together to join the UL Environment and Sustainability workshop, Cambridge where they went “Back to the Future”
Customers are increasingly asking retailers to demonstrate their sustainability and provide more environmentally preferable products and services, but new business models can help capture consumers’ attention in a noisy marketplace. Access- versus-ownership models, end-of-use projects, and internet-of-things, for example, provide retailers with additional opportunities to deepen relationships with their customers, retaining value of materials and enhancing the experience for consumers.
During the workshop portion of the breakout, the team focused attention from the problems of today to the vision for the future. Participants were asked to contemplate the following scenario, after which the group split into two teams to brainstorm together and then tell a story about how they got to this future vision.
A few themes emerged across the discussions: need for cross-industry and cross-value chain collaboration, a supportive and enabling regulatory environment, coherent and consistent standards, and communications and education to help consumers and business do the right thing.
- Retailers find addressing GHG’s difficult as they represent a low cost or hidden cost component of their products
- Many products in store with complex supply chains makes change a daunting task
- Retailers are aware of their impacts and role in creating GHG emissions but have limited control over creating solutions, the span of which includes:
- Promoting the use of low emissions technology in stores and operations
- Lobby government for incentives to change – not extra cost in business!
- Encouraging suppliers to provide locally sourced goods
- Encouraging suppliers to reduce emissions themselves
- Promote packaging re-design
- Highlighting sustainability stories in store and through social media
- Embrace consumer activism on climate change
- Support needed for the retail sector:
- Grid needs decarbonizing to support in store/operational GHG footprint reduction
- Support for supplier and product transformation
- Retailers remain unsure about how to define circularity in their businesses
- Education needed to build trust across the business and supply chain
- Teach consumers to take back products for recycling and encourage a repair culture
- Demand durability standards from manufacturers and longer product guarantees
- Demand that manufacturers design for circularity approach
- Policy environment is key – EU enabling legislation includes:
- Single material law – no more welding/gluing of clothes
- Single country commitment – from material to finished garment – reduce travel time for products
- Return a garment/buy a garment policy
- Zero Waste to Landfill policy
- Uniform waste management policy across the EU/within states
- Brands collaborate:
- On takeback programs – take each other’s products and have supply chain partners that can recycle or re-use goods
- On bio-based content – is food a byproduct of clothing and vice versa?
- Coordinate and SLOW new style release; end fast fashion – promote slow fashion
SOURCE: UL
