My Sustainability Talk with Corporate America

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of addressing the Atlanta chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) on the subject of sustainability. Investor relations reps are a company's connection to its shareholders -- answering investor questions, providing information, etc. It is hardly glamorous work, but requires a great deal of effort, and knowledge, to do it well.

Increasingly, questions come to them from investors like Boardwalk, asking about emissions, water usage, diversity, etc.  And many IR representatives are doing a yeoman's job of trying to meet the disparate needs of the investor community. At the end of the day, however, if your company is doing little to address the core issues that bother your shareholders, there ain't much that a pretty face or articulate voice are going to do to fix that.

The good news is that many companies are doing much more, and are using "sustainability" to improve nearly every aspect of their business.



I shared the stage with John Gardner, Chief Sustainability Officer for Atlanta-based Novelis, the world’s largest producer of rolled aluminum and the global leader in beverage can recycling.  John revealed his company's efforts, among others, to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through increased use of recycled beverage cans in their production process. With increased investments in this capacity, the company expects its profitability to more than double. 

This search for companies who use sustainability as a driver of innovation was an element in my talk, as well. When sustainability becomes core to a company's strategies, opportunities are pursued, costs are reduced, brands are enhanced...  And when this translates into improved financial performance, the share price eventually follows the fundamentals.

The participants, of course, also cared about their own job responsibilities, asking how they could better serve the investor community. I reminded them of the power of social media to convey their message.  Companies such as Starbucks, GE and Nestle use Facebook, Twitter, You Tube and other online media to interact with their various "stakeholders" (customers, employees, shareholders and communities.)

In closing, I asked the audience how many of them had incorporated sustainability into their own investment decisions.  This was a highly engaged group, who asked many questions.  Yet, no hands shot up.  So I presented them with a question to ponder over this Earth Day weekend:

"If you could, why wouldn't you?" 

If you could have similar investment performance, but be part of the solution instead of part of the problem -- why wouldn't you implement a sustainable investment program for yourself?

It is clear that in this area, much education is still needed.  So, we ask YOU, the reader, to invite us to speak to your group:  Garden club, executive committee, charity board, neighborhood association, church group or PTA.  No sales pitches.  Just information and stimulating conversation.

We all have the ability to be part of the solution. We can better address many of the problems facing our society.  These problems aren't going away.  But money has the power to change things and it can start with our own money, however large or small.

Nothing will happen without first understanding the issues, and then by appreciating the power we have to make an impact.

* If anyone is interested in seeing a video of both of the presentations to NIRI-Atlanta, please visit http://www.niriatlanta.org./archive.php.