At the Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit, grocery leaders urged the industry to step up its efforts tackling climate change. Michelle Perrett reports
The damp squib that was the Copenhagen Summit underscores just how far sustainability has fallen down the political agenda.
But it's not just MPs who are in danger of consigning it to the backburner, Sir Terry Leahy warned at last week's Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit in London.
"If, like me, you are concerned about the environment and climate change, the last year or so has not been great," admitted the Tesco CEO and forum board co-sponsor for sustainability.
"Recession, the deficit, unemployment have been the issues capturing the headlines. They have pushed climate change down, and sometimes off, the agenda. The good news which rarely gets reported is that responsible businesses, businesses that focus on creating long-term value, know these are short-term distractions."
Others, however, were at risk of taking their eye off the ball to the detriment of the environment and themselves, he implied. Everyone needed to step up their efforts to tackle climate change and create "a mass movement in green consumption".
"Experts remain 90% certain it is caused by man's activities and that if these don't change, it will have severe consequences globally for our habitats, our economies, our living standards," he warned. "We can no longer count on conventional energy sources. Energy security is becoming a major strategic issue for all our businesses."
Paul Polman, Unilever CEO and joint sponsor for sustainability, echoed Leahy's call to make sustainability an urgent priority. "The time for action is now because the facts demonstrate that our industry is in a position to address it," he said, urging companies to support the forum's proposal to tackle deforestation and refrigeration.
"Our aim is simple: to persuade the 300 or so member companies of the forum to work together to put an end to deforestation," he said. "Between us we spend billions of dollars buying these commodities."
The forum is currently drawing up plans to find more green solutions to HFCs in time for the Cancun Climate Change Conference at the end of the year.
However, Leahy stressed the purpose of the forum was not just to come up with solutions but to encourage all members to become "agents for change".
Speaking earlier at the summit, The Prince of Wales argued that the consequences if the industry failed to act were "truly terrifying".
Fortunately, it has started to raise its game. This week, the forum's Sustainability workstream issued its first report, delivering a common framework and measurement system to help businesses make better, more informed decisions about packaging and sustainability."Our industry has a responsibility to review the packaging it uses and to ensure that any negative impact arising from its production or disposal is minimised," said Polman.
A pilot scheme was launched in April involving 25 companies among them Unilever, Tesco, Tetra Pak, Walmart and Coca-Cola to test the new framework and measurement system, under whichphrases such as "carbon-neutral" or "sustainably sourced" must be strictly defined so there is no confusion among consumers.
There were also plans to develop a common global system to measure carbon footprints, said Leahy.
However, change would not be easy, he admitted. "We can grow without carbon, there is such a thing as green growth," he said. "To achieve it we need to think afresh and do things differently. We cannot go on as we are. We must change."
Shopper power
Also speaking at the summit, Asda CEO Andy Bond said he believed an "irreversible shift" had taken place from the "shopper as consumer" to "the consumer as participant".
Today's consumers were digital natives, he said, citing his 12-year-old son, who loves music but has never bought a CD. The industry must communicate differently with these consumers, he said, calling on it to give consumers more control, to drive greater transparency to rebuild trust and to harness consumer desire to innovate, reduce waste and save money.
"This isn't about losing control of your business, he stressed. "It's about a genuine belief you'll run a better business by letting go."
The damp squib that was the Copenhagen Summit underscores just how far sustainability has fallen down the political agenda.
But it's not just MPs who are in danger of consigning it to the backburner, Sir Terry Leahy warned at last week's Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit in London.
"If, like me, you are concerned about the environment and climate change, the last year or so has not been great," admitted the Tesco CEO and forum board co-sponsor for sustainability.
"Recession, the deficit, unemployment have been the issues capturing the headlines. They have pushed climate change down, and sometimes off, the agenda. The good news which rarely gets reported is that responsible businesses, businesses that focus on creating long-term value, know these are short-term distractions."
Others, however, were at risk of taking their eye off the ball to the detriment of the environment and themselves, he implied. Everyone needed to step up their efforts to tackle climate change and create "a mass movement in green consumption".
"Experts remain 90% certain it is caused by man's activities and that if these don't change, it will have severe consequences globally for our habitats, our economies, our living standards," he warned. "We can no longer count on conventional energy sources. Energy security is becoming a major strategic issue for all our businesses."
Paul Polman, Unilever CEO and joint sponsor for sustainability, echoed Leahy's call to make sustainability an urgent priority. "The time for action is now because the facts demonstrate that our industry is in a position to address it," he said, urging companies to support the forum's proposal to tackle deforestation and refrigeration.
"Our aim is simple: to persuade the 300 or so member companies of the forum to work together to put an end to deforestation," he said. "Between us we spend billions of dollars buying these commodities."
The forum is currently drawing up plans to find more green solutions to HFCs in time for the Cancun Climate Change Conference at the end of the year.
However, Leahy stressed the purpose of the forum was not just to come up with solutions but to encourage all members to become "agents for change".
Speaking earlier at the summit, The Prince of Wales argued that the consequences if the industry failed to act were "truly terrifying".
Fortunately, it has started to raise its game. This week, the forum's Sustainability workstream issued its first report, delivering a common framework and measurement system to help businesses make better, more informed decisions about packaging and sustainability."Our industry has a responsibility to review the packaging it uses and to ensure that any negative impact arising from its production or disposal is minimised," said Polman.
A pilot scheme was launched in April involving 25 companies among them Unilever, Tesco, Tetra Pak, Walmart and Coca-Cola to test the new framework and measurement system, under whichphrases such as "carbon-neutral" or "sustainably sourced" must be strictly defined so there is no confusion among consumers.
There were also plans to develop a common global system to measure carbon footprints, said Leahy.
However, change would not be easy, he admitted. "We can grow without carbon, there is such a thing as green growth," he said. "To achieve it we need to think afresh and do things differently. We cannot go on as we are. We must change."
Shopper power
Also speaking at the summit, Asda CEO Andy Bond said he believed an "irreversible shift" had taken place from the "shopper as consumer" to "the consumer as participant".
Today's consumers were digital natives, he said, citing his 12-year-old son, who loves music but has never bought a CD. The industry must communicate differently with these consumers, he said, calling on it to give consumers more control, to drive greater transparency to rebuild trust and to harness consumer desire to innovate, reduce waste and save money.
"This isn't about losing control of your business, he stressed. "It's about a genuine belief you'll run a better business by letting go."
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