Now is a great time to take action on the environment.


In a February 28th an article published in the Globe and Mail quoted a poll by Ipsos Reid in which a majority of Canadians support the government taking measures to address the environment even if it means running a deficit in a time of difficult economics. There is now a large opportunity for Canadian organizations to engage their workforces to capitalize on this societal sentiment and reduce their impact on the environment.

Taking action on the environment involves many things to a company. If done well, embarking on a green strategy becomes a way to create a competitive advantage. It can reduce inefficiencies through the way it delivers products and services. It is a way to generate growth by serving new, emerging green market segments. It is an important way to rally employees around their workplace at a time when so many feel vulnerable.

To achieve the benefits, the green strategy has to become fundamental to the organization and encompass the entire company. Programs have to produce measurable results, to show that the initiatives have reduced the environmental footprint in a real way. Employees and other stakeholders are no longer accepting platitudes. You need much more than creating a green branding campaign or a carbon offset purchasing program if you are going to get their trust.

It takes a clear plan and dedicated leadership to review your entire business process to find opportunities. You stimulate a way of doing business across the company where everyone thinks about how they can contribute. You create innovation and competition. When you get this approach and culture in place, it becomes a very powerful tool for accelerating company progress. People will be stepping up with new ideas. Your systems need to be able to incorporate these effectively. Doing this will create real marketing and PR messages for the market place.

An effective program will include knowledge centers to monitor looming regulation and law. Through this, the company will be able to take proactive action relative to its competitors. For example, through President Obama’s announcement last week in the U.S. budget proposal, there will very likely be a cross-industry mandatory carbon cap-and-trade scheme in the US by 2012. This means that Canada will shortly follow.

Now Canadian companies need to start to plan around a carbon price. Energy intensive industries need to think about how they mitigate and manage that extra cost. Canadian companies need to figure out how they apply carbon in capital planning. These are things that only the most progressive businesses are doing at this time. These companies will have a competitive advantage as we get closer to the low carbon economy.

In conclusion, companies are right now struggling to cut cost and find growth. Taking action on the environment can be an opportunity to do both, while creating something valuable for the future.


Francisca Quinn is the business manager for Loop Initiatives in Toronto, which works with Canadian companies to create sustainable business strategies. Prior to joining Loop, Francisca worked with large British companies and investors on climate change strategies at the Carbon Trust in London, UK.

Francisca Quinn