greener GOING EVEN

In the broadest sense, sustainability is defined as the ability to maintain or support a process continuously over a long period of time. In business, sustainability refers to operating in a way that it doesn’t negatively impact the environment, community, or society as a whole.

Publisher Jacques Breytenbach

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In the environmental sense, sustainability seeks to prevent the depletion of natural resources, so that they will remain available for the long term. Many businesses and governments have committed to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as reducing their environmental footprints and conserving resources like water. Some investors have even started actively embracing sustainability investments, known as green bonds.

At a household level, a lot more people are ‘going green’, which basically means that they pursue practices that can lead to more environmentally friendly and ecologically responsible lifestyles.

So what does sustainability look like in 2023? What are some of the key sustainability trends that will drive decision-making?

The UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in 2022 made a bold decision and committed to provide loss and damage funding to countries most affected by climate disasters. The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report revealed that climate change poses major threats to people and ecosystems and around the world, and indicated that CO2 emissions needed to be cut 45% by 2030.

Bold and innovative action is needed to tackle the threat that climate change poses. In 2023, we will see greater focus on finding credible measures to mitigate the impact of climate change on rising greenhouse gas emissions.

more financial institutions investing in environmental or climate-related projects. This increase in investments will likely be fueled by more companies realising how investing in sustainability can be a vehicle to future-proof their operations.

According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, plastic waste generation will more than double by 2040. Plastic leakage into the ocean will nearly triple, and plastic stock in the ocean nearly quadruple.

Tackling plastic pollution will become increasingly important. This will require multi-stakeholder partnerships between the public and private sectors, as well as among scientists, communities and consumers.

In 2023, we will see the industry building on the agreements made in 2022, which aim to end plastic pollution.

Sustainable living will not be a choice, instead it will become a way of life. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, more companies and businesses will try to find ways to reduce their impacts on the environment.

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We are likely to see an increase in investment in sustainability throughout 2023, with