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and other collaborators that share sustainable values As part of its commitment to reuse and recycle 1 million metric tons of plastic by 2030, chemical company Dow has partnered with Indian startup company Lucro to “close the loop” by creating new products and packaging with the recycled inputs. Dow provides material science, application development expertise and testing capabilities at its Indian facilities, enabling Lucro to develop and manufacture new products using post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics. The partnership enables
Without intentional effort to embed sustainability into the C-suite, companies’ sustainability initiatives will remain stalled, no matter the authenticity of their commitments Dow to reduce its environmental footprint through a revenue generating joint venture.
Profits: Embedding a sustaina-
bility lens into decisions around capital allocation, investments and corporate strategy PepsiCo incorporates environmental sustainability criteria into its Capital Expenditure Filter, which is applied to all capital expenditure requests over $5 million. Each request is reviewed not only against business financial metrics and value to advance the business strategy but also for the impact (positive or negative) that it will have on environmental perfor110
| september 2021
mance, including energy use and GHG emissions, and its contribution to the company’s efforts to achieve its climate goal. Yet simply identifying the myriad ways that a company can embed sustainability is not enough – companies must also possess the talent and expertise to deliver on these opportunities. To better understand what differentiates business leaders who have driven successful sustainability transformations, we partnered with the United Nations Global Compact to study pioneering sustainability leaders for our joint whitepaper, Leadership for the Decade of Action. The research identified four unique attributes of sustainable leaders: • Multi-level systems thinking: Sustainable leaders recognize the interconnectivity of the ecosystem in which the business operates. They are naturally curious, with high levels of ambition and result orientation. • Stakeholder inclusion: Sustainable leaders do not just manage stakeholders, they include them. These leaders consider a wide range of viewpoints to drive decision-making and value creation and demonstrate high levels of empathy and authenticity. • Disruptive innovation: With the courage to challenge traditional approaches, sustainable leaders seek out the best available science but are comfortable not having all the answers. They identify novel solutions that do away with the tradeoff between profitability and sustainability.
