Astanor, SMEs, Actors, Boys & Soil
Giles Gibbons
Good Business - Sustainability | Strategy | Impact
August 25, 2023
1. Putting a number on it
Consider this conundrum: a company reduces its carbon emissions significantly while simultaneously creating thousands of jobs in a disadvantaged community. How do we add up these two vastly different forms of impact?
In the complex landscape of sustainability, measuring impact is no easy feat. With myriad metrics spanning social, environmental, and economic topics, accounting for the total value of a company’s effect on the world might seem impossible. Astanor Ventures, a global investor in agrifood technology startups, is on a mission to prove that it is not.
Astanor (who we have worked with in the past) has developed an in-house Impact Valuation methodology which allows the company to convert heterogeneous sustainability indicators into a single monetary value. The approach is based on six key performance indicators covering planetary and people-centred metrics and considers both positive aspects (such as cost savings and job creation) and negative aspects (like pollution and resource depletion). By translating these metrics into monetary terms, Astanor offers a holistic view of impact that allows investors to make more informed and strategic decisions.
Astanor isn’t the first to think about valuing non-financial impacts (other methodologies include Social Return on Investment and True Cost Accounting), and the company admits that Impact Valuation is still in its infancy. But the methodology is a concrete step towards quantifying the unquantifiable and shaping a future where businesses can be more than profit generators. Even better, Astanor intends to share the methodology widely, contributing to a common language for investors everywhere.
As far as Astanor’s impact? Based on their calculations, in 2023 the company created EUR250 million of impact from EUR 97 million invested – a pretty good return, in our books!
2. Support for SMEs
There are approximately 5.5 million small-to-medium businesses (SMEs) in the UK. To put that into context, SMEs make up over 99% of the total businesses and provide three-fifths of the UK’s employment. So, while we often think of SMEs as being small in scale, when looking at the big picture, we can instantly see the potential for a collectively large impact, evidenced by their contribution of almost one-third of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions.
With the launch of the UK Business Climate Hub, we hope to see SMEs receive the support that they need to contribute to national and global net zero carbon commitments in a low cost, efficient and effective way. Launched by the UK Government, in partnership with organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), NatWest Group, HSBC UK and the National Grid, the hub provides resources to help SMEs reduce their greenhouse gas emissions quickly and easily. The tools and resources provided are designed to support SMEs along each step of the journey from measuring their carbon footprint to selecting and financing low carbon initiatives.
SMEs typically come up against significant budget and resource constraints when considering whether to implement sustainability initiatives within their organisations, often presenting a barrier to action. However, this by no means represents a lack of interest in acting on sustainability, with 8 in 10 SMEs reporting a commitment to do so according to recent survey results reported by Rimm Sustainability. The survey also indicates the value of implementing sustainability is well understood, with the majority recognising the potential benefits from access to investment capital, employee retention and enhanced reputation.
Despite the business benefits that might arise from the transition to net zero, the end point can still seem abstract and complex. The UK Business Climate Hub will ultimately help to bridge the gap between commitment and action, supporting SMEs to improve their understanding and develop credible plans to support the transition. It’ll join a growing network of resources and experts dedicated to supporting SMEs in the transition to a net zero economy from those such as SME Climate Hub b to our partners at Net Zero Now w. So, if you’re an SME looking to shape your strategy to reach net zero, the UK Business Climate Hub is the perfect starting point.
3. Actors action
Does it come as a surprise to you that the film industry and its stars produce a staggering amount of CO2? Jet-setting, luxury cars, energy use and film set waste all contribute to the carbon footprints of your favourite films and features.
One hundred prominent actors, including Dame Harriet Walter, Sir Mark Rylance and Bill Nighy, have set out to address this, signing an open letter calling for their peers to rein in their carbon-intensive contractual requirements.
The letter acknowledges the environmental impact of the industry and encouragers actors to “take necessary steps to reduce emissions and restore health to ecosystems that support life on earth”, by negotiating bolder sustainability standards in their contracts (a so-called “Green Rider”), from opting for train travel instead of jet to recycling sets and costumes.
Great sentiments, but in our view, the call to action will only move beyond high-minded but meaningless gestures if it is part of a more thoughtful approach to carbon reduction that really does target the areas where carbon arises. An actor who asks for a second-hand costumer and no cut flowers in their dressing room but continues to fly first class when traveling for non-work-related reasons is not only missing the real impact of their behaviour but also risks (at best) being called out for green washing and (at worst) labelled a hypocrite.
Knowing where your own personal sources of emissions come from, and where there is the greatest scope to make reductions, should be a first step. We have partnered with a family office to help its clients do just that, measuring individuals’ personal carbon footprints, setting goals and reduction targets for them, and then helping them achieve reductions by laying a foundation for informed decision-making and targeted actions. You manage what you measure, and if you don’t know where your carbon emissions are occurring you can’t expect to take the bold and ambitious measures that the 100 thespians aspire to achieve.
The actors’ open letter serves as a fresh reminder that intentions are not enough. Concrete carbon reduction is vital, and that is achieved through year-on-year carbon footprint measurement and target-setting. Get in touch if you need support!
4. Boys behaving badly
Whose responsibility is it to address misogyny? The “Say ‘Maaaate’ to your mate” campaign, launched; by the Mayor of London, suggests that peer pressure – typically understood as encouraging people towards more risky or antisocial behaviours, but in this case actually encouraging positive behaviours – can play a part. And while there is much to unpack about the campaign (see below), the role of peer pressure in changing social norms is something the campaign gets right. Starting with the person, not the issue, can be a powerful leverage of change. This is what we do through our behaviour change campaign, SKY Girls. Teenage girls are aware that tobacco is bad for their health. But in the heat of the moment, they struggle to refuse tobacco products being offered by their peers. The moment when people decide how to respond to a situation can last for just a few seconds, but it is crucial. Providing refusal skills and expressions to use in advance has proven a very efficient way to influence this and, ultimately, to change attitudes on the long term. So has emphasising the message around “being true to yourself” – including speaking up and telling your friends when you disagree with their behaviour.
“Say ‘Maaaate’ to your mate” tries to do that, building on last year’s compelling Have a Word campaign. “Have a Word” worked because it framed the incident (a young woman at a bus stop late at night who is hassled by a group of young men) through the eyes of the scared young woman, showing the impact it had on her, and because it showed how a short, non-confrontational intervention from one of the group was enough to shut down the behaviour. It nudged people towards speaking up; most people understand exactly what constitutes inappropriate behaviour, but don’t necessarily feel comfortable calling it out in group situations. Seeking to normalise interventions and speaking up is an important part of changing behaviour.
“Say ‘Maaaate’ to your mate” isn’t as compelling. A group of lads are gaming while one makes increasingly misogynistic and unpleasant comments, unchallenged by the group. You, the viewer, are encouraged to click the “Say maaaate” button on the screen to intervene, and if you fail to do so, you’ll be called out at the end for being complicit. It’s awkward, long and doesn’t feel believable – why are these people hanging around with someone so unpleasant? We don’t see the impact on the people the behaviour affects and nor do we get the “aha” moment, when the intervention takes place. There’s no positive behaviour modelled that can then be emulated, and while it’s meant to be interactive, it’s not actually very well executed.
Creative challenges aside, the central premise – that you can change the behaviour of people around you – is strong. Encouraging the silent but well-intentioned majority to find their voice is a powerful way of creating change across different social and environmental issues. “Behavioural contagion” works in both directions, and for anyone grappling with how to change behaviour in a positive way, peers and role models can play an extremely important part in creating that change, given the right encouragement.
The Goods: Muddying the waters
Recent estimates suggest that the earth’s topsoil could be irreversibly eroded within the next 60 years. This highlights one of the many ways in which modern society has become increasingly unsustainable. Finally, brands are starting to wake up to this, and shifting their focus to a more ‘regenerative’ philosophy. The potential health impacts of this shift are remarkable, for the planet, and for us. Many of these brands define ‘regenerative’ as a more nature-positive action that actively improves the soils we have polluted. This may be through the use of organic fertilisers and pesticides, while other more scientific methods, such as those used by fragrance brand Guerlain have seen dedicated ‘laboratory gardens’ created to explore regenerative agriculture techniques. Clearly, improving soil health is becoming an action milestone for many companies. The effects of soil on human physical and mental health is also beginning to come to light. And that leads us on to this week’s featured Goods. One brand that is diving into this muddy miracle is Bog Skincare, a cosmetic brand inspired by the incredibly well preserved 2000-year-old bog body found in an Irish peatland. The brand’s skincare products, based off the chemical composition of organic peat have been independently verified to have 300 times more anti-aging antioxidants than Trolox, the industry-standard antioxidant. Further, naturally occurring acids in peat, such as humic and fulvic acids, have been shown to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, and generally lead to healthier skin.
As the relationship between human and humus becomes ever more apparent, the capacity for healthier lifestyles that also benefit our environment becomes ever greater. Whether it’s the potential for soil bacteria to alleviate depression or PTSD, or the rumoured electro-therapeutic nature of soil, the science all points to a huge range of ecosystem services that soil and its properties can have on us, and ways in which we all can give back. Mud may not be a shiny innovation, but the way we think about it is. Let’s get stuck in.
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