Giles Gibbons

Good Business - Sustainability | Strategy | Impact

March 24, 2023

1. Real life roomsets 

One in every 208 people in England is currently experiencing homelessness. Thousands more may lose their homes by the end of the year as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. 

IKEA and Shelter UK’s new campaign ‘Real Life Room-sets’ raises awareness of the issue and gives a sense of the stark reality for those forced into temporary accommodation. Temporary accommodation can take several forms: emergency hostels, cramped flats and one room bed sits. Usually small and often dangerous and generally unfit spaces. A shortage of social housing in some areas means that some families are forced to live in temporary accommodation for years. 

Together with Shelter, IKEA has created and installed roomsets in four of their stores across the UK. Based on the stories of real people who are local to the stores involved, the roomsets are a striking contrast from those typically found in IKEA showrooms.  

Importantly, the campaign is not just about raising awareness, it’s also about acting. This campaign comes as part of IKEA’s long-term partnership with Shelter, who together are asking the UK government to build 90,000 social homes a year by 2030, and for amendments to the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill to help address the housing emergency.   

This is a powerful example of a brand engaging with a meaningful cause that aligns with its business, raising awareness in a thought-provoking way, backing it up with action, and calling for systemic change.  

2. What planet are businesses on? 

In an uncharacteristically public statement, Poul Weihrauch, the CEO of Mars, spoke up this week about the importance of companies taking their ESG commitments seriously, stating that beyond Mars’ revenue growth over the next decade, their more important target is to achieve ‘responsible growth’. 

Weihrauch’s argument is strong and simple. If companies don’t prioritise their environmental and social goals, they will lose interest from the younger generation who won’t stay with them as employees. Profit can, and should, coexist with purpose. Mars is showing what this means in practice, with the intention of increasing their sustainability spending to US$2.7 billion in the next year, as well as making substantial efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the sustainability of their supply chain. 

Weihrauch’s comments respond to the increasing tension between the growing body of evidence that warns that we’re headed for a climate catastrophe if we don’t act now, and the camp of investors, politicians, and businesses whose neglect of environmental and social goals makes acting now a difficult task. The IPCC report published this week states that we will be stuck in an ‘unlivable world’ if we continue our current path, and the political will of powerful entities will be an important ingredient for change. But with allegations of ‘woke culture’ flying around and the continued politicisation of ESG goals, it makes the road ahead a difficult one. Weihrauch’s message is clear- that companies mustn’t let such accusations dampen their efforts to implement responsible, purpose driven growth. 

3. Destination resilient 

Irrespective of whether we’re heading towards 1.5C of warming, 2C, or more, climate change is already here and we’re seeing weather events become more extreme and frequent as a result. The very first figure of the recent IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report shows all the human and natural systems that are already adversely affected. The flooding in Pakistan, wildfires in California and Arctic heatwaves are just some recent examples. 

We need to do everything we can to stem the flow of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere through intense decarbonisation of businesses and nations. And while the quantity of emissions in the atmosphere is important, there should also be a lens on the human impact of climate change. This human impact is something that we can manage additionally, by making ourselves less vulnerable to the impacts of climate change through adaptation. 

Climate adaptation and resilience has been rising up agendas recently, and this week we were interested to see it being tackled head-on by Transport for London (TfL) through its first climate adaptation plan. Transport contributes 37% of global emissions but is also at the front line of feeling the impacts of extreme weather events, as many people trying to use the London Underground in February, July, August and November 2022 found out. 

While lots of the focus of the new plan is on data collection, staff training, better weather forecasting and embedding climate risk into capital projects, it will also see the building of sustainable drainage systems, green roofs, and tree planting. As well as making the city more attractive and nature-rich, these steps will put London’s transport infrastructure in a better position to keep the city moving when extreme weather strikes.  

#Climateadaptation is a new frontier for climate strategy, and we commend organisations driving forward to protect themselves and customers from the impacts of climate change. 

4. Scrolling in the deep 

Unsurprising that influencers… influence! But we like it when this influence becomes a helpful tool to deliver more sustainable societies. A new study by the The Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) and Unilever shows the critical role played by influencers in helping to make sustainable living commonplace. 

The experiment measured the resulting behaviour change of 6,000 UK, US and Canadian consumers engaging with a simulated social platform that showed them various styles of social media content. Two key results were of great interest to us: the fact that the influencers had an impact on sustainable lifestyle choices for 78% of the participants, and the fact that branded content was viewed as just as engaging, authentic and informative as the unbranded content. 

The study proves that brands that make good use of social media can do a great job introducing sustainable products or solutions to the consumer. And if you are wondering what type of content you may need, the study mentioned here gives you two winning content styles: the pragmatic and the optimistic. The pragmatic emphasises the scale and gravity of the climate crisis, with a heavy use of statistics. The optimistic, on the other hand, includes tips and tricks to live more sustainably, with a surprising, often humorous tone. The study showed that both work: of those who watched “pragmatic content,” 69% went on to try something new to reduce their plastic or food waste as a result, with 61% of those who watch “optimistic” content reporting action. 

Meanwhile, if you’re not on TikTok yet, you must be on LinkedIn: make sure you’re on the impactful side of things and subscribe to our GoodBusiness page! 

The Goods: Let’s hear it for the B(ig) Corps  

B Corp month continues, and this week we wanted to give a shout-out to the larger companies that are embedding B Corps principles into their businesses.  

There’s been a lot of criticism in recent months around B Corp certification being awarded to larger corporates. After all, the origins of the B Corp movement were typically SMEs doing things differently. Can a company like Nespresso UK really be compared to a small coffee roaster set up with sustainability and empowering farmers at its core? A quick note that we've already covered that debate in a previous Friday 5.

However, as advocates for transformational change, we know how hard it can be to embed a new purpose, a net zero commitment, or just ensure good fundamentals at scale to move a business in a new direction.  

The beauty of B Corp UK is that it can be a driving force for companies that want to accelerate change. As the B Corp certification gains momentum, becoming a B Corp can be the launchpad for change - as well as a badge of honour for those that achieve it. Larger companies have their own pathway to certification which is – as you’d hope – more detailed and in depth than that for smaller businesses – meaning that achieving that B Corp status is indeed a great way of creating a process for change as well as signalling to stakeholders that you are committed to it.  

So let’s embrace the big players moving in the right direction with open arms – shout out to Good Business' clients and friends Aesop, Avon, PZ Cussons, Coutts and Abel & Cole who are on their B Corp journey or who have already achieved certification - and use our B Community to inspire and bring others into the sustainability fold.