Giles Gibbons

Founder and CEO, Good Business

January 20, 2023

1. Mission possible

We don’t always hear a positive perspective on climate change, and it is easy to get bogged down in the pessimistic headlines telling us targets are unrealistic, and that we’re not on track to achieve them. This week, we’re highlighting some more optimistic news that lights a way forward.

Commissioned by the government as an independent review in September last year, Chris Skidmore’s Mission Zero is the largest national engagement exercise on the future of #netzero in the UK. Aiming to understand how the UK can meet its 2050 target, the review takes a whole of society approach to understand how the UK can take advantage of opportunities green growth can offer, and achieve net zero in a more affordable, efficient and pro-growth way. With recent research suggesting all the ‘quick wins’ have been achieved, this review is a welcome beacon on the road to net zero, providing a focus on what’s next.

On the UK’s leadership on climate action, the review paints a positive picture, suggesting the UK has delivered real change at home and across the globe, a stark contrast against last year’s legal action against the government by ClientEarth for its failure to implement an adequate net zero strategy. Despite its glowing appraisal of the UK’s leadership, the review highlights the need to go further faster. Making 129 recommendations, from accelerating the adoption of renewable energy to making major changes to the way we heat our homes, it sets out a direct and focused path towards achieving the UK’s net zero target, acknowledging that net zero will only be achieved if it benefits all of society.

This review is a positive step for the UK government, signalling a change in mindset and a more ambitious plan of action. The future of net zero for the UK is challenging but clear. It’s time to reach beyond the low hanging fruit, so we hope the recommendations laid out in Mission Zero translate into timely action, putting us on a highway to a better future.

2. Moving targets

If you have been following us for a while, you’ll know we love discussing sustainability communications and targets and the inevitable balancing act between setting bold commitments, and over-committing to targets that are hard to reach.

Is it better to set an ambitious target and only achieve 80% of it or to set a target at 40% and successfully meet it? In the words of our CEO, Giles, in a recent Reuters interview: "We must allow business to be aspirational, to risk committing to the unknown and rather than sitting at the edge asking if it is greenwash, [we must] spend time challenging what they are doing and where they could do more and faster."

One example that comes to mind is Microsoft’s pledge to be carbon negative by 2030 in 2020. The target was ambitious, especially considering they did not have a clear roadmap to achieve that, knowing they would need to rely on suppliers and customers to help them. However, quickly, the business started taking action and set up the Climate Innovation Fund, pledging to invest $1bn into finding ways to meet that goal.

Of course, we don’t want businesses making wild claims without being able to credibly demonstrate their genuine commitment to reaching them. Any business that sets a target needs to move fast to set out a realistic plan of action, and transparently communicate its progress along the way. But we believe they should also be encouraged to push themselves to take a leap - and use the fact of having done so to help galvanise action.

3. More than just a game?

The EFL Trust recently published a report attempting to value the social outcomes and impacts delivered by EFL (English Football League) Clubs and Club Community Organisations (CCOs).

The report details the unprecedented scale of community support that EFL clubs and CCOs have provided over the past three seasons (2019-2022), totalling more than £865 million of social value in towns and cities across the country.

Importantly, this goes way beyond football. Support is focused not only on sport participation, but also community engagement, health and wellbeing, education, training and employment, through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Community impact has been rooted in the beautiful game since the first ball was kicked, but it’s never been quantified. This research is a ground-breaking step to assess and model the positive social impact that football has on communities, helping clubs understand how effective they are in helping communities to overcome inequalities and disadvantage. It also demonstrates the importance of football clubs and sport more broadly as a catalyst for social change.

So, what to do with all this data? Can the learnings be used to intertwine social and economic value to benefit organisations who are community rich but cash poor? Leveraging tax incentives and making sports clubs eligible for community-focused government grants could be effective ways to promote continued development and deliver social value beyond the sport.

We like to imagine a world in which the transfer market value of a player is based on the hours of community support provided by a club, rather than a monetary value - but we’ll concede that this might be a little far-fetched. A more realistic scenario is one in which a football club which truly supports its community is rewarded for doing so; inspiring a new generation of lower league football owners, who are motivated by having a positive impact on the community, and of course winning a few games along the way.

4. Praise the raise

The new year brought new plans for Sainsbury's’s, which is investing a total of £205 million to increase pay to at least £11 per hour for its colleagues from February.

The reason behind the decision has been clearly set out: household budgets are tighter than ever. After a tough winter, with millions of households struggling with the rising cost of food, rent, fuel and energy, the pay increase should help Sainsbury’s employees to manage the cost of living.

It sounds like a positive move and echoes the main message within a thought piece of ours last year: every single business should pay its employees enough for them to live on. The ‘real living wage’ (as opposed to the legally enforced living wage) is based on meeting everyday needs: £10.90 per hour across the UK and £11.95 in London. Sainsbury’s now becomes the largest supermarket to pay employees above the real living wage nationally (£11) and at the real living wage in London (£11.95).

The ten per cent rise in wages from last year represents Sainsbury’s efforts to be a leading employer and will likely attract new employees too. It is an apt response after the supermarket rejected investors’ calls to pay a living wage to all employees last year; amidst criticism after the CEO’s pay tripled to £3.8 million.

The pay increase may add pressure to finding cost savings elsewhere in the business, but it will go a long way towards ensuring their workforce feels valued and respected. Pay, after all, is the fundamental responsibility of business and the means to creating a fair society.

As well as being good for society, paying employees the real living wage could have significant business benefits too. If not already, will you follow suit and join the list of progressive companies paying a living wage?

The Goods: Seedrs

With rising awareness of the social and environmental impact of our investments, comes a range of products and services that support sustainable investments. This week, we’re taking a look at one of our favourites: Seedrs

Seedrs is an equity crowdfunding platform that allows people to invest in businesses they believe in and share in their success, often for quite small amounts of money. Meanwhile, it allows businesses to raise capital while building a community of like-minded supporters. But what sets Seedrs apart from other equity crowdfunding platforms is that it also allows investors to sell many of these investments on its secondary market, overcoming the issue that other platforms have where you can’t do much with your investment once you’ve made it for several years.

While its mission isn’t focused specifically on sustainability, Seedrs does a good job of catering for conscious and impact investors alike, with lots of opportunities that a Friday 5 reader may find interesting. It has specific guidance on sustainable investing, allows you to filter for B-Corps and features some of the companies that our regular readers may recognise, such as Ripple and Sheep Inc

One launch we’re particularly excited about is Oddbox. It’s a Good Business favourite, delivering wonky or surplus fruit and veg to many of our front doors, supplying many a delicious meal while keeping us on our culinary toes and fighting food waste. With this opening, supporters can benefit in Oddbox’s success (hopefully), while the business gathers the funding it needs for the journey ahead.

We can’t advise on whether these investments will make you rich, but there is no doubt that many will enrich the communities they serve. And we’ll be interested to see Seedrs germinate some of the big hitting businesses that will contribute to a more sustainable future for everyone.

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