The demise of ESG has created a sustainability vacuum and green hushing, but is also ushering in an era of aspirational policy, regulations and standards.
The surprising piece perhaps, is industry is actually helping drive this.
I started reading Michael Pawlyn‘s new edition of Biomimicry in Architecture, and already in the introduction I am learning new things. In talking about CSR he references the CISL Report Survival of the Fittest: From ESG to Competitive Sustainability. In it, I learned a new word: Green Hushing. The opposite of green washing, green hushing is when companies making real progress, are worried about talking about it, for fear of a backlash or unwanted scrutiny.
One of our O&G clients commented that reporting on being net water positive can create risk of reputational damage. I saw this first hand working for The Body Shop.
The area of water reporting is less mature than energy, and still feels a bit like the Wild West. Terms are often open to interpretation.
Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting is a valiant effort to make disparate pathways quantifiable and comparable, in reality, it’s almost impossible. It’s like asking three economists the same question: they will each give you a different answer, all of which will ultimately be proven wrong.
One of the reasons Apple opted for setting their goals based on Total Freshwater Withdrawals, as opposed Consumptive and Non-consumptive water use, is it is less prone to subjectivity. They are hoping others may adopt this approach. Because clearer methods and metrics help everyone. We discussed this in our BlueTech Forum workshop at Climate Week.
BlueTech is seeing regulations and policy becoming more aspirational. People are deeply worried about climate and nature. This creates the environment in which it is possible to regulate. As the report says, ‘there is no political movement arguing for climate destruction’. Governments have a mandate to act.
Progressive businesses want government to regulate, to create the rules of engagement and provide a levelised playing field. It makes their life easier in terms of not needing to always make sustainability pencil out with a 3 yr ROI.
Companies including Amazon, Google,Meta are working at a European level to help push forward policies to enable the use of Municipal Wastewater Reuse for cooling in Data Centres.
The same applies to Supply chain initiatives. It’s easier for Electronics and semi-conductor manufacturers if what they do to meet Apples program also helps them win a contract with Samsung. Mining companies sign up to shared standards under the International Council for Metal Mining (ICMM). Otherwise proactive companies can be undercut by laggards and it leads to a tragedy of the commons or a Jevon’s paradox.
The trend in regulation is what we are analysing with the BlueTech Regulations Tracker. As the ESG star is waning, the moon of market moving policy and regulations, is waxing.
