Sustainability
Our consulting practice supports businesses in understanding and managing the pressures emerging from global environmental, social, economic, demographic, and health trends.
The impact of issues such as climate change, water resources, renewable energy, and nutrition go far beyond a concern with damage to reputations or brands. They will exert a transformational effect on business models and shape the future landscape of winners and losers across a wide range of sectors.
- We assist organisations in embedding sustainability concerns into their strategic thinking and processes through the application of tools such as scenario planning and trend analysis.
- We help organisations engage with stakeholders and policymakers on major sustainability issues.
- Finally, we aid organisations to interpret sustainability concerns in an emerging and frontier market context, and identify and engage with local stakeholders.
Major sustainability challenges with which we help include the following:
Climate Change
Climate change is already having far-reaching consequences and these are likely to intensify in the decades to come. Unfortunately, too few businesses have fully assimilated the implications of climate change into their strategic thinking. We apply our expertise in the effects of climate change, climate change politics, emissions trading, environmental regulation and renewable energy to assist organisations in managing the impact on aspects of their business from supply chains and the availability of raw materials to consumer preferences and regulation.
Water
Growing demand from agriculture, industry and households will lead to water stress in many regions, with potentially dramatic implications for social and political stability. We can assist organisations as they face increasingly complex questions about ownership, distribution and use, and make plans for a world in which water will be a critical resource.
Health and Technology
Rising costs combined with limited fiscal resources are putting pressure on societies to limit health care expenditures. Business is expected to contribute to lowering health care costs by reducing the negative health impact of their products, services and processes. Moreover, public trust in the benefits of innovation is making it more difficult to develop and introduce new technologies such as genetic modification and nanotechnology. Businesses will need to be proactive in understanding and responding to the changing expectations and perceptions of stakeholders, the media and policymakers. We assist organisations in scanning the environment, understanding stakeholder perceptions and developing responses to political and regulatory challenges in these areas.
