Page 22 - Food&Drink March 2022

SUSTAINABILITY
The dividends of stewardship
Sustainability professionals are switching gears in the face of overwhelming demand for net zero emissions targets. Cress Consulting CEO Julia Seddon looks at the benefits for business in implementing effective ESG and water stewardship programs.
SUSTAINABILITY professionals are having their own pivot moment as they find themselves no longer having to explain what sustainability is or why it makes good business sense.
Instead, their services are in greater demand than ever following broad acceptance of the latest ‘code red’ IPCC climate report; the 1.5-degree goals out of COP26; big shifts in investments; a global push to address key issues around energy and emissions; and ever more frequent and serious climate disasters.
It seems as if the world recognises that perhaps we
businesses to put comprehensive environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and programs in place.
TIME TO TAKE STOCK
The race to net zero emissions is the ideal time for businesses to look at the physical and transitional risks of climate change on their operations, supply chains, clients, and customers. As the climate gets warmer and more erratic, the impacts escalate.
A hotter, drier, more extreme, and less predictable climate is a physical risk to people, assets, economies, and ecosystems.
sea levels. For example, the recent flooding in many parts of the country that seriously impacted food production areas and supply chains.
Meanwhile, less water is making its way into rivers and storages. Records of inflows to the Murray River over 125 years show median annual inflows over the past 20 years have been about half the level of the preceding century.
Inflows into Sydney’s dams also dropped over the past 30 years. From 1991 to 2020, inflows averaged 770 million litres a year, 45 per cent less than the long-term average.
food production regions. Other knock-on effects
significantly impacting food and beverage businesses include workplace health and safety, supply chain disruption, and raw material supply risk.
Together with impacts on food production and human health, adaptation and building resilience are especially important for economic, social, and environmental sustainability.
Attention and pressure from investors, customers, employees, and the community on ESG issues also continues to rise as organisations reassess the way they operate and communicate with stakeholders.
The benefits of developing a strong basis for ESG reporting include boosted customer and employee engagement, attraction and retention of talent, improved social licence, reduced operational risk and, increasingly, enhanced investment return.
Done properly, good ESG performance can mitigate a variety of risks and is likely to be materially beneficial in two ways. Firstly, positive share price performance;
“ The benefits of developing a strong basis for ESG reporting include boosted customer and employee engagement, attraction and retention of talent, improved social licence, reduced operational risk and, increasingly, enhanced investment return.”
aren’t as in control of the planet and nature as we once thought.
The world now demands reduced pollution and a rapid transition to renewables to replace traditional fossil fuels. This is driving industries and
Understanding and assessing the risks and developing strategies is crucial.
In the rush to net zero we can forget that climate impacts are far more wide-ranging than higher temperatures or rising
THE ESG INVESTMENT
Clearly alternative water management strategies and different approaches are necessary to deal with reduced water availability but increased demands, particularly in
22 | Food&Drink business | March 2022 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au