The FIPP Insight Publications

THE GUARDIAN: A POSTER CHILD FOR CORPORATE MEDIA SUSTAINABILITY

Starting in November 2019, The Guardian made this bold statement in equally bold print and digital presentations:

“At The Guardian we believe the climate crisis is the most urgent issue of our times. And we know that Guardian readers are equally passionate about the need for governments, businesses and individuals to take immediate action to avoid a catastrophe for humanity and for the natural world. “Today The Guardian is making a pledge to our readers that we will play our part, both in our journalism and in our own organisation, to address the climate emergency. We hope this underlines to you The Guardian’s deep commitment to quality environmental journalism, rooted in scientific fact.”

The company went on to promise to “take steps to address The Guardian's own impact on the environment”.

The promise included:

• Achieving net zero emissions by 2030

• A full audit of emissions to assess how to achieve this challenging goal

• The acquisition of B Corp status, its committed the company to reducing our environmental impact as well as to high standards of governance and social impact

• Full transparency and accountability In 2015, The Guardian divested oil, coal, and gas companies from its investment portfolio.

And in early 2020, the company stunned the media world by announcing it would no longer accept advertising from oil or gas companies in any of its properties, digital or print.

“Our decision is based on the decades-long efforts by many in [the fossil fuels industry] to prevent meaningful climate action by governments around the world,” The Guardian’s acting CEO Anna Bateson and chief revenue officer Hamish Nicklin said in a joint statement. (Bateson was succeeded as CEO in March 2020 by Annette Thomas — who holds a Ph.D in cell biology and neuroscience!)

“The Guardian will no longer accept advertising from oil and gas companies, becoming the first major global news organisation to institute an outright ban on taking money from companies that extract fossil fuels,” Bateson said.

“The intent — and extent — of their lobbying efforts has explicitly harmed the environmental cause over the course of many years — as our own reporting has shown and environmental campaigners have powerfully argued,” she said. “Many environmental experts have called out the difference between fossil fuel extractors and their foundational role in the carbon economy, and other sectors with high emissions.”

nature, or public outcry, companies will need to respond. No matter what market you're in, connecting sustainability factors to how it impacts consumers is the key.

“Sustainability has become an urgent opportunity for companies to connect with consumers who are excited about change,” said Leggett.

Nielsen's late-2018 global study, The Evolution of the Sustainability Mindset, found that:

• A whopping 81% of global respondents said they felt strongly that companies should help improve the environment

• Four-fifths of young people demand corporate social responsibility regarding sustainability: Millennials (85%), Gen Z (80%) and Gen X (79%)

• More than two-thirds of older generations also demanded corporate sustainability commitments: Baby Boomers (72%), the (over-70) Silent Generation (65%)

Another sustainability survey of consumers by B2B research company Clutch found:

• Almost three-quarters (71%) of respondents considered a company's environmentally friendly business practices more important than the prices of that company's goods by almost 30 percentage points (44%). “When a company shares their consumers' views and values and helps contribute to solving a problem everyone agrees is a problem, consumers are going to want to keep working with or buying from that company,” Josh Weiss, CEO of 10 to 1 PR told Clutch

This consumer demand for corporate sustainability commitments and action is not a movement only in places like the US or famously environmentally activist countries like Sweden and Norway. As a matter of fact, it's quite the opposite. None of the countries with the highest consumer demand for corporate climate accountability were in North America or Europe:

1 India (97%)

2 Columbia (96%)

3 Mexico (95%)

4 Indonesia (94%)

5 Philippines (94%)

6 Brazil (94%)

7 Venezuela (94%)

8 Pakistan (92%)

9 Argentina (92%)

10 Chile (92%)

11 Peru (92%)

“Facing rapid urbanisation and a growing disparity between classes, many people in emerging markets are experiencing the harsh reality of pollution in this post-modern industrial age,” said Leggett. “As a result, sustainability has become an urgent opportunity for companies to connect with consumers who are excited about change.”

“Sustainability is personal for consumers, which is why ‘healthy for me' and ‘healthy for the world' claims do so well,” said Crystal Barnes, SVP, Nielsen Global Responsibility & Sustainability. “By identifying an opportunity to be more sustainable, and implementing a reasonable plan of action to accomplish it, companies achieve an authenticity that paid advertising can't buy.”

The Nielsen study found that companies are under increasing pressure from consumers and governments to be reactive initially and proactive shortly thereafter in terms of sustainability.

According to the Nielsen report, “brands that are able to strategically connect [sustainability] to actual behaviour are in a good place to capitalise on increased consumer expectation and demand”.

The report adds that “sustainability claims on packaging must also reflect how a company operates inside and out”. Media companies can make sustainability claims on both their paper and digital products, prominently touting their environmentally friendly initiatives and results.

More and more companies are doing that and going beyond. “What's growing is the boldness of the marketing messages and the commitments that brands are willing to take,” said Barnes.

“We're seeing a bigger trend towards ‘visible and emotional sustainability'— brands taking a stance on social and political issues and making major commitments to eliminate waste,” said Barnes. “At the most extreme end, we see brands being personified — being referenced as ‘brave brands' or ‘hero brands'.”

This is an unusual opportunity for media companies where doing the right thing is also doing the most profitable thing from both a costsavings and revenue-enhancement perspective.

“This is official validation for how energy and sustainability work together to boost your topline revenue growth and your profitability at the same time,” E Squared Energy Advisors CEO Tim Grosse told Entrepreneur.com.

“Your business can ride this tsunami wave by gaining market share from the rapidly growing

number of environmentally responsible consumers or your business can lag the market and peers by ignoring this trend,” Grosse said.

Not really a choice, is it?

2. BOTTOM-LINE SAVINGS

In addition to increasing the loyalty of existing consumers and acquiring more consumers attracted by your sustainability efforts, you can actually save money by going green.

“Instituting more sustainable business practices can mean real cost savings, from lower energy costs to tax incentives, but businesses can also gain loyal clients and end-users looking to do business with like-minded organisations,” wrote Jim Granat, Head of Small Business at financial services company Enova International, on Forbes.com.

Many companies have no idea what their carbon footprint is. And there's really only one way to find out.

“Start with reliable data,” wrote Granat. “Corporations can leave massive carbon footprints behind, but you may not know the full extent of your company's trail without a comprehensive and honest end-to-end investigation.

“One way to truly put your business to the test is to hire a third-party sustainability consulting firm that analyses your entire process,” he wrote. “An unbiased firm can find ways to help you responsibly manage or reduce waste and energy usage in ways you may not have thought possible. Depending on the nature of your business, they can also help you source more responsible or sustainable materials, develop greener technologies, or even use less water.

“Salesforce Sustainability Cloud and similar ‘carbon accounting' products can also shed light on opportunities to improve,” Granat wrote. “However you go about it, start with comprehensive, unbiased data, and try to keep an open mind.”

There are both short- and long-term actions you can take to be more sustainable, ranging from increased recycling and LED lighting to paper changes, eliminating plastic wrapping, and implementing smart tech to reduce waste.

Granat recommends involving your staff in brainstorming unique ways to reduce your carbon footprint.

After creating your sustainability mission and strategy, use your initial data as the baseline to measure your progress and regularly publish progress reports, including both successes and shortcomings in the interest of honesty and transparency.

Savings can be achieved in three, four, and five-figure sums, and range from the simple to more complex. For inspiration, see the sidebar on Meredith's examples and check out the examples in the following section.

3. SAVING THE PLANET

“WE WILL PLAY OUR PART, BOTH IN OUR JOURNALISM AND IN OUR OWN ORGANISATION, TO ADDRESS THE CLIMATE EMERGENCY.” Guardian editorial

The media companies that have created sustainability policies and strategies are having a significant impact on their (and our) environments based on their impressive progress reports against their aggressive sustainability goals.

For example, since April 2017 the BBC has been buying renewable electricity, which has contributed to a significant reduction in the company's carbon footprint and supports its science-based reduction target. Since 2008, the BBC has saved more than 180,000 tonnes of CO2, primarily through the concentration of its operations into fewer, more efficient buildings.

An impressive number of media companies are moving away from plastic wraps in favour of more environmentally friendly alternatives. For example, in 2019, The Guardian announced it was moving to compostable wrapping called

Going Green : No More Slacking On Sustainability

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