As a child, you quickly learn the value of things in terms of a single unit: money. You get pocket money, and with that, you can buy certain things – but not everything. You also learn the words and phrases that go with them. A language. Concepts like euros, value, scarcity, profit, and loss become familiar. It’s the same with sustainability. Only, we haven’t yet mastered this new language, and we’re not yet used to working with it, comparing it, or wondering about it. Integrating sustainability into your business is comparable to learning a new language.
Think of learning a foreign language: it takes effort at first, but eventually, you’re sitting on a terrace in another country and can have a conversation. That opens up new worlds, brings you into contact with other people, and sparks curiosity. Sustainability works the same way. We must master the new language, learn to work with it, and understand its meaning. Only then can we truly understand the value of sustainable measures. Will you dare to feel the true value of a CO2 equivalent?
Understanding the Value of Sustainability
The language of sustainability is new. It’s not about financial concepts like profit, loss, or return, but about values like equality, diversity, climate, biodiversity, clean air, soil, and water. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is based on the ten sustainable goals of the ESG standards: environmental, social, and governance. It revolves around understanding the circular economy, social impact, and good governance. By learning this language, we make sustainability tangible, just like immersing yourself in a new language through travel or speaking with native speakers.
The Language of Sustainability in Practice
You learn a new language by using it. You also learn the language of sustainability by applying it daily. With books, examples, and lists, and by exploring challenges and solutions together. This means that more people within the company need to learn to speak the same language, and that processes and systems need to be adapted to the language of sustainability. The CSRD provides the foundation: the points to consider.
Example: The value of CO2 equivalents
A tonne of CO2 equivalents probably doesn’t mean much to you. You don’t have a clear sense of it, like you might with euros. Let’s make the value of a tonne of CO2 equivalents concrete. In an average fossil-fuel car, you can drive about 5,800 kilometers to emit one tonne of CO2. To capture that amount of CO2, you need about 50 trees growing for a year. If your company emits 10,000 tons of CO2 per year, that equates to driving 58 million kilometers (or 1,450 times around the Earth). To offset that CO2, you would need 1.16 million trees growing for a full year. That equates to 290 hectares of forest in the Netherlands (4,000 trees per hectare), or about a third of the Amsterdam Forest.
The language of sustainability promotes collaboration
A language enables meaningful communication. With your partner, your management team, your employees, and your stakeholders. Just as speaking a new language enables you to build relationships in another country, mastering the language of sustainability allows us to build lasting relationships with customers, employees, and society. It can lead to innovation, cost savings, and a stronger reputation.
Learning the language of sustainability is a step forward in building a sustainable world. Just like learning a new language, it takes time and effort, but the benefits are clear. You not only meet the CSRD requirements, but you also work together towards a more sustainable future.
Lenny van Klink
Co-founder Salacia Solutions
