Cohn & Wolfe’s Sustainability Practice is led by Geoff Beattie, managing director and head of Cohn & Wolfe Global Consultancy, and Annie Longsworth, president, Cohn & Wolfe San Francisco. Here, they explain why sustainability is the most critical issue of our time.

 

 

 

 

Geoff BeattieGeoff Beattie

I believe ‘sustainability’ is the most critical and complex issue facing humanity today. And it’s about much more than the very real threat of climate change. Sustainability is an issue of energy as much as it about being ‘green.’ To me, ‘green’ is incomplete as a term and a solution. Sustainability’ speaks to the many issues at play. It’s not only about limiting the change already taking place in our world. It’s about finding enough energy for future generations, and more specifically, generations with substantially more people competing, so to speak, for the world’s resources. This is a matter of maintaining standards of living in nations and regions that enjoy relative prosperity while also making sure that opportunities exist for countries only now beginning to prosper on a grander and more inclusive scale, and others that still might. If the two fastest growing economies in the world are also those with by far the largest populations – China and India -- how on earth are we going to provide for them?

It’s simple really. If everyone in the world consumed energy in the same capacity as the West currently does, we would need three planets to sustain us. And it’s not just energy, it’s all natural resources. This is, of course, unsustainable. To make any impact, everyone with the ability to conserve and consider their impact must. And that means every company as well, not just energy companies. It doesn’t matter if your Coca-Cola or Microsoft; you need the world’s natural resources to operate.

At Cohn & Wolfe, we believe there can’t be change without good communications. This is how we make an impact. It’s essential that everyone – from the general public to the policy makers – understands these issues. In business, every company needs to have a strong communications strategy, from those who just want their employees to embrace and perhaps advocate for their sustainability practices to companies that have an obvious need to address their business’ environmental impact to an ever more interested public.

We have a core group of people around the world at Cohn & Wolfe who are very connected to these issues and want to do our part. No doubt, we all want to good do business too, but there is also a genuine desire to achieve something and make a difference. We believe we do this every time we work with a company dealing with sustainability issues. I’m proud of the work I do and look forward to every opportunity to come.

Annie LongsworthAnnie Longsworth

Sustainability is not a fad, it’s not a movement, and it’s not a cause for a select few. It is, in my opinion, a critical societal shift in how we live our lives. We are at a point in time that I hope will be remembered as an era where “for good” and “for profit” finally tied the knot. And although this marriage is in its nascent stages, it’s a marriage that has to last because there is too much at stake for it not to last.

That’s not to say it’s not a marriage with its own share of difficulties, and that’s what makes it easier for me to challenge people who say that the business embrace around sustainability is just for show. Certainly some global corporate leaders will admit that if sustainability were not a profitable business strategy, it would not be at the top of the agenda. Fortunately, the financial value of sustainability has been proven, which then allows the planet to profit as well.

There are thousands of priorities – figuring our renewable energy resources, developing recycling and composting solutions in many of our major cities and across the country, not to mention changing fundamental consumer behavior and thinking. But in my mind, two things trump all: harnessing the combined strength of government, industry, consumers and NGOS, and communications.

The communications conundrum within sustainability is like any other in business: how do you tell your story effectively and credibly? I see four main categories that companies seem to fall into: (1) those who been practicing sustainability already well before it became vogue and actively communicate that strategy to the market; (2) companies that have embraced sustainability but never actively communicated it for fear of being seen as exploitative; (3) companies whose communications strategies are a lot better than their actual sustainability practices; (4) companies who have embraced the challenge of evolving towards sustainability, and honestly and openly communicate their challenges and successes.

As a professional, I see sustainability as a good business decision for Cohn & Wolfe because I know we can be a great partner for companies who are already involved, or simply interested, in sustainability. I believe we bring something unique to this issue. We have the ability to educate and advise our clients on the very real issues, but we also have an incredible heritage of creativity and innovative PR programming. I'm proud of the work we've done to date, but more importantly, I'm excited about everything we can and will do.

All of the young people we hire today have grown up with the Internet, so it’s almost laughable to question their technology proficiency during the interview process. Because of the dedication of their schools and the city we live in, not to mention my constant nagging, my kids will grow up not knowing anything other than being green. We look for ways to go beyond our comfort zone, while also knowing that it takes time to change behaviors and instill new habits. I don't believe society needs to come to a halt, but there is more to do than just recycling, walking to work, turning off the lights, etc. I believe everyone must challenge his or herself to identify and do whatever they think they can to make an impact.