There's no question that the world needs more sustainable habits of developing and consuming products. But in emerging economies, whose role is it to make this happen? This was one of the topics we focused on at the recent International Business Forum (click here for a summary). We heard success stories like those of Tambul Leaf Plates, producing sustainable ecological products such as natural arecanut leaf plates that are used across India.
But it's not easy. There are challenges associated with supply chains and products themselves. There is a lack of finance for green start-ups. There is a lack of awareness among consumers about consumption patterns and environmental impacts.
All sectors have a role to play. Businesses can innovate around more sustainable methods of production. NGOs can work with business to help them become more sustainable, and can also help educate consumers. Governments can promote green business, and help develop markets for sustainable production and consumption.
What are your views on how we can make our production and consumption habits more sustainable?
What are the best ways of increasing awareness of social and environmental responsibility among producers and consumers – so as to ignite the mind shift needed?
How can the apparent finance gap of sustainable producers be overcome? What is needed to make sustainable production more bankable?
Money or market data, rules or roads: which policy options do governments and donors have to promote sustainable production and consumption?
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Welcome to the live segment of this discussion! We are joined by a great panel who are joining us from the recent 16th International Business Forum on Green and Inclusive Business. One of the topics that was addressed at the conference, is one that we want to explore here: How do we make our production and consumption habits more sustainable?
Let's dive right in with the first question:
Q1: What are the best ways of increasing awareness of social and environmental responsibility among producers and consumers – so as to ignite the mind shift needed?
Our experience is to promote technologies and products which provide win win for both the consumers and the producers. There are many such avenues possible and we need to connect these dots.
Dear Zahid, dear participants. Thank you very much for having me. If I may, I would like to start by throwing in the following ideas to the question you raised, Zahid:
Social and environmental labels are one option to increase consumer awareness. Labels need to communicate a simple, transparent and accurate claim so as to be credible.
Awareness campaigns are necessary to explain consumers the often very diverse and complex sustainability issues, more so as they vary from sector to sector.
Producers need to understand the long-term risks associated with externalized short-term costs. Managing soils in agriculture unsustainably will, for example, confront especially multi-national brands with risks of volatile available sourcing volumes at varying qualities. Non-compliance with minimum social and labour standards in upstream tiers of textile supply chains are likely to create significant reputational risks for brands.
Hello, thanks for the invitation to join and also for the interesting question.
Before going all the way into shifting minds, it would be convenient to consider what shapes up a behavior, one aspect are habits, which are created out of practice, influenced by different contexts, family, community, infrastructure, policies… and means to acquire what they consider will help them to live a “good life”
The challenge lies more on the aspirations that drive the consumption than on the act of consuming itself… then the question is: how can we re-shape aspirations into more sustainable ones?
Maybe to focus on one issue among these - should companies put social and environmental messages prominently in their marketing?
On the one hand - there's a lot of conscious consumers who will respond positively to such message and jump on them.
On the other hand - consumers don't like to be reminded of the world's misery when shopping. Price, convenience, availability, identity etc. are much stronger motivators. I know of quite some brands that have gotten decreases in sales when putting forward "ethical issues" prominently in the sales process.
What's the way out? Mostly, real market transformations have come from "value blending": Organic products have less pesticides, appealing to both 'selfish' motives as well as ethical consciousness... Energy efficient products and solar panels help to protect the climate (and your wallet)... so we should search for these synergies!
Our strategy with increasing awareness with consumers is by adding editorial content about the production for our consumers to read. Social media is also a great tool to remind customers how and where our producers make the products we sell. Building that community also shows people that other people care about social and environmental responsibility, and they should too!
To let them see their business and their decisions in the context of the society and environment in which they operate and upon which they are totally dependent. As long as people in business do not operate with these connections in mind they will at best produce short-term success at the cost of the long-term.
I am from Tambul Leaf Plates. We produce biodegradeable disposable dinnerware from the sheath of arecanut palm. Arecanut is found abundantly in the North Eastern part of India and we have promoted a production by masses model to produce these plates by rural producers. We help them to establish these micro enterprises and then provide 100% buy back guarantee to the producers at a fair trade price. The plates are not only bio degradeable but also high quality, oven proof and attractive, thus has a huge demand with the consumers.
I fully agree. An additional problem for companies solely focusing on the altruistic motive behind improving social and environmental conditions is that it raises expectations to an extent that can hardly be met. If issues then arise, companies that have been most active will be the first to blame. Therefore, I agree that one should address everybody's interest in improving conditions, first and foremost the consumers'.
I guess there some "basic aspirations" that one will sparsely change - the need for social acceptance, for identiy, for security and protection... think Maslow or, better, Sidelsky.
Other, more specific aspirations more be shapable - like preferences for housing size and location, for specific modes of transport, etc.
So the question is: How can we shape "specific aspirations" by showing that the more sustainable aspirations in fact better respond to the "basic aspirations"? A preference for fast, expensive cars might be driven by the urge to show achievement, prove ones identity as a successful person, etc. Then we need to show that using car-sharing or public transport can respond to these, or other, basic aspirations (like, being connected, feeling secure, etc.).
I guess there some "basic aspirations" that one will sparsely change - the need for social acceptance, for identiy, for security and protection... think Maslow or, better, Sidelsky.
Other, more specific aspirations more be shapable - like preferences for housing size and location, for specific modes of transport, etc.
So the question is: How can we shape "specific aspirations" by showing that the more sustainable aspirations in fact better respond to the "basic aspirations"? A preference for fast, expensive cars might be driven by the urge to show achievement, prove ones identity as a successful person, etc. Then we need to show that using car-sharing or public transport can respond to these, or other, basic aspirations (like, being connected, feeling secure, etc.).
Hi Kiran, good point, social media definitely plays a crucial role, especially considering its potential to create exponentially growing followers, users, etc.
I guess there some "basic aspirations" that one will sparsely change - the need for social acceptance, for identiy, for security and protection... think Maslow or, better, Sidelsky.
Other, more specific aspirations more be shapable - like preferences for housing size and location, for specific modes of transport, etc.
So the question is: How can we shape "specific aspirations" by showing that the more sustainable aspirations in fact better respond to the "basic aspirations"? A preference for fast, expensive cars might be driven by the urge to show achievement, prove ones identity as a successful person, etc. Then we need to show that using car-sharing or public transport can respond to these, or other, basic aspirations (like, being connected, feeling secure, etc.).
Exactly- this is something we battle with all the time with our marketing with our fashion brand Styled By Africa. We made the choice to be design led but at the same time be clear about our social values without shouting about them. We've found that people buy our products firstly because they like them, and secondly because they feel our production values match up with theirs. Therefore I think its the producer responsibility to source/produce ethical products that people like enough to buy even without the ethical angle.
Exactly, and that's why we have to speak the language the consumer understands… in other words, preaching to the choir (conscious consumers) reinforces a message, but the efforts to address the consumers that are guided by the convenience of price, availability, etc should be focused on translating awareness into action.
A couple of weeks ago someone raised the question "why do we need labels and certifications for the healthy products? Shouldn't it be the other way around, like with cigarettes?" this is, having a big sign like "TREATED WITH PESTICIDES: CONSUME UNDER YOUR OWN RISK" and perhaps even a picture of a poisoned person
For the price-driven consumer, the logical answer is: make sustainable products more accessible than the non-sustainable ones. This logic is the one that opens up Pandora's box as producers need to find ways to lower their production costs… here is where policy makers have to consider how to provide the conditions for a sustainable production to take place… subsidies? lowering taxes for sustainable products?
Isolated efforts won't take us far, the synergistic approach that you're mentioning Martin conveys changes in the big picture and with vision on the long-term impacts
