Sustainability is a term we see in the media several times a day, but which has a different meaning for many people. What does sustainability mean to you?
The energy transition has been going on for a few years now. It is now very normal to have solar panels on our roofs and with energy prices rising, it has also become a profitable business case. For many people, sustainability means making energy more sustainable and thus avoiding the use of fossil fuels that emit CO2 and thus cause climate change. It is not that CO2 emissions are harmful in themselves, but the amount of emissions that our society emits while nature’s capacity to convert these into oxygen is reduced creates an imbalance. That is why we must reduce emissions on the one hand and give nature a chance to recover on the other. At Eneco I found the position of frontrunner very inspiring, but as manager of Corporate Control I also saw the financial challenges of doing this at a company level. How long do you keep investing in a new technology that you don’t know will ever become profitable? How do you build a balanced portfolio, knowing that when the sun is shining (solar energy) it is usually not so windy (wind energy). You want to do both to ensure continuity. Not every technology is equally mature, in its infancy and affordable. Quite apart from the fact that you cannot make such a transition as an organisation on your own. You need customers, market partners and investors, banks and insurers to colour in the financial picture. All parties that you have to bring on board.
Next step after the energy transition
The energy transition alone is not enough to reduce our CO2 emissions and restore nature. We also use a lot of raw materials. Now that I have studied the circular economy in recent years, I see this as the next step after the energy transition. The circular economy revolves around the conscious use of raw materials, designing products that are modular and repairable and focused on a long lifespan, in which the use phase is utilised as intensively and for as long as possible. When a product is no longer needed, it goes to another user. When a product is broken, we repair it first. When it is truly no longer possible, we recycle it to make similar products again. If we succeed in this, we will have a closed system that no longer requires new raw materials. To achieve this, we ask organisations to redefine their position in the value chain. The current value chains are very complex and if you have recyclable raw materials, are we going to take them to China because that is where our production facilities are? That makes no sense, so this development will lead to more local thinking and regional solutions for the reuse of raw materials and production. The Netherlands is too small a country for a lot of production, but on a European scale a lot can change here. We need to take this step towards sustainability if Europe and the Netherlands are to achieve their zero-emission goals by 2050.
How do you start on this journey towards sustainable impact? By working from a strategy, by learning in practice with partners from your value chain or beyond. Want to know more about this approach? Feel free to contact us, KORU Consulting can help you.
Diane Zandee
