Radar 1/4
Sustainability
Corporate efficiency
gains being 'wiped
out' by rise in
consumption
Population growth and increasing
consumption is wiping out the efficiency
gains that many companies are achieving
To combat this, major companies must
do "radically more with radically less" if
the planet is going to provide for the nine
billion people predicted by 2050, says
AkzoNobel's director of sustainability,
André Veneman.
Speaking in a TV debate on corporate
resource efficiency, hosted by
AkzoNobel, Veneman pointed to five
sectors that the world must look at,
in terms of efficiency, if the needs of a
further two billion people are to be met.
"About 40% of all the energy and
raw materials are used in buildings and
infrastructure, and then there is transport
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and mobility, consumer goods, industrial
and energy generation and agriculture. We
happen to work in four of these segments
and the good news is big transformation
is possible in these market segments and
is already happening now.
"Buildings and infrastructure, we know
we need to move to energy positive,
carbon neutral, full recyclability of raw
materials. Transportation can become
80% more efficient if big companies have
their plans ready today. With consumer
goods, we are still so wasteful - we need
to design and develop products for full
recyclability. Energy generation - we
know that we need to become at least
four to ten times more eco-efficient," he
added.
Veneman said that if these benchmarks
can be met then it is "possible to live
with nine billion people on the planet".
However, efficiency is just the tip of the
iceberg in the journey to a sustainable
future and many larger firms have
incorporated efficiency in to a much
wider sustainability strategy.
On the debate panel, head of business
& industry relations at WWF, Dax
Lovegrove said that efficiency gains may
not be making the environmental impact
companies set out to achieve.
"If you think about white goods,
aircraft, vehicles, appliances they are all
getting more energy efficient as they are
