Carlyle Sustainability Lunch
Carlyle was delighted to host Sustainability leaders from our network across a variety of backgrounds including consulting, professional services, infrastructure, manufacturing, investment, and policy.
The conversation was excellently led by Jonquil Hackenberg, CEO of Eunomia Research & Consulting and we had an energetic discussion with interesting observations and input from all involved, making for a very enjoyable lunch.
Whilst we do not claim to have resolved all the challenges around the Sustainability debate, there were some clear takeaways with key points well supported by the majority. These included:
- Commercial viability is vital to gain the support of business leaders for the Sustainability agenda
- There is demand for ‘green products’ but the increased pricing remains a challenge for consumers
- Policy is necessary and needs to be credible to support development, investment, infrastructure, growth and commercial success
- Policy makers need to be better informed and improve the current speed of implementation
- There needs to be clear ownership of the Sustainability agenda within businesses and visible support from the Executive team
- Sustainability needs to be embedded in company culture, like Health and Safety has been over the last 20 years
- There is a move away from just decarbonisation to more focus on education and the socio-economic benefits of a wider ESG agenda
- There is an opportunity for the UK to be bolder with support for investment into large infrastructure projects and less focused on building the best financial models needed for each one
The senior executives of any firm all need to be aligned if they are going to commit to any ‘big-ticket’ projects, but the commercial returns are paramount in securing this support. It was acknowledged that currently the ‘risk’ associated with not addressing Sustainability properly can sit with the CFO, CRO or CEO and it is becoming clear that resourcing the right individual to oversee Sustainability is key.
There is also a change in the Sustainability landscape as the world becomes more educated about what is important. Water wastage is high on the agenda; decarbonisation remains important but with less use of off-setting; largescale investment into longer term infrastructure projects that allow sustainable energy; and continued support into the amazing research that the UK provides are all imperative. Combining all this with a wider awareness of socio-economic factors will help drive positive change across more than just the Sustainability agenda.
