Business in the Environment

Demonstrating strategic vision and capability to investors

Investors are changing the way they assess companies' performance and are making decisions based on criteria that include issues of social and ethical relevance. By Spring 2000 the ethical investment market in the UK had grown in value to reach some Ł2.6 billion (source: UK Social Investment Forum) and is predicted to grow significantly in Europe over the next two years (source: UBS Warburg, 30/08/01).

Over half of Analysts and two-thirds of Investors in a recent survey believe a company that emphasis's its environmental and social performance is attractive to investors (source: Investing in the Future, BiE's survey of City attitudes to environmental and social issues, May 2001).

Reducing costs through resource efficiency

Practical trials show that companies can reduce their annual Energy and Waste costs by 10% without capital investment (source: Envirowise).

Defining the company reputation and differentiating the brand

The marketplace is becoming more environmentally sophisticated and the public is increasingly showing a willingness to respond to companies who implement corporate responsibility strategies. 44% of European consumers surveyed are willing to pay more for environmentally and socially responsible products. (source: MORI - CSR Europe).

Human capital

Employees and contractors appreciate employers who aspire to high environmental standards that in turn reflect their own values - because of this, some companies have found that sustainability initiatives have helped to attract, develop and retain motivated, high calibre people..

Innovation

Applying sustainability principles to the design and manufacture of products has helped several world class companies bring entirely new product lines to market. As sector in its own right, the environmental technology market is worth $200 billion and is expected to grow up to $600 billion.

Enabling the business to identify risk and opportunity and to plan and manage these

Environmental issues have an impact on Cost of Capital for businesses of all types and sizes - from environmental risk, pollution and contaminated land, to regulation on producer responsibility and waste. Understanding and managing environmental risks can reduce stock volatility and improve the value of the company over the long term.




	Natural resources . . . it is estimated that half the earth's forests are gone - 16 million hectares disappear each year (World Resources Institute)

	Water consumption . . . over the past 50 years, water use has tripled to 4,200 cubic km

	Emissions . . . over the past 50 years, carbon dioxide emissions have more than quadrupled to 7.0 billion tons Carbon a year - mainly as a result of fossil fuel based industrialised processes

	Waste . . . on average 9 tonnes raw materials are used to make 1 tonne of product