14 November 2008
The Sustainable Business Forum
‘Joining the dots’ is all about bringing different elements of our society together to encourage a more joined-up approach to sustainability, and Guernsey’s business community has a key role to play…
Friday 14th November is the launch date for one of G-CAN’s most ambitious projects yet: the Sustainable Business Forum. This is a long-term opportunity for organisations of all kinds to share ideas, experience and resources to reduce their impact on the environment.
Climate change is no longer a remote threat: over the next few decades it will have a very real effect on economies around the world, and businesses are beginning to take note. But while households are the focus of much media attention in the scramble to cut down on carbon emissions, workplaces are relatively neglected. Individuals who make enormous efforts in their home lives often feel powerless to make their business practices more environmentally friendly. The SBF hopes to redress this imbalance, bringing the business community into step with the community as a whole and encouraging them to take a responsible lead.
The good news is that green work ethics and profits are by no means mutually exclusive; if anything, the opposite is true. Lower carbon-intensive business practices tend to equate to lower costs, which can only mean good news for the bottom line. As awareness of and concern for climate issues grows, so does the market for greener products and services. Embracing the ‘green revolution’ today is likely to pay lush dividends tomorrow.
The SBF is starting out as a small gathering of people from some of the island’s bigger businesses, and aims to expand to encompass organisations of every size in every sector. G-CAN is encouraging each workplace to appoint an environmental representative who can be the ‘eco-contact’ for their organisation. Monthly e-newsletters and quarterly gatherings will provide the basic framework, supplemented with an online forum for those that want to keep their finger on the pulse. Establishing this network will make it easier to communicate new information and share ideas, and it will support the implementation of greener business practices throughout Guernsey’s different sectors. The more organisations that get involved, the better: we can, for example, bring specialists or specialist technology to the island more cost-effectively if there is a pool of demand.
If you’d like to join the Sustainable Business Forum, or if you’d like to find out more about the first meeting please click here and please contact Lindsay de Sausmarez (lindsayds@gg.specsavers.com).
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