Expect Brands to Try Harder to Be Sustainable

This series is an insight-driven look at environmental issues facing the CPG industry. Each month, we survey media, handpick relevant stories, and interpret them for you. Sustainability Watch aims to spark conversation and inspire the CPG industry to help solve the planet's environmental problems.

Welcome to the seventh edition of Invok's Sustainability Watch series. We share relevant news and insights on the CPG industry's pressing issues here. We hope these articles will spark conversations among your team and inspire you to consider how our industry can participate in long-term solutions to environmental problems. 

Sustainability in CPG to Become a Bigger Priority

As we approach the new year, it is an opportunity to think about what the future can hold and how the CPG industry — businesses, governments, and consumers —  can work together to improve sustainability. A report by NielsenIQ highlights that government mandates, higher costs due to climate change, and consumer scrutiny will lead to increased efforts to mitigate pollution and climate change. "The next five years will see accelerated action from companies as they scramble to meet increasing requirements around reporting, visibility, and to reduce their carbon footprint," says the report.

Seventy-four per cent of consumers believe governments should implement regulations that force businesses to adopt sustainable practices and meet climate targets. Consumers are saying to brands that sustainability action is longer just a nice-to-have– it is mandatory. A new slate of anti-greenwashing laws in Europe is further evidence, reminding us that speed and commitment must be a top priority in 2023.

Learn more here: NeilsenIQ

Bringing Corporate Purpose into the Mainstream

Most brands understand that they must have a purpose beyond making a profit, but many fall short when translating an ambitious written statement into meaningful action. In Canada, the David Suzuki Foundation has gone further in their recent report, "Bringing Corporate Purpose into the Mainstream: Directions for Canadian Law." The report argues that the country should have an improved legal framework that forces brand leaders to consider “social and environmental considerations when exercising their fiduciary duties." Drawing on components from existing laws in the UK and France, the report recommends the following changes to the Canada Business Corporations Act:

1.     There should be a new mandatory statement of purpose by the Board from which small businesses should be exempt;

2.     Corporations should be subject to a comply or explain approach to stating a social purpose;

3.     The fiduciary duty of directors and officers should be extended to pursuing the purpose of the corporation honestly and in good faith with a view to its best interests;

4.     The best interests of the corporation should be expanded to include impacts on the community, high standards of business conduct and fairness as between stakeholders of the corporation; and

5.     The Board should make an annual section 122 statement explaining how directors and officers have advanced the purpose of the company and have regard to its best interests.

This report takes ownership and accountability a step beyond what business is used to by suggesting that corporation leaders and board members, specifically, not just the corporation, also take ownership and accountability. These leaders are called to action to review the brand's reason for existence and ensure that every decision you make prioritizes the longevity of our people and planet.

Learn more here at the David Suzuki Foundation.

Find and read all of the Sustainability Watch issues on our website.