Making sustainability
a reality.
GETRA Sustainability provide the tools,
products & services
developed specifically to meet the needs of our clients
to improve their capacity
to implement & communicate sustainable
practices.
Measuring environmental & social performance
makes good business sense.
We can help your organisation
to lower costs through using raw materials more efficiently,
saving energy & reducing wastes. Our services are helping businesses:
- Measure and effectively communicate
the environmental & social
performance
of the organisation
- Establish the management systems
to support the continual improvement
of the business;
- Enhance reputation, build customer loyalty
and better understand the needs & expectations
of
suppliers and other stakeholders.
Contact GETRA Sustainability and use the
tools available to help your business improve it performance.
Market research consistently shows a growing
awareness and concern about social & environmental issues
by consumers. This is motivating both small & large organisations,
to ensure they are following best practice, and who are then
in turn requesting their suppliers to do so also.
Increasing the importance of measuring and
reporting your environmental performance is a smart business
move.
GETRA Sustainability can help you to understand the needs
and expectations of your customers, suppliers and stakeholders
and to improve, manage and communicate
your environmental and social performance to gain a market advantage.
Contact GETRA Sustainability for more information
on how your organisation can improve its environmental performance
and benefit from communicating
your commitment to sustainable development.
Sustainability in the Marketplace
Of the top 50 companies listed in Australia ten have produced
environmental reports and 6 have produced social reports.
Only 80 Australian companies and government business enterprises,
across a range of sectors have been identified as having
produced an environmental report . Allen Consulting Group
(2002) identified that while relatively few companies formally
issue triple bottom line reports in Australia, a groundswell
of interest is now evident across Australian business and
that the next few years will see an increase in business
planning and reporting taking into account this new sense
of accountability.
There are compelling business examples of how triple bottom
line measurement and reporting can provide standout benefits.
Whilst a relatively high proportion of the resources industry
sector (top 50 Australian companies) already produce environmental
reports, less than 50% of all other industry sectors do so.
The key drivers for public environmental reporting in Australia
can generally be classified into two dominant categories:
mandatory/signatory and voluntary/market-driven.
Whilst there many organizations who have been reporting due
to mandatory/signatory obligations since the early 1990 particularly
in the mining and utilities sectors and more recently more
of the top 50 companies have begun to produce environmental
reports in line with many of the major global organizations
that have embraced the new business philosophy of sustainable
development and implemented new measurement and reporting
mechanisms, in addition to social and environmental policies.
There are many benefits in undertaking an environmental report
both internally and in the market place for small to medium
enterprises, however uptake has not been as actively pursued
either due to resource issues or a perceived lack or relevancy
to their business operations.
The two key growth market opportunities that exist to provide
environmental reporting services to include:
1. large companies within key industry sectors
2. small to medium enterprises
Large Companies
Industry sectors with relatively lower proportions of companies
represent a new and expanding market for which to provide
environmental and social (triple bottom line) reporting support
services to. For larger companies within Australia, the industry
sectors that represent the highest potential market growth
due to a relatively lower proportion of companies producing
environmental reports within that sector in order of priority
are summarized below.
Small to Medium Enterprises
Many small to medium enterprises’ customers are large
businesses who are either implementing quality assurance
processes such as environmental management systems (EMS)
and expect their supplies to demonstrate quality assurance,
or their clientele represent the general public who have
demonstrated a will to support business with sound commitment
to the environment.
Consumer buying power has been used time over to reward or
punish companies for their environmental and social performance.
Business reputation has a very strong impact on brand or
consumer loyalty. Social responsibility surveys in the United
States have found that 47% of consumers would be much more
likely and 88% of consumers would be much or somewhat more
likely to buy from a company that is perceived to be socially
responsible.
Results of surveys in Australia in mid-2000 indicate that
80% of Australians say they would punish or reward companies
on the basis of whether or not the companies are seen as
socially and/or environmentally responsible and that 75-82%
of people surveyed had bought products on the basis of social
or environmental issues over the previous year. A recent
NSW Chamber of Commerce survey cited Australian studies showing
that 60% of all consumer decisions are made with an awareness
of environmental impacts. The studies also found that 73%
of people stated that if the quality was the same, they would
prefer to buy a product associated with a good cause, and
49% said they would switch brands if necessary.
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