Zero targets are popping up all over the place, in areas such as carbon and waste. Once, directors expected sustainability challenges to come from NGOs or governments. Now they arrive from retail customers such as Wal-Mart and Marks & Spencer and, increasingly, from the world of sport. Large customers are attempting what governments often fear to do, pressuring suppliers, partners and contractors to meet stretch standards.
Let's focus on the pinnacle of sport. Seven years ago, I interviewed David Stubbs, now head of sustainability at Locog – the 2012 organising committee – about a proposal it had for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Later, he and his colleague Felicity Hartnett guided me around the Games site, explaining how critical challenges had been tackled.
I asked how progress measured up to the original vision? "When we won the bid," Stubbs replied, "the IOC's environment adviser said to me that if we achieved even half of what we had promised it would be way ahead of any previous Games. Well, we are amply past that halfway mark already."
And the biggest surprise? "Not a surprise, but a pleasant outcome," Stubbs offered. "And that's how we have been able to turn round the perception that sustainability costs more. We have found that by making our requirements clear up front, the market has responded. We are getting some of our best deals from suppliers who are taking sustainability seriously, and our stance has helped draw in stronger interest from commercial sponsors."
Finally, what lessons can other sustainability champions learn? Two areas are critical: procurement and training. The first gives you leverage over supply chains, the second over the organisation's human resources. With signs around the Olympic site calling for Zero Harm, I learnt that some suppliers had pushed back. Told zero waste was the target, one noted that they had got down to just four skips of waste – only to be asked, in effect: "What is it about zero waste you don't understand?"
