Despite tough economic times, companies are being urged to think beyond short-term demands and drive innovation that will lead to a more sustainable future.

“Your carbon footprint is the most important thing to get right. You cannot build sustainable societies in an environmental wasteland,” sustainability adviser CGX Africa head of strategy Kevin James told delegates at the Green Building Convention in Cape Town.

He said companies had to go way beyond just “changing the lightbulbs” to be more energy efficient. Nor could they rely on marketing and one-off initiatives to boost their profile. 

“A volunteer day and some public relations and marketing around a certain cause on its own is not sustainable.”

Companies needed to look at the entire value chain and work out how to reduce carbon emissions and build sustainability into their operations.

He encouraged executives and staff to work together, so that everyone was committed to sustainable development, instead of being an ad hoc aside, where one sustainability manager with a spreadsheet handled everything.

James said corporate governance and environmental issues had shown what a huge impact they could have on industries and companies. He cited the Volkswagen (VW) debacle, in which the US regulator found software installed in cars with a type of VW diesel engine had cheated emissions tests.

It affected 11-million cars. This week, VW’s new car sales in the UK alone had crashed by 10% on the back of news that there were “irregularities” in the levels of carbon dioxide emitted by 800 000 of its cars in Europe. This had “derailed one of the most iconic brands of our time,” said James.

He advised companies to have a transformative strategy where they looked at water risks, product risks, responsible investment, baseline carbon footprints and energy savings.

Incite Sustainability founder and director Jonathan Hanks told delegates that many sustainability initiatives in South Africa were not working as they did not drive transformational change.

He said examples of those that were working included Vodafone’s initiatives to use cellphone technology to drive mobile money, improve agriculture and boost health.

He commended leaders such as Elon Musk of SpaceX for his vision to pursue disruptive business models, as well as companies such as Apple, which had hinted at getting into the transport sphere after disrupting the cellphone and music industries.

Hanks said he was also hoping to see the end of the internal combustion engine “which has been with us for too long”.

He said business also needed to be informed by a sense of moral awareness and lauded leaders such as former Nedbank chairperson Reuel Khoza, who had stood up to government.