Within Reach, and Worth the Trouble: The Business Case for Sustainability

Governments, corporations and organizations around the world are increasingly recognizing sustainability and climate change as critical issues. As they look for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, they must also recognize that the landscape is different across industries. There is no standard practice for taking an organization to net-zero carbon emissions, and often, business cases for this approach are difficult to justify. One industry facing particular difficulty is manufacturing, where leaders are encountering an uphill battle when defining foundational business value for sustainable initiatives. Recent research on sustainable manufacturing operations from the Capgemini Research Institute found that only 20% of U.S. manufacturers expect to be carbon neutral by 2030, significantly lagging behind the timelines and net zero goals of their peers in other industries. This is because manufacturing has a unique set of obstacles when it comes to embracing sustainability.