Attendee Evaluate of Sustainable Manufacturers’ Flagship Convention — The Good, Dangerous, & Ugly

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A great sustainability convention will be laborious to return by. There appears to be conferences for each sort of trade and sector. Sadly, sustainability professionals are sometimes the black sheep of occasions which can be sometimes adjoining to their focus.

One of many premier occasions in sustainability is the Sustainable Manufacturers annual convention. This yr, I went to SB 23 in San Diego, California. I’ve been to the Sustainable Manufacturers convention earlier than, so this wasn’t my first rodeo. There was lots to like in regards to the convention, however there was one factor that viscerally and negatively impacted my expertise.

First, What I Beloved

The kind of individuals who attend these occasions are second to none. There are tons of of individuals packed right into a room who’re all centered on constructing a sustainable future inside their respective organizations. Every individual’s story is so dimensional. How they obtained to the place they’re at is a collection of zigs and zags that’s distinctive to them. For higher or for worse, this creates a profession trajectory that’s sometimes not simple.

There are sustainability executives from each massive Fortune 500 corporations and local weather tech startups. There are consultants and repair suppliers who give attention to streamlining improvements centered on embedding sustainability into massive organizations. It’s superb to see the ecosystem that has been constructed all through the previous few a long time. The sustainability neighborhood is buzzing with dedication and keenness for a greener future.

Moreover Inexperienced Biz and New York Local weather Week, Sustainable Manufacturers is among the solely occasions in America the place massive firms, startups, buyers, NGOs, and consultants get collectively to determine how you can decarbonize our society.

Convention Programming

From the individuals I spoke with on the occasion, content material at SB 23 was checked out in one among two methods.

1. Actually good high quality and insightful. This suggestions was sometimes given by an individual who attended the occasion for the primary time.
2. Boring and elementary. This suggestions was sometimes given by somebody who has been to a number of SB occasions.

One of the best a part of this occasion was the lunches, dinners, networking breaks, and after-hours actions. It is because there are such a lot of fascinating individuals within the room who aren’t on stage. Out of all of the speeches on stage, my favourite was from one of many leaders at Kiss the Floor.

Apparently, because the documentary got here out, over 33 million acres of land have been transformed to regenerative agriculture. That’s so cool!

The Elephant In The Room

So typically, sustainability professionals stroll a advantageous line. There are watchdog teams throughout simply ready to pounce on a corporation that lies about their accomplishments in sustainability. That is generally known as greenwashing. As a recoil of the backlash that corporations have obtained for over-embellishing their influence, corporations have began one thing known as “inexperienced hushing.” That is the precise reverse of greenwashing, the place an organization will cover (or not publicize) the truth that they’ve achieved one thing that reduces their footprint.

I’m not a watchdog group. I’m only a skilled within the sustainability trade who believes in making an attempt to do my half to higher the planet. Through the years, I’ve seen tons of corporations embellish the reality, and I’ve additionally seen corporations that under-communicate their influence.

We dwell in a day and age the place some company advertising and marketing groups will say something so long as they will get away with it. Though this may occasionally profit the corporate, it hurts our motion. Environmental disinformation is extraordinarily dangerous to the integrity of the sustainability neighborhood. Sadly, some massive corporations have turned caring for our planet right into a device for manipulation and deception.

Regenerative Agriculture

It has grow to be fairly straightforward for corporations to decorate their influence within the area. On this case, it’s not a lot about embellishing influence as it’s about ignoring the elephant within the room.

In walks Bayer, a frontrunner within the agriculture enterprise. In 2018, it bought a bit firm known as Monsanto, the producer of Roundup. For many who are unfamiliar, Roundup is a glyphosate-based herbicide with a protracted monitor file of making well being issues for people.

Actually, there have already been 100,000 settlements for Roundup lawsuits, totaling over $11 billion. This doesn’t embody the roughly 30,000+ lawsuits that haven’t been settled but. After all, does Bayer discuss this? No. Bayer talks about main the regenerative agriculture motion. It was additionally the lead sponsor of the Regenerative Agriculture Summit that Sustainable Manufacturers hosted on the finish of the convention.

It’s laborious to imagine that an organization like Bayer is main the regenerative agriculture motion when it’s the producer of Roundup (and answerable for the billions in lawsuits connected to the product). Would the leaders of Kiss the Floor agree that Bayer is a frontrunner in regenerative agriculture? If I used to be to guess, in all probability not.

Flawed Incentives

Sustainable Manufacturers has to make cash. As a corporation that helps the sustainability motion, that may be tough.

One of many issues this creates is that corporations which have harmed the planet sponsor Sustainable Manufacturers as a way to advertise their sustainability efforts. Sadly, Bayer just isn’t the one firm to fall beneath this scope. Lots of their sponsors have gotten up on stage to speak about how sustainable they’re.

As a lead sponsor, corporations like Bayer deserve their keynote talking session. Sustainable Manufacturers does job retaining these talks fairly brief (quarter-hour). However, there’s no Q&A session, which implies there’s no accountability.

Bayer can get on stage and discuss how they’re main the regenerative agriculture motion with no repercussions. And, that’s precisely what they did.

Why This Is A Downside

There’s nothing newsworthy about Bayer greenwashing. The issue is the ripple impact. Widespread dialogue matters that you simply would possibly overhear on the lunches and networking breaks at conferences embody:

• How are you liking the convention to this point?
• What has been your favourite half?
• What learnings are you going to take again to your staff?
• What don’t you want in regards to the convention?

It was superb how many individuals talked about Bayer of their dialogue. This doesn’t mirror badly on Bayer as a lot because it creates an integrity drawback for Sustainable Manufacturers. This group mustn’t flip right into a platform used for greenwashing or environmental disinformation. That’s not helpful for Sustainable Manufacturers, its members, or the ecosystem that surrounds the cleantech motion.

Acknowledgement: A Potential Answer

By acknowledging the issue that has been created, Sustainable Manufacturers is creating belief with its attendees.

Unfettered greenwashing will finally create a corporation with no integrity. This goes for each Bayer and Sustainable Manufacturers.

After all, Sustainable Manufacturers can’t inform Bayer what to say and how you can say it. That’s not reasonable. What’s reasonable is telling Bayer that it has to acknowledge the issue that it’s accountable for (earlier than speaking about its answer for a greener future).

This doesn’t must go on for 13 of the 15 minute presentation. This is usually a few sentences at the start of a speech that acknowledges the elephant within the room.

Authorized and advertising and marketing groups will say, “that is inconceivable.” Firms in Bayer’s place are strolling a advantageous line as a result of they don’t wish to open themselves as much as dangers (rising their publicity to extra lawsuits).

However, I’d wager to say that the authorized and advertising and marketing groups of any massive company can provide you with some language that acknowledges the elephant within the room with out destroying the authorized footing of the corporate.

A easy 2–4 sentences at the start of the speech would go a good distance: “As a big firm, we acknowledge that the influence we’ve had hasn’t at all times been constructive. Typically there are unintended penalties when massive corporations create new merchandise. As an govt, it’s my purpose to steer my group right into a extra sustainable framework over the following few years. And, right here’s how we’re going to do it.”

That is simply an instance of a technique leaders at massive corporations like Bayer may strategy acknowledging what everybody within the room is already pondering.

My Ask

Sustainable Manufacturers ought to be telling massive manufacturers that they should come clean with a few of their missteps in the event that they wish to get on stage and inform their story. In any other case, the story is incomplete.

This isn’t nearly Bayer. Sustainable Manufacturers has allowed cigarette corporations to offer shows a few smokeless future (the place vaping is the brand new customary). They’ve additionally allowed massive corporations within the private care market on stage to speak about how a lot they care in regards to the merchandise they placed on their infants’ pores and skin (once they have multi-billion-dollar judgements regarding the well being dangers from merchandise placed on people’ pores and skin). It may be nauseating to listen to this kind of greenwashing on stage at a big sustainability convention.

Sustainability-focused media organizations have a duty to ensure their members are educated in regards to the good and the unhealthy. Sustainable Manufacturers isn’t silly, and the viewers isn’t both.

If Sustainable Manufacturers ensures that corporations that get on stage acknowledge methods wherein their corporations have each positively and negatively impacted the world, the group will garner the respect it deserves as one of many leaders within the sustainability motion.

By a CleanTechnica visitor contributor who requested for anonymity