Velvet Innovation Conference spearheads discussion on sustainable business

Sustainability as a key element of companies’ visions 

In his keynote address, Fredrick Royan presented current and future trends connected to sustainability derived from Frost & Sullivan data. They surveyed 600 companies in three key regions: the Nordics, Benelux, and the UK and Ireland. It looked at how they perceive sustainability, what challenges they face, and what motivates them to take action to help sustainability.

• For 64% of the companies surveyed, sustainability is part of their strategic vision and management approach.
• ​75% of manufacturing companies have sustainability embedded in their strategic vision.
• Architecture and engineering segments have a slight lead over the construction segment in sustainability. 

Download the presentation with the results of the Frost & Sullivan study
The main driver of sustainability in companies is customers and their needs. See what else emerged from the Frost & Sullivan study, the results presented at the Velvet Innovation conference by Frederick Royan, Vice President of Sustainability and Circular Economy.
 

How to plan a sustainability strategy?

Mike Stenson from Kingspan, the second guest keynote speaker, showcased the specific ways a large company dealing in building materials can push sustainability efforts forward. According to Kingspan company vision, they are on a 2030 Carbon Pathway to lower the carbon footprint of all business production units and individual products. Here are some of his recommendations for companies aiming to become more sustainable. 

Measure energy usage and make a plan to reduce it. (This may need investment.)

Treat waste as a resource for reuse either in an existing business or as a new business or product.

Measure the level of CO2 emissions, internally and externally, and plan to reduce and use to market the lower embodied carbon solutions.

Drive from the top and don’t stay still from an innovation perspective.