Sustainable Futures Forum at York Guildhall

The best way to progress a sustainability journey? Break the rules of normal business relationships. Tell everyone your good ideas and steal theirs; let people know when your plans don’t work out and what you are having problems with; put all your figures in the public domain.   

We were delighted to receive the invitation to take part in the University of York’s Sustainable Futures Forum at York Guildhall recently. Aside from the pleasure of appearing with some impressive names, it was a chance to catch up on the latest developments… and gain insight in how to progress on our next set of challenges. As a relatively small company that has learned sustainability on the job, it is always a pleasure to be able to share our journey with other organisations wanting to take similar steps. It’s even more useful to find out what we don’t know so that we can progress.

The event brought together government, academia and businesses. There were speeches from Lord Mayor of York Margaret Wells, Professor Bob Doherty, Dean of the School for Business and Society and Julien Richer, Founder and Managing Director of Richer Sounds. All three gave different perspectives sustainable businesses, how they have worked in the past and how they should work in the future.

Sustainable Suppliers… and How to be One

We were invited to contribute to the Supply Chains Panel, sharing our experience of proving our sustainability credentials as a supplier. We compared circular economy notes with fellow smaller business Bio-D (who manufacture ethically and environmentally responsible cleaning products). We also listened to the approaches of larger companies 

Jet2 talked about the power of articulating the value of sustainability to their suppliers. They flagged internal research that shows that although people selecting Sustainable Travel options on the website may be smaller, the proportion who make a purchase is much larger. So there is a business opportunity in doing the right thing. A senior ESG associate from NextEnergy Capital echoed this, saying finance is very interested in sustainability credentials and how to demonstrate them.

Actions to Take on Biodiversity

Even more useful was hearing from a panel discussing Biodiversity loss and how to address this. With around 69% species loss worldwide, it is generally accepted that we are in the 6th phase of mass extinction. The global supply chain of IT is heavily reliant on mined resources. This clearly has an impact on ecosystems both in the effect on the land and the pollution and water usage associated with it. However, quantifying and mitigating biodiversity risk is tricky for a company like Techbuyer.  

Speakers from NatPower UK, Tetra Tech, rePLANET, RBC and NextEnergy Capital discussed positive steps companies can take to demonstrate biodiversity net gain. Peatland restoration, green corridors are local projects that would improve biodiversity. Companies with no land of their own can invest in these kinds of projects and, with the governance in this area evolving, quantify the positive effect this makes.   We were to receive more practical advice in the afternoon: Biodiversity actions was the challenge we had set for the Student Hackathon organised by the academics at York.

Biodiversity Hacks for SMEs

Working with the next generation is always extremely rewarding. Their ideas are fresh, and the energy they bring to tasks is infectious. We have also been working with School of Business and Society for a few years now - one of the groups we hosted helped us deliver our 5 star rating on Support the Goals with supply chain education on the UN SDGs – so we jumped at the chance to run a live problem past a group of undergrads at the Hackathon.

Quantifying the Biodiversity impacts of the products we refurbish is a challenge, so mechanisms like Biodiversity Net Gain (achieving at least a 10% gain in biodiversity value) are not as easy to calculate for a company in our position and its activities. However, there are ways we can make some measurable, positive impact. In two hours, our group gave some brilliant, practical advice that we thought we’d share:

  1. Reach out.

Communities are filled with experts in local councils, volunteer groups and charities. Rural areas have Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and National Parks with projects that need support. Cities have Urban Farms, Community Gardens and Sustainable Urban Draining. They will be happy to work with you.

  1. Knowledge is power.

Use publicly available data sets like ArcGIS and the statutory biodiversity metric to explore sites and start measuring the net gain of projects.

  1. Plug resource gaps.

Some organisations have no budget for offsets, but there is grant funding available.  

The environmental issues we are facing are serious. Events like this prove there is a willingness to work together to address them.

Want to know more about sustainability fundamentals? Check out our range of IEMA certified Sustainability training and provide your organisation with the tools it needs to effect positive change.