Taking steps towards sustainability

Tesco, Coca-Cola and Unilever are among the many marketers taking steps towards sustainability and speaking out in favour of businesses protecting the planet. The Guardian reported the following comments at today's London climate-change conference, in advance of a major Copenhagen meeting in December.

Tesco wants to be carbon-neutral by 2050; the chief executive says: 'Survival is the issue, not just for our business, but the entire planet'.

Coca-Cola's president says his firm's surveys show that consumers now put ecological concerns at the top of their priorities. 'I think it is a fallacy to think growth and a sustainable world are mutually exclusive', he told the conference.

Sustainability is a long-term goal . . . as a Unilever official observes: 'We need a whole new business model, but it takes time'.

Today's customers expect progress towards sustainability; thanks to the Internet and social media, they can quickly find out what companies are actually doing and what people are saying about the issues.

Sustainability is not a marketing gimmick, and transparency is essential to earning the trust of customers and other publics. By declaring their commitment to greener business activities in a very public way, Unilever, Coke and Tesco are letting the world know where they stand and inviting scrutiny of their sustainability efforts. That's transparency.