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Three sustainability trends to watch in 2022 and beyond
Ulrich Lichtenthaler • 17. Dezember 2021
There is more to sustainability management than enhancing the efficiency of established processes to reduce emissions – much more!
You may argue that sustainability has been a relevant megatrend for many years, and this is true, of course. You may further argue that sustainability has become a key item on many firms’ strategic agendas for several years, and this is also true. So why should you bother about sustainability trends for 2022? Well, because sustainability is a global human imperative – and because most firms have so far only addressed a small portion of the opportunities that are associated with sustainability in their business activities. The relevance of trends is industry-specific and forecasts are often somewhat subjective. However, the following three topics emerged as major sustainability trends for 2022 in many recent discussions that I had with innovation, sustainability, and digitalization experts.
1. Sustainability innovation
Over the past years, many companies have started strategic sustainability initiatives, or they have at least redirected ongoing sustainability programs. While this has been an important step towards a stronger business focus on sustainability, the strategic emphasis is usually on reducing emissions by optimizing processes and enhancing efficiency. This is indeed an important part of the sustainability opportunities in many companies. Nonetheless, this efficiency focus ignores major other opportunities for sustainability innovation. Beyond process improvements, firms may revamp their products, services, business models, and management procedures to fully embrace the business opportunities of sustainability management. Thus, more focus on sustainability innovation is needed in 2022!
2. Digital sustainability
Besides sustainability, digitalization continues to be the other megatrend on top of many firms’ strategic agendas. Most surprisingly, however, there has been very limited attention to the interplay of digitalization and sustainability in most firms so far. But only so far because this will substantially change in 2022 with many firms increasingly targeting sustainability in the digital realm beyond their present focus on sustainability in the analog context. This topic is called digital sustainability or ‘digitainability’, and I have recently addressed the variety of positive and negative synergies in my Journal of Innovation Management article about ‘Digitainability: The Combined Effects of the Megatrends Digitalization and Sustainability’. You may access the article’s full text for free, and it underscores the need for more attention to digital sustainability in 2022!
3. Positive sustainability
There is more to sustainability management than reducing emissions. While a focus on ‘no net loss’ is an essential direction of many firms’ sustainability programs, this strategy of avoiding bad may often not be enough in the future. Instead, companies will increasingly have to consider positive sustainability to realize a ‘net positive impact’ besides concentrating on avoiding harm from their business activities. The integration of avoiding harm and simultaneously doing good is at the core of the positive sustainability concept, which I have termed ‘positainability’ in a recent article. From my perspective, a higher awareness of positive sustainability is a third major sustainability trend for 2022!
Sustainability as the opportunity
Sustainability is increasingly considered an opportunity rather than a threat by many companies, including startups as well as established businesses in many industries. In the post-pandemic period, sustainability will not only be one of the megatrends and a major opportunity. Rather, it will dominate many firms’ business activities, and it will be the top opportunity. In this regard, it is essential to consider the multiple facets of sustainability beyond optimizing established processes to reduce emissions. Sustainability innovation, digital sustainability, and positive sustainability will play central roles over the next months and years, and they are not only trends to watch, but rather trends to act on in 2022 and beyond.
1. Sustainability innovation
Over the past years, many companies have started strategic sustainability initiatives, or they have at least redirected ongoing sustainability programs. While this has been an important step towards a stronger business focus on sustainability, the strategic emphasis is usually on reducing emissions by optimizing processes and enhancing efficiency. This is indeed an important part of the sustainability opportunities in many companies. Nonetheless, this efficiency focus ignores major other opportunities for sustainability innovation. Beyond process improvements, firms may revamp their products, services, business models, and management procedures to fully embrace the business opportunities of sustainability management. Thus, more focus on sustainability innovation is needed in 2022!
2. Digital sustainability
Besides sustainability, digitalization continues to be the other megatrend on top of many firms’ strategic agendas. Most surprisingly, however, there has been very limited attention to the interplay of digitalization and sustainability in most firms so far. But only so far because this will substantially change in 2022 with many firms increasingly targeting sustainability in the digital realm beyond their present focus on sustainability in the analog context. This topic is called digital sustainability or ‘digitainability’, and I have recently addressed the variety of positive and negative synergies in my Journal of Innovation Management article about ‘Digitainability: The Combined Effects of the Megatrends Digitalization and Sustainability’. You may access the article’s full text for free, and it underscores the need for more attention to digital sustainability in 2022!
3. Positive sustainability
There is more to sustainability management than reducing emissions. While a focus on ‘no net loss’ is an essential direction of many firms’ sustainability programs, this strategy of avoiding bad may often not be enough in the future. Instead, companies will increasingly have to consider positive sustainability to realize a ‘net positive impact’ besides concentrating on avoiding harm from their business activities. The integration of avoiding harm and simultaneously doing good is at the core of the positive sustainability concept, which I have termed ‘positainability’ in a recent article. From my perspective, a higher awareness of positive sustainability is a third major sustainability trend for 2022!
Sustainability as the opportunity
Sustainability is increasingly considered an opportunity rather than a threat by many companies, including startups as well as established businesses in many industries. In the post-pandemic period, sustainability will not only be one of the megatrends and a major opportunity. Rather, it will dominate many firms’ business activities, and it will be the top opportunity. In this regard, it is essential to consider the multiple facets of sustainability beyond optimizing established processes to reduce emissions. Sustainability innovation, digital sustainability, and positive sustainability will play central roles over the next months and years, and they are not only trends to watch, but rather trends to act on in 2022 and beyond.
As sustainability and ESG are on top of many firms’ strategic agendas, there is a growing need for specialized trainings, workshops, and keynotes.
Nachhaltigkeit und ESG stehen bei vielen Unternehmen ganz oben auf der Tagesordnung, daher wächst der Bedarf an spezialisierten Schulungen, Workshops und Vorträgen.
ChatGPT und generative KI werden uns nicht überflüssig machen – auch wenn die aktuelle Berichterstattung genau diesen Eindruck erweckt. ChatGPT hat uns allen verdeutlicht, wie schnell sich manche Felder künstlicher Intelligenz (KI) aktuell weiterentwickeln. Auch wenn einige dieser Entwicklungen schon seit Jahren erwartet wurden, ist die Geschwindigkeit vieler Verbesserungen selbst für manche ExpertInnen erstaunlich. Der aktuelle offene Brief des Future of Life Institute, der von über 1.000 Personen unterzeichnet wurde, ist daher grundsätzlich nachvollziehbar. Darin wird insbesondere auf die Risiken von KI hingewiesen und eine sechsmonatige Pause für das Trainieren leistungsfähiger KI-Lösungen gefordert. Eine ausreichende Beachtung der Risiken von KI ist unbedingt erforderlich, auch wenn die aktuelle Berichterstattung dazu oft zu kurz greift. Noch erstaunlicher ist aus betriebswirtschaftlicher Sicht jedoch das Medienecho der letzten Wochen und Monate zu den Auswirkungen von KI auf die Arbeitswelt, das sowohl in klassischen Medien als auch bei Social Media zu beobachten war. Dort wird häufig gefragt, ob wir als Menschen noch schlau genug sind im Vergleich zur KI. Auch wird diskutiert, ob KI künftig die meisten Führungskräfte ersetzen wird. Besonders oft steht also wieder einmal die Frage im Mittelpunkt, wie viele Personen durch KI ihren Job verlieren werden. Diese Frage ist auf den auf den ersten Blick vielleicht nachvollziehbar, weil durch KI-basierte Automatisierung in den nächsten Jahren tatsächlich in nennenswertem Umfang Jobs verloren gehen werden. Insbesondere werden auch solche Büro-Jobs betroffen sein, die bisher noch nicht automatisiert werden konnten. Dadurch sind mit offensiven Schlagzeilen sicherlich hohe Klickzahlen zu erreichen. Außerdem werden auch Arbeitsplätze in der Medienbranche automatisiert werden, wodurch sich die Berichterstattung zusätzlich erklären lässt. Integrierte Intelligenz strategisch oft wichtiger als eigenständige KI Dennoch wird viel zu oft ein einseitiger Schwerpunkt gelegt und damit auch ein falscher Eindruck vermittelt. Der wirklich entscheidende Teil der Entwicklung für die meisten Unternehmen und ebenso für die meisten Arbeitskräfte liegt in der Kombination von KI mit menschlicher Arbeit – und eben gerade nicht in der vollständigen Automatisierung von Jobs durch KI. In den letzten Jahren kamen verschiedenen Studien immer wieder zu ähnlichen Ergebnissen. Der Grundtenor ist dahingehend identisch, dass sich deutlich mehr Jobs verändern werden als komplett wegzufallen (vor allem, wenn die Zahl der Arbeitsplätze berücksichtigt wird, die durch KI zusätzlich entstehen). Diese Kombination von menschlicher mit künstlicher Intelligenz wird auch als integrierte Intelligenz bezeichnet.
Despite the massive attention to sustainability and ESG, many firms still underestimate the opportunities for innovation beyond reducing CO2 emissions.
The GREEN GRASS STRATEGY goes beyond traditional sustainability, and it refers to developing innovative solutions for a ‘net positive impact’. What is the GREEN GRASS STRATEGY? The GREEN GRASS STRATEGY is a sustainability strategy that focuses on innovation and new business opportunities rather than limiting sustainability programs to resource efficiency and the optimization of established processes. As such, the GREEN GRASS STRATEGY goes beyond traditional sustainability concepts that often focus on avoiding harm (no net loss) to consider positive sustainability and to embrace doing good (net positive impact). The GREEN GRASS STRATEGY enables you to leverage sustainability for innovation and value generation, and it can be systematically developed with the SUSTAINABILITY INNOVATION MAP , which helps firms to achieve a competitive advantage by systematically pursuing sustainability innovations in all ESG dimensions – environment, social, and governance.
Generation Z – and what is next? Many of today’s students are ‘sustainable natives’ and expect companies to make a positive contribution to solving ecological and social problems. In an international survey of more than 27,000 people, GlobeScan found in 2020 that for 60% of younger participants, climate change and social inequality are top priorities, combined with the expectation that companies should contribute to solving these challenges. Very importantly, the young generation expects positainability , i.e. making a positive contribution and not just reducing negative effects of doing business, for example by reducing CO2 emissions. To implement this positive sustainability approach, companies would need to pursue a GREEN GRASS STRATEGY . So far, however, many companies are hardly prepared for the future changes due to the ideas of those persons that will be starting their careers in the next few years. In fact, this new generation of ‘sustainable natives’ presents new challenges and opportunities for companies (as I have explained in more detail in a recent article in the Haufe Personalmagazin ). In particular, the following typical perspectives of this ‘Generation PI’ – Positive Impact – have to be considered. 1. Sustainable natives Many current students are ‘sustainable natives’ because they perceive sustainability as a core topic since their early youth. In contrast to the extensive public discussions about ‘digital natives’, the role of ‘sustainable natives’ has been mostly ignored so far. 2. Doubtful prospects Typical for ‘Generation PI’ are doubts whether their future standard of living will remain as good as their current situation and as the life of their parents, especially due to climate change. 3. Expected limitations Many current students expect restrictions on possible behaviors to enable a more sustainable economy and society in the future, for instance bans or massively increasing prices for air travel or the consumption of less sustainable food. 4. Positive contribution Beyond the goal of no-net-loss, ‘Generation PI’ is ready to make a positive contribution in terms of a net-positive-impact. Here, companies need to focus on major innovations rather than limiting themselves to reducing CO2 emissions in established processes.
Positainability – or positive sustainability – refers to the combination of doing good and avoiding bad to arrive at innovative solutions.
On May 28, 2022, Liverpool FC with the manager Juergen Klopp have the chance to win another Champions League title after beating Chelsea to win the FA Cup 2022.
How to use the proven tool that helps firms across industries to systematically pursue sustainability innovations.
Many firms have started digitalization and sustainability initiatives – but they neglect to profit from the combination of these megatrends.
