Over the past 18 months, our environments have changed in light of our enforced shift in living patterns brought about by the impact of COVID 19.
Many organisations are keen to commit to ‘the future’ as a result of this recent experience but where does a firm start when looking to make a meaningful impact on, for example, environmental matters?
We are committed to a long-term focus, aimed at embedding sustainability into the firm’s core business, and using the exit from the pandemic as a springboard for our future efforts.
Of course, headline statements are easily delivered but often, embedding intentions into the core of the business is difficult especially when matters of business continuity and the re-mapping out of a National crisis are at the front of everyone’s mind.
Companies have to be realistic. Don’t over-promise and provide your colleagues with too much, too soon.
At Debt Squared Group we chose Biodiversity as a starting block as it has come very much into focus, given that we’ve witnessed a mini-climate change during lockdown. Fewer trains, planes, and automobiles have brought the flora and fauna back to life in many neighbourhoods, and especially in cities.
This can only be the opening salvo – we have also laid out a charter of five key elements, which provides the opportunity for staff to tackle them one at a time: Biodiversity, plastic pollution, water shortage, climate change, and air pollution.
This is a long term effort. We spend time on each topic for a full two years before moving to add the next topic into the mix.
We feel the message is clear. Guide your team through initiatives such as these in stages and perhaps resist the temptation to be all things to all off the bat.
It shouldn’t hold you back – we have become a Tree Twinning corporate partner with Tree Appeal, looking to plant trees in schools and colleges across the UK & for every UK tree planted it will plant a tree in Africa in support of the livelihoods of communities in need.
The firm has committed to planting 200 new trees; 100 in the UK & 100 in Africa and the rolling commitment is for 400 trees every full year split evenly.
The premise is that plants, bees, spiders, fish, indeed all creatures great and small are all crucial to a healthy ecosystem, which is boosted by each species on the planet. The World will enjoy healthier crops if there is a larger number of plant species which provides an obvious reason to protect biodiversity.