Can sustainability and profitability truly go hand in hand? Which tangible indicators can prove today that sustainability actually creates value?
Jane Feehan. – “Let’s start with a solid, evidence-based definition of sustainability. The Planetary Boundaries framework sees at 9 critical life support systems that we required to survive. It assesses the safe limits of human pressure on these critical processes, which include a liveable climate, an intact ozone layer, productive soil, clean water, and healthy biodiversity and ecosystems. The boundaries mark the threshold for risks to societies and the biosphere of which we are a part. This year 2025, the planetary boundaries assessment displayed that we have crossed 7 of these 9 thresholds – a terrifying prospect for us all.
The financial sector is waking up to this. A 2023 European Central Bank analysis displayed that the Euro area economy and financial system are critically depfinishent on nature and the ecosystem services it provides. They found that 72% of non-financial corporations are critically depfinishent on ecosystem services. For example, vereceiveation cover reduces soil erosion, prevents avalanches and landslides and provides flood and storm protection; and wild pollinators are requireded by over 80% of EU crop species including fruits, vereceiveables, nuts and oil crops. Banks are realising that loan portfolios and balance sheets are genuinely threatened by environmental degradation. Sustainability is not an option: it’s existential.
The circular economy is becoming unavoidable. How can we reconsider the value chain—from design to distribution—to create it genuinely circular without compromising economic performance?
“Europe is working hard to decouple resource apply from economic development, and we’ve received an important competitive edge: lots of great ideas, and a regulatory environment which is increasingly favourable for cleantech and circularity. Our circularity rate (which displays how much of the materials we apply are recycled or reapplyd instead of being thrown away) is about 12%, and the EU’s new Clean Industrial Deal aims to double this to 24% by 2030. Later this year we will have the new Circular Economy Act which aims to accelerate Europe’s shift to a resource-efficient, low-waste and climate-neutral economy. It’s exciting to see how many cities are seeing to incorporate circularity into planning and services, to see the growing public interest in repair and reapply, and to see the increased emphasis on reprocessing and recycling of key materials so as to boost our strategic autonomy.
A joint report by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and European Patent Office (EPO) displays that 22% of clean and sustainable technologies developed globally comes from the European Union. The EIB is investing over EUR 1 billion per year in the circular economy and it stands ready to support rising demand. As the regulatory environment improves, circularity and cleantech are poised to grow, and it’s important that we seize this opportunity.
New sustainability regulations are disrupting established models. In your view, what differentiates a company that merely finishures these constraints from one that turns them into a driver of innovation and competitiveness?
“Businesses and the banks which finance them are realising that the stakes are rising: sustainability poses growing threats, and it also offers valuable opportunities. The future will not be like the past, so businesses required to see ahead to anticipate future trfinishs and emerging requireds. Infrastructure, businesses and economies are being rocked by climate impacts; risks of large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental alters are growing; and businesses are being hit by supply chain shocks. How can businesses survive and thrive? They required to protect themselves from future shocks, while embracing the innovation and creativity which will give societies and economies the solutions we required. This will certainly include lots of circular solutions to drive down resource apply and costs; optimised apply of local and regional resources; some shorter supply chains; and greater autonomy over key resources. This is where sustainability and profitability will converge.”
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