Employees faced personal sustainability challenges to support the SDGs and to show that every action counts towards a more sustainable future.
The 2020 European Sustainability Week took place from September 21 to 25 and at the last count over 3700 activities and events were registered to take place across 25 countries. Thousands of people in Europe were celebrating, promoting, and supporting the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations that call for action to transform our world. With the global challenges we face in response to the Covid 19 crisis, it has never been so important to focus on the principles of sustainable development to help us become more resilient and recover. Climate change is affecting every region of the world and without action, we are potentially heading towards the 3°C mark. The means to stop this development exist and using the SDGs as a compass, we can all contribute as individuals to achieve a better and more sustainable future together.
Every Action Counts - Sustainability Week at EcoVadis
As one of the leading providers of sustainability ratings for companies and global supply chains, employees at EcoVadis rallied together to take action within the framework of the European Sustainability Week. Initially a stand alone event by our Düsseldorf office in support of the German Sustainability Action Days, teams in Poland, France, and other European countries soon joined in the effort to support and promote the SDGs.
Under the motto “every action counts” employees faced personal sustainability challenges to expand their knowledge on how to become more sustainable every day and show that everyone can change things for the better. During the week, employees across the European offices committed to eating vegan, shop without waste, consume only local produce, clean out their email inbox, or travel 100% by bicycle. Before and after the challenge, everyone measured their carbon footprint to see the direct impact of their action. Working together, participants exchanged their experiences and shared inspirational information with each other in a daily chat.
“At EcoVadis, we encourage every employee to step up to their commitment towards a more sustainable planet.”
Sylvain Guyoton, Senior Vice President Research, EcoVadis
Why It Matters
While sustainability has become a buzzword in recent months, the SDGs as a framework are still relatively unknown. The European Sustainable Development Week initiative is aimed at giving visibility to activities and efforts that promote sustainable development and raise awareness for the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 goals. They represent an urgent call for action and a global partnership to end poverty and other social injustices while tackling climate change and working to preserve the planet and its resources for future generations.
Changing our daily habits can make a big difference and consumers are catching on. For the first time in its 186-year history, the German sausage and cold-cut manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle saw higher sales of their vegetarian and vegan product line than their traditional meat-based offering. An increase in gross sales by 44%. According to Joseph Poor at the University of Oxford “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use, and water use,”. His study “Reducing food’s environmental impacts through producers and consumers” shows that farming accounts for 83% of agricultural land and produces 60% of its greenhouse gas emissions while only providing 18% of our calories and 37% of our protein. Eliminating meat and dairy farms could reduce the land used for food production by up to 75%, omit a large portion of the annual GHG emissions, boost wildlife, and still succeed in feeding the world population.
Consumer decisions also play an important role in tackling the unprecedented level of pollution we have reached in the world today. A recent study by Bain & Company revealed that 73% of global consumers are inclined to change their consumption habits to lessen their impact on the environment. In Europe alone, each person produces around half a ton of household waste per year of which only 40% is reused or recycled. As a result of the increasing demand for plastic food packaging and single-use plastic, the plastic industry could account for 15% of the global carbon budget by the year 2050. Plastic makes up 85% of the trash found on the world’s beaches with single use products such as plastic bags and food wrappings accounting for 61%. Waste management and reduction in plastic production play a vital role in lowering greenhouse gas emissions, preventing water and ocean pollution, and getting back on track for limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5°C. Adapting a zero-waste approach and making conscious decisions of not wasting resources everyday has a direct impact on the environment and climate change.
To make the 2030 Agenda a reality, it takes more than the commitment of politicians and global big player companies. There is an opportunity for all of us today as individuals to take responsibility and act more sustainable in our everyday lives.
