It’s not easy to speak of environmental awareness amid an unprecedented world crisis. However, as in the past, this storm will blow over and we’ll once again walk the path of prosperity. The fact is that humankind’s economic and social development has brought increasingly acute consequences for the environment, and the challenges are building up: climate change, power and water shortages, threats to biodiversity, pollution, and deforestation, among others.

But what does this have to do with appropriate strategies and good business? A lot, say the authors of Green to Gold. At a time of fragile and ephemeral competitive advantages, some companies can use the new mentality shaped by the green wave as a catalyst for innovation. This is what they call “eco-advantage”, a privileged competitive standing in relation to their customers, collaborators, and the communities in which they work.

The book is far from a simple and almost ideological defense of environmental responsibility. It starts out by defining eco-advantage and listing the challenges faced by humanity. Naturally, the force of eco-advantage does not affect all companies in the same way. High brand exposure, major environment impact, dependence on natural resources or major exposure to regulation are characteristics that heighten its effects.

After formulating the problem, the authors try to put together the answer by using a process similar to the one used by top management consultancies (one of the authors used to work at one). Firstly, companies should identify their exposures in environmental terms, assessing the entire value chain in which they are operate. For instance, car manufacturers should consider the emissions caused by their products, instead of saying: “Hey, that’s not my responsibility!” After mapping these impacts (their own, suppliers’ and clients’), companies should create short, medium and long term action plans to mitigate them. In addition to managing this potential liability, they should assess the green wave’s positive side: which aspects of this movement can become business drivers.

Up to this point, it all seems quite obvious. However, the work also touches the crucial organization elements for any initiative to be successful: leadership, goals, performance measurements, and incentives. Although engaging the organization’s top leader is fundamental for such an initiative, its transformation into sustainable eco-advantage only happens when the mindset permeates corporate culture. Several examples of projects that touch upon these concepts, but fail to take root due to lack of systematization (isolated initiatives) are explored throughout the work. In these cases, a change of leadership brings a change in priorities, and environmental responsibility becomes “tree-hugger talk” once again.
Mother Nature charges ever higher bills for imbalances caused by human development. Due to the governments’ almost insurmountable difficulty in limiting externalities, companies are the most powerful means to promote a functional society, while at the same time fulfilling its need for goods and services. In addition to being the right thing to do, these principles are synonymous with good business.

Green to Gold
Andrew Winston and Daniel Esty
[Publisher in Brazil] Editora Campus
368 pages
1st edition - 2008