Our new report ‘Retail Leadership’, released today, shows how supermarkets and other major retailers are pressing ahead with green business practices despite the threat of recession.

Retailers have a vital role to play in building a sustainable, low-carbon economy. They can drive far-reaching change up and down their supply chains, supporting local economic development and helping suppliers operate in ways which have less impact on the environment and do more to benefit communities. They can also help hundreds of millions of customers to make straightforward, affordable and more sustainable choices.

Eco-efficiencies – making savings by reducing energy use, packaging and waste – directly support the cost-cutting which retailers and consumers look for in a downturn. By sharing lorries to make more efficient deliveries Tesco and Unilever have saved more than half a million “empty” miles.

Consumers’ growing demands for greener, healthier, more ethical products have made them a critical part of brand positioning and a driver for new product and service innovations. Sainsbury’s has seen a 60% rise in sales of higher-welfare chicken since 2007 and is adding lines to meet growing demand. In the Kingfisher Group, which sponsored the report, Castorama has rolled out more than 2,000 “eco-products”.

And recession or not, in the long term successful retailers will be those who have robust strategies in place to deal with the rising cost of oil and commodities, who support suppliers in drought-prone and water-scarce areas, and who work to make sustainable products more available and affordable to their customers. We hope this report will help all retail businesses be part of that change.

“Can we shop our way to sustainability?” was the topic for a lively seminar Forum for the Future held last Monday evening.

"Yes - under certain conditions" came the answer from the majority of our panel: Lord Adair Turner, the new Chairman of the Government’s Committee on Climate Change; Lucy Siegle from the Observer; and Lucy Neville-Rolfe from Tesco.

Environmental guru Roger Levett was more doubtful – a view shared by the delegates. Just 29 per cent answered “yes” to the question in our snap entry poll; support fell to 22 per cent in a post-event survey. So what persuaded our attendees – 100 thinkers from industry, academia and NGOs – that something more complex is required?

The solutions to sustainable consumption are clearly not as simple as our poll question implied. Widespread agreement emerged on the range of changes needed: better information to empower consumers; careful framing of the alternatives in supermarkets; and removing the most unsustainable products - "choice editing" – altogether from the shelves.

So what are the barriers to making sustainable consumption a reality today? How can we change consumer behaviour effectively? And what might be the ideal consumer products of the future? See our summary of the evening for further details.

The race for leadership is hotting up

There’s a lot happening in business these days. And I’m not talking about the persistent credit crunch or ‘are we or aren’t we heading for a recession’ debate in countries such as the UK and US. No, I’m talking about how businesses are busy changing the way they earn their profits - responding to challenges such as climate change, food and raw material shortages, fuel price hikes and the financial squeeze.

But it’s more than a knee-jerk response to an immediate threat that we’re witnessing – leading business are now taking a good look at their business strategies and core activities to ensure they will continue to thrive what ever the future holds. 

For the past few months, I have been researching the latest in sustainable business, drawing heavily on the experience within our business programme and on what our partners are doing. And I found some fascinating examples of real progress, the best of which are presented in our latest report leader business 2.0 – hallmarks of sustainable performance and on the supporting web pages.

We’ve raised the bar for what makes a leader business and set out 60 performance hallmarks across ten areas of general business activity. That may seem a lot – but with all the recent press coverage on greenwash and inconsistencies in practice it is becoming increasingly apparent that businesses can’t go about doing good in one part of the organisation while doing nothing in another.

I’m hoping the hallmarks and our top tips for becoming a leader business will help organisations think through their activities in a systematic way and ultimately deliver a solid sustainable business model.

So, is this then one of the good news stories highlighted in our May Business Update? Well, sort of, but unfortunately it’s not all sunshine in the world of sustainable business – yet. For all the excellent examples of progress we showcase in this report, there is still some way to go.

And I believe it is our role as a partner for change to keep pushing the boundaries, raise the bar and challenge business to always strive to be better. To sit back and relax now, just because the past 18 months have been packed great progress and promises of a more sustainable future, is just not what we do. We always ask for more. Besides, the leader business is still the exception rather than the rule.

Although I must say, it’s great to see that the race for leadership is really gaining momentum. Let’s just hope that the gloom of the credit crunch and rising costs for raw materials and fuel won’t fool business into thinking that sustainability can be de-prioritised. Now is the time when it can really begin to add value.

Forum for the Future is today launching a report showcasing today's best practice in sustainable business and set out the framework for becoming a leader business. The report and supporting case studies can be found here.