Following the turmoil of last year, which was largely brought on by the rising support for protectionism and technological advances, 2018 is turning out to be a pivotal year for sustainability. This year both businesses and consumers are demanding that it takes the center stage. Sustainability has been eluding businesses and consumers alike but with the rising economic volatility, climatic changes, and growing popularity of automation, sustainability has become a priority for everyone. In this article, we at Infiniti Research, have highlighted some of the sustainability trends for this year. The sustainability trends which are based on the research and estimations of our in-house industry experts will offer fascinating insights into the changing frameworks for business in the new global economy.
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Top sustainability trends for 2018
Re-prioritizing sustainability
This year, many companies have started leveraging regulations put forth by the Paris Climate Agreement and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to their advantage by using them to guide their sustainability initiatives. Also, the availability of business commissions gives companies an incentive to achieve the targeted SDGs. In the last year itself, more than 43 countries signed up to conduct a review on SDGs progress. Sustainability trends such as this are expected to pay a major role in the near future since many countries are making it a legal obligation to meet their SDGs.
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Boosting supply chain transparency
One of the sustainability trends that has been picking up steam this year is the use of data and technologies to boost supply chain visibility. Data in its digital form is offering huge opportunities for innovations, especially in terms of new technologies. Drones and apps are making it extremely easy to better understand sustainability challenges and devise effective strategies to mitigate them. Technology can also be used to impart knowledge and increase awareness about sustainability among farmers. The availability of such technologies makes it easy to access data from supply chains and use them to study the journey of some products.
Rising need for collaborations
Collaborations are crucial for addressing pressing sustainability challenges in today’s competitive scenario. Most producers or farmers tend to look at sustainability differently, they usually take a more holistic approach and consider production costs and investment expenses. Such sustainability trends have given rise to new collaborations platforms that help streamline certification processes. A recent example of this collaboration is the merger of the Rainforest Alliance Systems with UTZ, which has helped a number of cocoa and coffee farmers.
Certification checks
Certification remaining under scrutiny is one of the crucial sustainability trends for this year. Even today, supply chain partners and end-users continue to ask about the benefits of certification. What they don’t realize is that certification offers scrupulous supply chain insights that are otherwise extremely difficult to obtain. The connection that certification builds along the supply chain has a positive effect on the producers and the environment. Certification is one of the only sustainability trends that has the potential to bring about a transformative collaboration between the government, NGOs, and other bodies.
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