Sustainability has been a specialized issue for a long timeframe. Then it became the discipline of sustainability officers and compliance in-charges. Recently, sustainability has caught the fancy of C-suite executives and corporate entities, who comprehend sustainability as a core business issue. Some businesses are transforming their entire business models to become sustainable. The issue has come a long way and is here to stay. Let’s take a look at some noteworthy sustainability trends that will surface in 2013.

1. It all About the Money: ROI and bottom line are the driving forces in enterprise sustainability programs. Sustainability as a whole can’t be the stand alone primary benefit. It is time that metrics like risk management, cost reduction, compliance and revenue gain take the front seat, or else acceptance and funding can pose real challenges.
2. Sustainability is the First Concern: Sustainability teams operating at different levels across organizations are conjoining to form concentrated groups. These groups take complete ownership of budgets and initiatives, simplifying the execution of sustainability programs pan organizations. Sustainability programs witness a huge shift as CFOs (Chief Financial Officers) play the pilot, while other business heads including CXOs are also ready to steer. Sustainability has become the prime concern across hierarchy.
3. Making or Breaking Deals with Green Reporting: Customer evaluation programs are taking complete advantage of sustainable reporting. Major influence is driven from buyer demand, as large companies continually ask suppliers to add energy efficiency and carbon emissions as part of their industry qualifications.
4. Emerging Economies Render Transformation: From being just another cost saving initiative sustainability has evolved to become a comprehensive corporate transformation. And as trend organizations based in emerging economies are embracing this trend faster as compared to those based in developed economies. This is because their infrastructure and outlook will be flexible and fresh, which will enable them to adapt to sustainable best practices more efficiently.
5. Sustainability Reports as Yearly Publications: Companies now keep a yearly track of their sustainability efforts as compared to previous call of tracking efforts every 18 to 24 months. Furthermore, they are accumulating non-financial and financial reports to bring sustainability and other business practices at the same level. This will require advanced technology solutions that can accumulate sustainability performance data from across the enterprise.
6. Like, Share, Tweet: Corporate Social Responsibility events are exceedingly utilizing social media platforms to increase engagement on the part of investors, partners and consumers.
7. Reducing Gallons and Cutting on Carbons: Energy, from being fixed expense, has become an asset or cost that can be managed. To do something beyond energy procurement, enterprises have started inventing in energy managers and putting in efforts to increase visibility across energy use locations. Views are shifting over water usage issues as well. Apart from water consumption, a competitive advantage is also being taken into consideration.
8. Time to Bid Farewell to Energy-seeking IT infrastructure: As new datacenter requisites evolve the need for advanced solutions and tools will also see a hike, which will proffer infrastructure management and energy optimization. In a recent research conducted by Gartner, facts revealed that datacenter transformation is exceedingly fascinating clients, and the search rate for the term has gone up by 358% since 2008.
9. Going Light on Carbon Supply Chains: Various industries, logistics and transportation in particular, are devising ways to manage transport systems to improvise on their supply chain initiatives and back their carbon management efforts. Enterprises will also exceedingly adopt advanced packaging materials.
10. The Honorary Green Enterprise is…Enterprises are increasingly using ratings and recognitions to showcase the performance of their sustainability efforts to stakeholders and investors. The rating system draws attention to essential issues pertaining to sustainability and leads to more sustainable conversations on board.