Environmentalism has finally become a business priority.

A 2019 report found that 99% of CEOs from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue believe that sustainability will be of future importance to them.

This paradigm shift owes largely to the evolving values of society itself. Millennials and Gen Zers want to support businesses that align with their values. And as these demographics come to dominate the economy, businesses recognise the significance of their support.

But one key obstacle to progress remains. While sustainability is on the agenda, it is not currently being met with effective practical action. In the absence of that, we run the risk of missing a once in a lifetime opportunity to address the climate crisis.

On Earth Day, we have to focus our attention on overcoming that.

Work to be done

As of 2019, only 21% of company CEOs sampled in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and Accenture report, felt they were actioning sustainable practices.

As this report rightly concluded, we are now in the “‘Decade to Deliver”’ on sustainability. Sustainable goals must be embedded throughout all business operations now.

Failure to do this will have three detrimental effects: a failure to protect the environment for future generations, a failure to solve social inequalities, and a failure to maintain and attract customers for whom sustainability is becoming increasingly important.

Sustainability in action

At RiverSafe, we fully support the adoption of sustainable business strategies. We want to lead our industry into the next decade of sustainable security transformation.

That is why we have put sustainability at the core our business strategy, partnering with the inspiring Earth 51 – a strategic advisory firm focused on accelerating sustainable business growth by balancing profit and planet.

We are extremely proud of our assessment results: a Silver sustainability footprint for completing at least 10 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

We also recently began to transfer our promotional merchandise to an eco-friendly format. Products such as eco-friendly desk plants and bamboo sticky notes have been hugely popular at events we have attended.

“As an organisation, we’re proud to be playing an active role in the ‘Decade to Deliver’. We urge every business to invest in sustainability and team up with fantastic partners like Earth 51. Then, they can translate good intentions on sustainability into action.”

Suid Adeyanju, Managing Director RiverSafe

“RiverSafe is one of the first Cyber Security firms globally to thread sustainability into their core business functions differentiating them as both cyber security leaders as well as well as developing into a forward-looking organisation prioritising ethics and responsible business practices.”

Akhil Handa, CEO Earth 51