Sustainability matters, and every single person in the world has a stake in ensuring that the planet remains inhabitable for future generations to enjoy. This is a major reason why we offer carbon consultancy to help businesses find ways to reduce their impact on the world.
However, there are some business leads, in sectors such as construction, procurement and the supply chain, that primarily view sustainability and managing carbon footprints as something primarily done to meet changing regulations and to contribute to high-level goals.
It is something important to do, of course, but there are some people who ask the question about whether their clients and customers truly care about the impact of carbon, often under the illusion that they already know the answer.
Not only do customers and clients care about carbon, but they are prioritising it more than ever in purchasing decisions.
Research published by the Harvard Business Review in 2023 showed that even just a couple of years ago, consumption patterns were being determined by sustainability. Here are some of the reasons why it matters more than ever to your clients.
Sustainability Is Not Shaken by Other Priorities
Whilst there was historically an assumption that sustainability was treated by customers as a “nice-to-have” that is quickly subsumed by other priorities during more difficult economic times, this has not been true for an extremely long time.
The Carbon Trust reported as early as 2011 that customers are not only more loyal to companies that are taking steps to reduce their carbon footprint, but would be willing to stop buying from said companies if they did not make these commitments.
What is remarkable is that this survey took place during the Great Recession, a major financial crisis that stretched individual customers and many companies to and beyond breaking point.
Even with that in mind, customers were willing to pay more to ensure that the products and services they buy are sustainable.
Customers Believe Their Choices Have Consequences
A major reason for this is that many customers believe that their actions as individuals have an impact collectively, as was demonstrated in a Bain Insights report from 2024.
If an individual customer or client believes that their decisions matter when it comes to sustainability, carbon emissions and climate impact, they will typically gravitate towards businesses that have similar practices on a larger scale.
In some sectors, this is already being used as a major selling point; some energy providers, for example, prioritise renewable, carbon-neutral sources of electricity, and they have not only become more popular but they have also managed to break energy supply monopolies in some countries.
Customers Know That Businesses Make A Disproportionate Impact
The concept of a carbon footprint has been well-established for decades, but what has changed is that customers and clients are aware that larger businesses and supplies have a disproportionate environmental impact, both good and ill.
Whilst small businesses, clients and customers will do their utmost to do the little bits that they can as individuals to help contribute to the environment, they are increasingly aware that the biggest changes they can make are to support greener businesses and eschew major polluters as much as possible.
