Sustainable Brands 2016

Sustainability is not just a matter of people, associations or NGOs. Brands and companies have much to say in an area that is becoming more important in the business world and where sustainability is key to ensuring the sustainable development of the planet over the coming years.

In order to "inspire, engage and equip today's business and brand leaders to prosper for the near and long term by leading the way to a sustainably abundant future", the global community Sustainable Brands was born in 2006, which currently includes more than 348,000 leading companies worldwide.

This corporate sustainability global forum celebrates many meetings each year in many cities worldwide. The aim is to bring new ideas and strategies of the most important global companies in the field of sustainability to business leaders, media and people interested in sustainable development.

This year, Sustainable Brandes will be present in Istanbul, San Diego, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Buenos Aires, Copenhagen, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Boston. However, the start has taken place in Barcelona on 22, 23 and 24 May, and we collect some of the most important topics discussed during the conference.

"How Now?" or how to apply now sustainability

Under the slogan "How Now?" which refers to how to apply sustainability at this moment, the event of Barcelona brought together more than 40 international experts and 350 attendees from 30 different nationalities. With the participation of companies such as ACCIONA, IBM, Coca-Cola, Philips and Adidas, among others, experts shared their vision on corporate sustainability, marketing, communication and corporate social responsibility.

In the opening ceremony, the CEO and founder of Sustainable Brands, Koann Vikoren said that "companies are not the problem but the solution and global brands contemplate on the problems a solution to their business and their impact on society".

To close the presentation, Vikoren explained her seven keys to implement sustainability in both the business world and in the social sphere: "redefine the concept of sustainability, redesign products and services, redesign business models, engage employees, boost knowledge and commitment, facilitate behavioral changes and improve the supply chain." These seven keys, according to the CEO of Sustainable Brands, are complemented by "collaboration".

Circular economy focuses the discussions

On the other hand, in this first event of 2016, the circular economy has been one of the main topics. The Netherlands, a leader in the implementation of this system, was the state invited to participate in the conference, and several business Dutch representatives expressed the importance of sustainability in the daily life of companies, such as Philips, whose director of sustainability and circular economy, Markus Laubscher, explained how they have adapted their production to the circular economy to generate less pollutants and take advantage of the raw material in an optimal manner.

The next meeting starts this Thursday, May 26, in Istanbul, one of the metropolitan economies with faster growth.

Sources: Sustainable Brands 2016, El Mundo, ABC and Corresponsables.