In short
Whether climate/sustainability actions are disadvantageous for businesses, arguing they often save money and function as investments rather than costs.
Guests
No specific guest names or backgrounds are provided in the transcript.
Key claims
Reducing emissions can pay back quickly; lighting retrofits in city buildings have fast payback. Renewable energy is now often cheaper than before. Some emission cuts require long-term investment (R&D, supply-chain changes, product redesign), but that’s investment, not an extra “cost,” and supports a thriving low-carbon society.
Notable examples
Building lighting retrofits; switching to renewable energy; changing supply chains and consumer/customer product use to reduce footprints.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VORethinking Sustainability Costs
0:04 to 0:27
Explore the misconception that sustainability is always costly.
“It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks.”
Rethinking Sustainability Costs
0:59 to 2:37
Explore the misconception that sustainability is always costly.
“And I think it's an overly simplified question.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:01This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50-page restoration block, or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it. Ready to make anything online make sense? There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required, compatibility and availability varies 18+. Listen to the heartbeat. Chevy is called the heartbeat of America for a reason. With SUVs made to move with your rhythm.
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0:53Andrew Winston:Together let's drive.
0:58Andrew Winston:So there's always this assumption in sustainability and climate action that it will be more expensive. And I think it's an overly simplified question. Some things you do to reduce emissions save money very quickly. A lighting retrofit in a building in cities, that's happening all over the place now. It pays back very, very fast. Going to renewable energy now is actually cheaper. It didn't used to be. So people ask, well, how can we go green or how can we cut emissions because it will cost more? It doesn't, first of all. I mean, a lot of the pathways don't. There might be choices we make for long-term investment to change the way our supply chain works or the way we make something in a fundamental way, or how it works for consumers and customers to reduce their footprint.
1:41Andrew Winston:And that might take R &D. That might take innovation. But that's investment, not cost. We always get caught in this strange semantics about if it's for sustainability, it's a cost. But everything in business is a cost. It's an investment. You invest in marketing, R &D, people. This is an investment, and it's a smart one now to build a thriving society that's low carbon.
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From the publisher
What if helping the environment isn’t profitable for my business?
24 Jan 2020
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Andrew Winston answers tough business questions about the climate crisis.
See all eight questions on our playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzAU8TPKsJuYj9HwKPXjbgBPWqUFRtDIZ
Big shifts need to happen in business so the world can avoid the most catastrophic effects of climate change. But it can be difficult to know what your role is in this process–and you may even wonder whether you can make a difference at all.
Does what you do as an entry-level employee or a small business owner really matter? Can we get where the science tells us we need to be within capitalism? And is it worth being optimistic when the planet seems doomed?
Andrew Winston, the author of the Big Idea article “Leading a New Era of Climate Action,” https://hbr.org/cover-story/2020/01/leading-a-new-era-of-climate-action, can help. HBR approached him with some questions and concerns people may have about climate action –and some questions we had ourselves.
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