This document outlines 14 sustainability trends for 2014, including more extreme weather events highlighting the impacts of climate change, rising costs of storms and threats to global food and water security. It also discusses shifts to renewable energy and economies, pressures on supply chains, and the roles of governments, faith groups and younger generations in driving sustainability. The document concludes by describing several Wisconsin programs that provide resources and recognition for businesses pursuing sustainability.

1. Sustainability Trends for 2014
Thomas Eggert, Esq.
WI School of Business and
WI Sustainable Business Council

2. Sustainability is inevitable.

3. Here’s 14 trends to watch in
2014 that are driving global
sustainability:

4. Dramatic Weather Events
Make an Impression:
Heat waves, fires, storms, and
floods are on the rise across the
planet. Every time another
―natural‖ disaster strikes, it
makes people painfully aware
of the connection between our
impact on the environment, and
its impact on us.

5. Billion Dollar Storm Events
are on the Rise
A single billion-dollar storm event per
year in the 1980s,
two per year in the 1990s,
five per year in the oughts,
10 in 2011,
14 in 2012,
and now the Philippines super storm with
landfall winds 50% more intense than
Katrina's.

6. Nature Always Bats Last
Temperatures were above
normal for every month from
June 2011 to September 2012, a
16-month stretch that had not
occurred since the government
began keeping records in 1895.

7. Food Crises Threaten
Global Security:
Over a billion people go hungry every
day, and as the climate changes, food
security is being threatened worldwide.
Prices of food crops such as wheat and
maize are now close to those that
sparked riots in 25 countries in 2008.
Worldwide, food prices rose 1.4% in
September 2012, following an increase
of 6% in July.

8. Impending Water Wars:
We are mining groundwater, redirecting
rivers, and polluting the oceans with oil
spills, agricultural runoff and mountains
of plastic trash. Wells are running dry
and air pollution is increasing ocean
acidity, threatening the entire marine
food chain. Droughts and desertification
threaten crops on land. Leading business
organizations and military agencies now
recognize that water is as important as
oil – and today’s shortages will be
tomorrow’s wars.

9. Fossil Fuels are Running
Out:
The International Energy Agency
finally admitted in 2011 that we have
passed Peak Oil. They also recognize
that removing subsidies for fossil fuels
could improve the economy and
reduce emissions at the same time. In
February, 2013, China announced that
they will implement a carbon tax,
making the US the largest emitter with
no plan on how to limit CO2
emissions.

10. Massive Economic
Distortions in Fossil Fuels
The subsidies to the coal industry
exceed the market cap of the industry.
The subsidies to the oil industry are
three times greater than the profits of
the oil industry.
Taxpayers are looking hard at transfer
payments to an industry in trouble.

11. The Shift to a Renewable
Economy is Occurring
Faster Than Many
Expected
The cost of generating electricity from
solar energy is at grid parity right now,
and investment in renewables
exceeded investment in fossil and
nuclear energy combined for the last
two years.

12. The Impact on Companies
Companies are not only realizing
substantial cost savings from ecoefficiency – $450 million over 10 years
for Interface Flor, $395 million in two
years for Unilever— but also
substantial top line revenue gains from
sustainability focused product
innovation – half a billion or so for
Levis, $130 billion for General
Electric.

13. Rare Earth Metals are –
well, Rare:
Rare earth metals are those precious
elements that most green technology
needs (think iphone).
China mines 95% of the rare earth
metals and needs them all now.
The US is currently vulnerable to rare
earth shortages.

14. Rising Political Power of
“Developing Nations”:
Rising giants like BRIC (Brazil,
Russia, India, China) – along with
hundreds of smaller nations – argue
that they are entitled to develop as
they choose. International
discussion around sustainability is
focusing on reversing decades of
wealth transfer from southern to
northern economies.

15. Rising Power of Women
Women are more likely to seek
higher educational opportunities, to
save money for their children’s
future, and are the fastest-growing
group of entrepreneurs. These
trends are global, extending from
urban centers in the United States
to villages in emerging economies.
The face of sustainability is largely
female.

16. The Obama White House is
Committed to Being a
“Player”:
In the 2011 State of the Union
address, President Obama talked
about generating 80% of electricity
from domestic sources by 2035,
providing high-speed train service to
80 percent of Americans by 2035,
and putting one million electric cars
on the road by 2015. In the 2013
State of the Union, he talked about
climate change.

17. Employees emerge as a
key stakeholder group
Corporate sustainability is less about
the size of the staff and more about
how people across the company are
embedding sustainability throughout
their work. A trend has begun to make
sustainability a part of performance
evaluations in an attempt to drive
sustainability into an organization.

18. Faith Traditions Support
Stewardship:
Faith traditions of all denominations are
increasingly supporting a message of
creation care and stewardship. A whole
host of Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and
Evangelical organizations agree that
unsustainable behavior will hit the
world’s poor the hardest, and that we
have a moral duty to respond. As the
human cost of environmental damage
grows, international outcry from religious
organizations will continue to drive
political change.

19. Younger Generations
Demand Action:
The number of millennials is greater than
the Baby Boomers
They are motivated by things other than
money.
Organizations like 350.org are tapping
this power to create an international
movement directly targeting political
leaders. Their numbers are sure to grow
as the impacts of unsustainable behavior
hit home.

20. Change Trickles Up, Not
Down:
Politicians are much better followers than
leaders. The real action on sustainability is
happening in cities, companies, and
communities around the world. Mayors from
over 135 major cities from Paris to Buenos
Aires signed an accord to report and reduce
their emissions. And California – the world’s
8th largest economy –implemented the
nation’s largest cap-and-trade plan. National
and international markets, commitments,
and investments are only a matter of time.

21. Supply Chain Pressure
Continues to Increase
WalMart will eliminate 20 million
metric tons of CO2 – from its supply
chain.
MillerCoors saves more water by
working with barley growers than
they can by changing the brewing
process.
P&G develops a supplier scorecard.

22. Entire Industries are Being
Turned on Their Heads
AirB&B put as many beds under
management in seven years as the
leading hotel chains did in 70 years.
ZipCar claims a 10x improvement in
capital efficiency – and challenges
the notion of auto ownership.

23. The Challenge to Live
More Sustainability
Represents
–An economic opportunity to invest
in technologies of the future.
–A political opportunity to form new
international commitments that will
strengthen all nations.
-A moral opportunity to help those
in need and improve our current
systems.

24. Tools for Businesses
Interested in Sustainability
The WI DNR’s Green Tier program
is a recognition/support program for
companies interested in superior
environmental performance.
The WI Sustainable Business
Council’s Green Masters program is
a reward/recognition program for
companies starting down the road
toward sustainability.

25. Tools for Businesses
Interested in Sustainability
–The Profitable Sustainability
Initiative is a technical assistance
program for companies interested in
sustainability.
- Cool Choices is an employee
engagement program for institutions
interested in engaging their
workforce in sustainability.

26. THE WI DNR’s Green Tier
Program
Green Tier encourages companies to
think creatively about ways they can
improve environmental performance
while increasing productivity, lowering
costs, and growing as a business. The
program seeks to recognize, support and
reward ―leadership‖ companies by
providing a logo that can be used for
marketing purposes, providing a liaison
between the DNR and the business, and
identifying Green Tier companies on the
DNR website and in promotional
materials about the program.
http://greentier.wi.gov.

27. The Green Masters Program
The Green Masters program is an
objective, points based recognition
program that will allow businesses
of any size and from any sector to
understand what needs to be done
to justifiably claim that they are ―on
the road to sustainability.‖
http://www.greenmastersprogram.
com

28. Profitable Sustainability
Initiative
The Profitable Sustainability Initiative
provides Wisconsin’s small businesses
practical steps that help improve top-line
revenue and bottom-line efficiencies
through sustainable business
practices. Business leaders who
are ready to roll up their sleeves, move
beyond the theory and get their
companies started will receive support to
implement sustainability practices.
http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Sectors/PSI.html

29. Cool Choices
Cool Choices works with
businesses to implement innovative
and engaging game-based intiatives
that make environmental
sustainability fun, social and
easy…so that sustainability
becomes the new normal.They
combine information with strategies
that make change easier and more
appealing.
http://www.coolchoicesnetwork.org/

30. Business and the Future
Business, the motor of our society, has
the opportunity to be the new creative
force on the planet. The modern
corporation is as adaptable an
organizational form as has ever been
invented, so that in a time of fundamental
change it may be expected to be on the
cutting edge.‖
--Stanford’s Willis Harman

31. Conclusion
Businesses that understand and
position themselves for the future
will be winners.
There are many tools and programs
to help businesses get started on
their own journey toward
sustainability.