IKEA's sustainability

Sustainability used to be a "nice-to-do." Now it is a must-do.

Steve Howard: Let's go all-in on selling sustainability

Steve Howard begins his talk with three numbers:

3 - 3 billion people joining the middle class by the end of 2013. There are already 2 billion people in the middle class, so there will be 5 million people in the middle class at the start of 2014.

6 - 6 Degrees Centigrade. This is the number we are heading towards in terms of global warming. The dramatic changes in weather that we have been seeing have been due to only 1 Degree of Centigrade.

12 - The number of cities that had 1 million or more people in the beginning of the last century. Now, there are more than 500 cities with more than 1 million people in them.

What can business do? A business like IKEA?

The first few products in the market that were pushed as sustainable products were laundry detergents that left clothes more grey than when they entered the wash, lights that took five minutes to warm up and then left the people in the room looking "sickly," and really, really rough toilet paper. This was not a great start.

Howard discusses how it is easier for businesses to make policy changes 100% as opposed to 90% or 50% because it is more clear what needs to happen. He says that if you make a policy where something will be 90% more sustainable, people will find a reason to be in the 10%. IKEA is going 100% renewable, having installed 300,000 solar panels and have 14 wind farms in 6 countries. By 2020, they want to be producing more energy than they are consuming.

IKEA is also focusing efforts on preventing child labor throughout the supply chain. They have 80 auditors who do consistent check-ups on this and has partnered with UNICEF. In addition to this, IKEA is focusing on equality for women in the workplace.

Howard addresses sustainability more in depth than the two aforementioned social issues, but states that a business needs to be well-rounded in its focuses and be completely transparent with its transactions.

Businesses should always measure. If you don't measure, you don't care because you don't know.

His final words: "If we get [sustainability] right, we can make it affordable for the many, not a luxury for the few."