The trend of Environmental Stewardship refers to major behavioral changes at collective and individual levels across industries, governments, and societies to minimize environmental degradation and maximize protection. Conscious individual choices and changed daily habits, paired with environmental targets and certified programs, demonstrate the shift towards sustainable living choices and methods of working.
After almost a century, the momentum of environmental stewardship has reached a tipping point. Public and private attitudes are shifting against further climate change, habitat destruction, and biodiversity loss. Individuals as consumers and investors expect sustainable options for products and services (‘conscious consumerism’), and individuals as workers want employers to demonstrate environmental stewardship. Together, this has pressured businesses and governments to reduce emissions and waste. At the center of this, connecting and contributing these areas of activity, are supply chains which produce about 60% of the world’s total carbon emissions and generate about 50% of the world’s plastic waste.
Given this central position in the Environmental Stewardship trend, the logistics industry is under pressure to reform operations and transform processes to meet new levels of expectation. But as many logistics providers are only just beginning to embrace environmental stewardship, this trend is likely to impact in a few years’ time and occur in progressive stages, not all at once, slightly buffering the industry from dramatic changes by this trend.
