Industry Associations as Sustainability Leaders

Companies such as Unilever, Patagonia, IKEA, Danone, and Microsoft are consistently recognized and celebrated as sustainability leaders. They issue bold sustainability commitments, deliberately integrate sustainability into their business, and transparently report their performance. 

Most companies are different. Unlike the mentioned few, most companies that recognize the business case for sustainability, need sustainability support. This is especially true for small and medium-sized companies, because they do not have the resources to understand and navigate sustainability risks and opportunities. 

This is where industry associations should step in as sustainability leaders. According to the United Nations-led UN Global Compact, industry associations are integral to advancing corporate sustainability. In fact, without collaboration, many corporate sustainability goals are not even achievable.

Industry associations are uniquely positioned to support and advance corporate sustainability. They have the clout and reach to provide resources, share best practices, and influence whole industries to collaborate and move forward together. 

Take a closer look below at the key benefits of association leadership on sustainability:

Associations understand and address issues that matter most to members.

Industry associations possess broad industry intelligence that can include sustainability. Consider restaurant sustainability and the National Restaurant Association, for example. The Restaurant Association serves as a resource hub for restaurants of all types, sizes, and locations. It provides guidance documents, training tools, and webinars to help restaurant operators address environmental issues such as food waste, while also reducing costs. 

Industry associations extend their reach and impact by collaborating with other associations on mutual sustainability priorities, such as the Restaurant Association’s collaboration on food waste with Consumer Brands Association and FMI – The Food Industry Association, engaging with additional stakeholders in the food industry. 

In addition, industry associations often have state and regional arms that extend their reach and relevance on sustainability issues. For example, state restaurant associations share local resources and represent the business voice during rulemaking on composting, recycling, etc. They advocate for requirements that consider business feasibility, and they help to ensure businesses are prepared to comply with requirements.

Associations drive change by identifying shared priorities and metrics.

Industry associations have broad convening power, enabling them to bring together large groups of stakeholders, acknowledge diverse and sometimes conflicting stakeholder interests, and facilitate agreement on industry-wide sustainability goals, areas of focus, and standards. 

Facilitating the development of industry-level sustainability priorities – with extensive industry participation and buy-in – is the first step to improve sustainability performance. A good example is the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, which encourages dairy businesses to adopt the U.S. Dairy Stewardship Commitment and use the Materiality Guide for U.S. Dairy. The industry-level commitments provide businesses with a strong foundation for assessing their individual priorities and developing individual strategies.

The beef industry also benefits from industry-wide sustainability commitments that support performance improvement. The U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB), a multi-stakeholder initiative developed to advance, support and communicate continuous sustainability improvement in the U.S. beef value chain, adopted the U.S. Beef Industry Sustainability Framework, together with six high-priority industry goals, and sector-level targets. Sector targets serve as the performance roadmap for beef businesses across the value chain – the “how” for tracking and benchmarking performance. The accompanying USRSB self-assessment tool helps businesses assess their performance and find opportunities for improvement.

Associations celebrate and inspire continuous performance improvement.

Associations inspire sustainability performance improvement by raising awareness on industry performance and sharing best practices. They gather performance data and insights from members and use social media, member newsletters, and member meetings to promote successes and lessons learned. In doing so, they uplift all members – recognizing businesses that are actively advancing sustainability, without criticizing those that are doing less. 

Going a step further, associations reach additional stakeholder audiences (including customers and consumers), when they publish reports on their industry’s sustainability performance. Association reporting does not require exemplary industry performance or perfect data. Stakeholders expect transparency, not perfection: They know that every industry includes businesses with diverse interests and capabilities, including businesses getting started on their sustainability journeys and businesses driving towards bold goals. Industry reporting is challenging but offers an opportunity to celebrate an industry’s sustainability efforts, acknowledge challenges, and look forward to future progress. 

Business will always be a source of sustainability innovation. And, business can do even more when industry associations catalyze and support their efforts. Check if your industry association offers sustainability resources and guidance. If not, talk with them about the benefits of stepping up as a sustainability leader. Move from ambition to action to impact with the help of industry associations!

Updated and adapted from articles previously written by Nancy Himmelfarb and published by American Society of Association Executives, for its members.