The Sustainability Journey - Environmental Defense Fund Supply Chain Solutions Center

The Sustainability Journey

Corporate sustainability leadership: the journey

Successful business leaders understand that a thriving economy depends on a thriving environment, and vice versa. Your customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders and potential investors are well aware that the myth of an “either/or” tradeoff between sustainability and profitability no longer exists. Now, more than ever, the world is your business.

Yet, while the need for corporate sustainability has long been proven, following a clear pathway to leadership — where your company’s business and sustainability goals are in alignment — can be challenging.

The Supply Chain Solutions Center roadmap to leadership can help you navigate that path.

Continue Reading

gradient

Explore The Sustainability Journey

Sustainability 101

Sustainability needs to be weaved into your business, not bolted down. These resources will help you learn how to start the sustainability journey for your company.

View All Sustainability 101 Resources

Level 1: Engage

The genesis of your company’s commitment to corporate sustainability, this stage is about getting informed on the issues, understanding the landscape (both internally and externally), assessing your areas of opportunity and influence, and discovering where you need help (and how you can get it).

View All Level 1: Engage Resources

Level 2: Execute

This stage is about advancing and innovating across your company’s landscape — from your own operations to your suppliers'. It’s a multi-faceted process that ranges from building sustainability plans and proving the business case to implementing, measuring, reporting, scaling and beginning to take a public stand on issues and policies.

View All Level 2: Execute Resources

Level 3: Lead

Leading on corporate sustainability means bringing your company’s business and environmental goals into seamless, transparent alignment. You’re accelerating environmental innovation, actively advocating for smart environmental policies, and advancing sustainable business practices to alter the landscape across entire industries and business sectors.

View All Level 3: Lead Resources
The Sustainability Journey Events

No upcoming events found.

See All Events
Expert Organizations
The Sustainability Journey Resources

Filter Results

  • Sustainability 101
    • Intro and overview 101
      • Overview: Agriculture 101
        • Introduction
        • Get Informed
        • Understand the Landscape
      • Overview: Forests 101
        • Introduction
        • Get Informed
        • Understand the Landscape
      • Overview: Chemicals 101
        • Introduction
        • Get Informed
        • Identify Key Stakeholders
      • Overview: Energy 101
        • Introduction
        • Get Informed
        • Understand the Landscape
      • Overview: Freight 101
        • Introduction
        • Get Informed
        • Understand the Landscape
      • Overview: Waste 101
        • Food Waste 101
          • Introduction
          • Get Informed
          • Understand the Landscape
        • Packaging Waste 101
          • Introduction
          • Get Informed
          • Understand the Landscape
    • Build a Sustainability Plan 101
      • Introduction
      • Assess Impact & Opportunity
        • Impact: Agriculture
        • Impact: Forests
        • Impact: Chemicals
        • Impact: Energy
        • Impact: Freight
        • Impact: Waste
      • Identify Stakeholders
        • Stakeholders: Agriculture
        • Stakeholders: Forests
        • Stakeholders: Chemicals
        • Stakeholders: Energy
        • Stakeholders: Freight
        • Stakeholders: Waste
      • Set Goals
        • Goals: Agriculture
        • Goals: Forests
        • Goals: Chemicals
        • Goals: Energy
        • Goals: Freight
        • Goals: Waste
      • Establish Objectives & Metrics
        • Objectives: Agriculture
        • Objectives: Forests
        • Objectives: Chemicals
        • Objectives: Energy
        • Objectives: Freight
        • Objectives: Waste
      • Identify Pilot Projects
        • Pilot Projects: Agriculture
        • Pilot Projects: Forests
        • Pilot Projects: Chemicals
        • Pilot Projects: Energy
        • Pilot Projects: Freight
        • Pilot Projects: Waste
      • Make Business Case
        • Business Case: Agriculture
        • Business Case: Forests
        • Business Case: Chemicals
        • Business Case: Energy
        • Business Case: Freight
        • Business Case: Waste
      • Pitch & Launch Plan
        • Pitch & Launch: Agriculture
        • Pitch & Launch: Forests
        • Pitch & Launch: Chemicals
        • Pitch & Launch: Energy
        • Pitch & Launch: Freight
        • Pitch & Launch: Waste
    • Build a Business Plan 101
      • Business/environmental alignment
      • Drivers of change
      • Stakeholder motivation
      • Activate stakeholders
      • Identify data
  • Level 1: Engage
    • Engage: Agriculture
    • Engage: Forests
    • Engage: Chemicals
    • Engage: Energy
    • Engage: Freight
    • Engage: Waste
  • Level 2: Execute
  • Level 3: Lead
    • Advocate
      • Green Freight
      • Safer Chemicals
      • Sustainable Agriculture
      • Sustainable Energy
      • Thriving Forests
      • Zero Waste
    • Collaborate
      • Green Freight
      • Safer Chemicals
      • Sustainable Agriculture
      • Sustainable Energy
      • Thriving Forests
      • Zero Waste
    • Commit
      • Green Freight
      • Safer Chemicals
      • Sustainable Agriculture
      • Sustainable Energy
      • Thriving Forests
      • Zero Waste
    • Innovate
      • Green Freight
      • Safer Chemicals
      • Sustainable Agriculture
      • Sustainable Energy
      • Thriving Forests
      • Zero Waste

Filter by:

  • Content Type
    • Article
    • Blog
    • Case Study
    • Database
    • Guide
    • Handbook
    • Infographic
    • Initiative
    • Podcast
    • Presentation
    • Report
    • Tool
    • Video
    • Webinar
    • Worksheet
  • Expert Organizations
    • BSR
    • CDP
    • Climate Collaborative
    • Conservation International (CI)
    • Department of Energy (DOE)
    • Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)
    • Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
    • Field to Market
    • Further With Food
    • GreenBiz
    • Project Gigaton
    • ReFED
    • Shelton Group
    • Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC)
    • Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council (SPLC)
    • The Sustainability Consortium (TSC)
    • Walmart
  • Additional Tags
    • Apparel
    • Beef
    • Best Practices
    • Build a sustainability plan 101
    • Carbon
    • Category managers
    • chemicals
    • chemicals packaging
    • chicken
    • Circular Economy
    • Cleaning
    • Communication
    • Consumables
    • Consumer Use
    • contaminants
    • Corn
    • Corporate Sustainability
    • Cosmetics
    • Design
    • Distribution
    • Electronics Hardware
    • End-of-Life
    • Engage
    • Execute
    • Farming
    • Food
    • Food contaminants
    • food packaging
    • Food Systems
    • Formulations
    • Freight
    • Furniture
    • Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    • Grocery
    • Health
    • Home Products
    • Home Textiles
    • In-Field
    • Ingredients
    • Innovation
    • Investors
    • Lead
    • Logistics
    • Management
    • Manufacturing
    • Packaging
    • Pharmacy
    • Photo
    • Plastics
    • Podcast
    • Poultry
    • Procurement
    • Produce
    • Protein
    • Purchasing
    • Re-Use
    • Recovery
    • Recycle
    • Recycling
    • Regenerative Agriculture
    • Retail
    • Retail Supplier Agriculture Basics
    • Retail Supplier Agriculture Next-Level
    • Retail Supplier Agriculture Organizations
    • Retail Supplier Energy
    • Retail Supplier Energy Basics
    • Retail Supplier Energy Efficiency
    • Retail Supplier Energy Renewables
    • Retail Supplier Energy Transport
    • Retail Supplier Forests Commodities
    • Retail Supplier Forests Get Informed
    • Retail Supplier Forests Partners
    • Retail Supplier Packaging
    • Retail Supplier Packaging Entry-level
    • Retail Supplier Packaging Next-Level
    • Retail Supplier Product Design and Use - Low-GWP Refrigerants
    • Retail Supplier Product Design and Use - Material Innovation
    • Retail Supplier Product Use
    • Retail Supplier Targets Advanced
    • Retail Supplier Targets Basics
    • Retail Supplier Targets Organizations
    • Retail Supplier Waste
    • Row Crops
    • Safer Alternatives
    • Safer Food Pillars of Leadership
    • safer packaging
    • Safer Products Pillars of Leadership
    • Soil Health
    • Sourcing
    • Specialty Crops
    • Staff Picks
    • Testing for contaminants
    • Testing for heavy metals
    • Testing for ortho-phthalates
    • Testing for perchlorate
    • Testing for PFAS
    • Use
    • Waste
    • Water
Main Library

The Sustainability Journey Resources

Filter by our "Sustainability 101" categories for a concise, high-level overview of Agriculture, Forests, Chemicals, Energy, Freight or Waste. You can also view all of the Engage (Level 1), Execute (Level 2) and Lead (Level 3) resources by filtering for interest areas that are relevant to your company.

Filter Library

Title

Date

Type

Report: Accelerating zero-emissions delivery

A Zero-Emissions Delivery Zone (ZED Zone) can accelerate commercial vehicle electrification and enable companies to hit their clean shipping goals.

02/18/2021

Report

Ag retail helps farmers conserve profitably

“Success first.” How one ag retailer is helping farmers adopt conservation practices, profitably.

02/01/2021

Report

Pathways to net-zero: A guide for business

A new report from EDF+Business, with analytical and research support from Deloitte Consulting, LLP, provides specific recommendations for the transportation and agriculture sectors, and for the retail and technology industries. It also includes a roadmap with detailed action items that companies, industries and sub-sectors can take today relative to their own operations, investments, coordination and advocacy to drive meaningful change, fast.

01/25/2021

Report

Danone on the business case for sustainability

A conversation between Danone North America and EDF about why sustainability has been a key component of Danone's growth, and how it led them to advocate for policy change on Capitol Hill.

06/18/2020

Webinar

Webinar: setting science-based targets

Kealy Herman, WSP, discusses how to ensure that your corporate targets are aligned with current climate science and how to determine which approach is right for your organization.

10/31/2019

Webinar

What's next for forests (2020 and beyond)?

Hundreds of companies, organization and initiatives have set or defined targets to reduce deforestation by 2020. What can we learn from our efforts over the last decade that can help us achieve more impactful results sooner?

10/29/2019

Webinar

Supply chain leadership ladder 2.0

The Supply Chain Leadership Ladder is a maturity model that BSR has developed for companies to evaluate and evolve their approach to supply chain sustainability.

10/08/2019

Report

Webinar: quantifying scope 3 emissions

Theresa Eberhardt, EDF, discusses how to transition from goal-setting to implementation when quantifying your scope 3 emissions.

09/30/2019

Webinar

Webinar: how business is taking on climate change

AT&T and the DOE's Argonne National Laboratory discuss the Climate Change Analysis Tool, which enables AT&T to visualize the impacts of climate change on business operations 30 years into the future.

09/30/2019

Webinar

Supply Change deforestation resources

Supply Change offers an extensive resource library on deforestation that companies can use to understand the issue and make progress.

09/16/2019

Database

Safer chemistry for personal care products

Consumers have become increasingly concerned about how chemicals in their home and personal care products might affect their health and companies are responding. Here's why you should set safer personal care product goals.

08/22/2019

Guide

Safer food through safer food additives

Consumers are increasingly concerned about what is in their food and are demanding safer products—all at a fair price. Here's why you should set safer food goals.

08/22/2019

Guide

Load More

Learn how to use the site

Watch Tutorial

Thanks for subscribing to our newsletter!

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras fermentum ultrices varius. Vivamus cursus turpis sed finibus ultricies. Nullam id mauris accumsan tellus facilisis eleifend. Vivamus sed lorem sit amet nisi gravida maximus. Suspendisse consequat auctor lacus et laoreet. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Praesent ultricies elit sagittis felis lobortis, nec aliquam arcu gravida.