While sustainability is becoming a priority for businesses operating right across the economy, it’s especially important for agribusiness and resources firms, given their potential impacts on the environment and the fragility of the Australian landscape. But it also delivers business benefits.
Increasingly, technology and ‘smart farming’ is being used to drive more sustainable outcomes among agribusinesses. An example is the way they manage their soil, one of their most valuable resources. Businesses are starting to use tools like the iPad app SoilMapp, a joint project by the Australian Collaborative Land Evaluation Program and the Grains Research and Development Corporation, to achieve more sustainable outcomes.
Proper management of our soils is critical to ensure sustainable food production, biodiversity, water quality and human health. The SoilMapp app enables farm businesses to tap into Australia's national soil database, to give them information about how their soil holds water, clay content, acidity and other factors that help them manage their land in a sustainable way.
Mining is another sector where adopting more sustainable practices can deliver not just great outcomes for the community, but also a competitive advantage. It's a sector in which leasing mid-market businesses are leveraging sustainable mine management practices to give them an edge.
A University of NSW initiative being led by researcher Dr Simit Raval is an example. Dr Raval has pioneered a technique known as ecosystem fingerprinting, which uses smart techniques and sensors to monitor the impacts of mining on the environment. Special sensors are placed on drones, which are flown over underground mine sites that have wetlands above them to monitor the health of the flora and fauna in the region.
This helps mines meet community expectations about how they manage the environments in which they operate, so they continue to enjoy a social license to operate, which in turn helps meet regulatory requirements about how resources businesses manage their land.
Taking responsibility for sustainability
It's not enough to just embrace sustainable practices. Mid-market businesses also have an important role to play in driving corporate social responsibility across the economy by engaging with other businesses that take a similar approach. HSBC’s Navigator research support this. It shows 20 per cent of high-growth firms are changing their supply chains so they are more sustainable.
Sustainability is now a mainstream business practice. It helps firms achieve better commercial outcomes, and at the same time supports the ongoing health of the environmental and social systems in which they operate.
This is a win not just for business, but for society as a whole — an important insight that high-growth businesses are using to position their operations for the future.
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