More and more businesses are rolling back sustainability initiatives and DEI requirements, but one expert says it still pays to be progressive.
The Net Zero Banking Alliance has shut down, Nestle has pulled out of the Dairy Methane Action Alliance and the Government recently loosened climate reporting requirements for companies.
Despite this, former Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer Michael Kobori says it's still good to make progressive choices to boost your business.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it seems that we live in an age where
businesses and countries are winding back the climate commitments a
bit after years of going full throttle. You've got the
Net Zero Banking Alliance shutting down neslayers quit, the Dairy
Methane Action Alliance, and closer to home, the government yesterday
water down climate related reporting requirements for listed companies. And
yet there's someone who was adamant that being woke is
(00:20):
actually good for business. Michael Kobori was the sustainability boss
at Starbucks and also worked at Levi's. Hi Michael, Hi, Heather,
How is being woke for actually good for business in
the face of everything we're seeing at the moment, Well.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Heather, I would say that it isn't so much about
being woke, it is about doing what is good for
your business. And I have worked on sustainability for large
global companies like Starbucks and Levi, Strauss and Company for
(00:55):
nearly thirty years, and we've always focused on those sustainability
issues that are material in a financial sense to our companies.
And I'm very proud to say that through that work,
we've helped our companies become more financially successful.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Give me an example, Well.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I would say that, for example, coffee at Starbucks, coffee
is an existential issue. Now, many of your listeners this
morning may be enjoying their cup of coffee. I will
tell you that coffee only grows in the tropics above
one thousand meters in the mountains. Okay, Now, because the
(01:39):
climate is warming the planet, because we have extreme heat
and droughts and rain and floods, because pests and disease
like coffee leaf rust are on the increase, coffee is
under threat. By the year twenty fifty, the amount of
(01:59):
lefe that we can grow coffee on will be reduced
fifty percent. Get that again, By twenty fifty, the amount
of land that we can use for coffee will be
cut in half. And so the company has extensive programs
that are working on developing new varieties of coffee that
(02:20):
can withstand climate change. We're teaching farmers more sustainable agricultural techniques,
and we as a company, and we're encouraging other companies
to reduce their carbon emissions because guess what, if we
can reduce that, we can help keep the temperature jet
down and actually help make sure that we can all
enjoy that cup of coffee in the.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Morning, right, And yet I mean Starbucks famously got busted
I think it was last year, right for this wanting
wanting to do all the right things by the climate,
and yet the CEO gets permission and a private jet
to be able to fly from his home and I
think it was California to Washington or something, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, that was part of his compensation package. And I
have to tell you that that was something that has
a nearly it's in the it's in the one one
millionth of an impact on the company's carbon emissions, and
we were able to engage in other programs that completely
(03:22):
offset that.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, but doesn't that doesn't that under school though, that
if you are going to say that this is what
your business is about, and you're going to make it
part of your business story, you cannot deviate from that.
Because that was that created some terrible backlash with Starbucks.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Look, it was probably not the greatest news out there,
but it doesn't overshadow all of these substantive things that
the company has been doing and all introduced or carbon emissions.
We've literally invested millions of dollars in new renewable power
generation across the United States and in communities that sorely needed.
(04:02):
The last one was seventy three million dollars literally on
an Indigenous Indian reservation in near San Diego, California. So
the company's making significant investments for renewable power generations.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So, Michael, would you not would the company not be smarter?
Would the smart and rational thing not be actually, instead
of wasting my words, not yours, Instead of wasting money on,
you know, trying to cut a missions, encouraging others to
cut a missions, climate reporting, all that kind of stuff,
would the company not be better off putting all of
that money into doing the thing that you mentioned earlier,
(04:38):
which is trying to find coffee beans that will grow
in climate change, you know, in the new weather system.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Well, Heather, we're doing both right now. Of course, we're
trying to get coffee to the point where it can
survive climate change. But if we and others don't do
anything to re or carbon emissions, then we're not addressing
the source of the problem. Right The planet is heating up,
which is causing all of these problems for coffee and
(05:09):
reducing the emailal Land can put.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
This and that's it's that's that is. I mean, that's
a fair that's a fair argument. But if I was
a shareholder, I would say to you, listen, Starbucks is
going to have about no impact on climate change realistically,
stop wasting money on it. Put your money into adaptation.
Wouldn't wouldn't that be the rational thing for a shareholder
to demand.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Well, actually, our shareholders are demanding both, and so are
our customers, and so are the employees of Starbucks and
many other large companies. And so that is what the
company pays attention to. It's what any company is going
to pay attention to. What do your customers want, what
do your employees want, and what do your investors want?
And they want absolutely for us to address the issues
(05:54):
around the environment that are material to the company, and
for a company that is a food and average retailer
like Starbucks, it absolutely is carbon It's water because coffee
is ninety nine percent water, and it's waste. Every year
Starbucks has forty Starvicks has forty thousand stores around the world,
(06:15):
and every year it uses literally billions of single use cups,
and so addressing that waste is one of the big
issues that we were focused on at Starbucks, and certainly
the industry is focused on because there are customers and
our employees want to see us address issues like that.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
All right, Michael, it is good to talk to you.
Thank you for your perspective. That's Michael Kobori, the former
Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer, also at Levi's.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
Now it seems that we live in an age where
businesses and countries are winding back the climate commitments a
bit after years of going full throttle. You've got the
Net Zero Banking Alliance shutting down neslayers quit, the Dairy
Methane Action Alliance, and closer to home, the government yesterday
water down climate related reporting requirements for listed companies. And
yet there's someone who was adamant that being woke is
(00:20):
actually good for business. Michael Kobori was the sustainability boss
at Starbucks and also worked at Levi's. Hi Michael, Hi, Heather,
How is being woke for actually good for business in
the face of everything we're seeing at the moment, Well.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
Heather, I would say that it isn't so much about
being woke, it is about doing what is good for
your business. And I have worked on sustainability for large
global companies like Starbucks and Levi, Strauss and Company for
(00:55):
nearly thirty years, and we've always focused on those sustainability
issues that are material in a financial sense to our companies.
And I'm very proud to say that through that work,
we've helped our companies become more financially successful.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
Give me an example, Well.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I would say that, for example, coffee at Starbucks, coffee
is an existential issue. Now, many of your listeners this
morning may be enjoying their cup of coffee. I will
tell you that coffee only grows in the tropics above
one thousand meters in the mountains. Okay, Now, because the
(01:39):
climate is warming the planet, because we have extreme heat
and droughts and rain and floods, because pests and disease
like coffee leaf rust are on the increase, coffee is
under threat. By the year twenty fifty, the amount of
(01:59):
lefe that we can grow coffee on will be reduced
fifty percent. Get that again, By twenty fifty, the amount
of land that we can use for coffee will be
cut in half. And so the company has extensive programs
that are working on developing new varieties of coffee that
(02:20):
can withstand climate change. We're teaching farmers more sustainable agricultural techniques,
and we as a company, and we're encouraging other companies
to reduce their carbon emissions because guess what, if we
can reduce that, we can help keep the temperature jet
down and actually help make sure that we can all
enjoy that cup of coffee in the.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Morning, right, And yet I mean Starbucks famously got busted
I think it was last year, right for this wanting
wanting to do all the right things by the climate,
and yet the CEO gets permission and a private jet
to be able to fly from his home and I
think it was California to Washington or something, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Well, that was part of his compensation package. And I
have to tell you that that was something that has
a nearly it's in the it's in the one one
millionth of an impact on the company's carbon emissions, and
we were able to engage in other programs that completely
(03:22):
offset that.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Yeah, but doesn't that doesn't that under school though, that
if you are going to say that this is what
your business is about, and you're going to make it
part of your business story, you cannot deviate from that.
Because that was that created some terrible backlash with Starbucks.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Look, it was probably not the greatest news out there,
but it doesn't overshadow all of these substantive things that
the company has been doing and all introduced or carbon emissions.
We've literally invested millions of dollars in new renewable power
generation across the United States and in communities that sorely needed.
(04:02):
The last one was seventy three million dollars literally on
an Indigenous Indian reservation in near San Diego, California. So
the company's making significant investments for renewable power generations.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
So, Michael, would you not would the company not be smarter?
Would the smart and rational thing not be actually, instead
of wasting my words, not yours, Instead of wasting money on,
you know, trying to cut a missions, encouraging others to
cut a missions, climate reporting, all that kind of stuff,
would the company not be better off putting all of
that money into doing the thing that you mentioned earlier,
(04:38):
which is trying to find coffee beans that will grow
in climate change, you know, in the new weather system.
Speaker 2 (04:48):
Well, Heather, we're doing both right now. Of course, we're
trying to get coffee to the point where it can
survive climate change. But if we and others don't do
anything to re or carbon emissions, then we're not addressing
the source of the problem. Right The planet is heating up,
which is causing all of these problems for coffee and
(05:09):
reducing the emailal Land can put.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
This and that's it's that's that is. I mean, that's
a fair that's a fair argument. But if I was
a shareholder, I would say to you, listen, Starbucks is
going to have about no impact on climate change realistically,
stop wasting money on it. Put your money into adaptation.
Wouldn't wouldn't that be the rational thing for a shareholder
to demand.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
Well, actually, our shareholders are demanding both, and so are
our customers, and so are the employees of Starbucks and
many other large companies. And so that is what the
company pays attention to. It's what any company is going
to pay attention to. What do your customers want, what
do your employees want, and what do your investors want?
And they want absolutely for us to address the issues
(05:54):
around the environment that are material to the company, and
for a company that is a food and average retailer
like Starbucks, it absolutely is carbon It's water because coffee
is ninety nine percent water, and it's waste. Every year
Starbucks has forty Starvicks has forty thousand stores around the world,
(06:15):
and every year it uses literally billions of single use cups,
and so addressing that waste is one of the big
issues that we were focused on at Starbucks, and certainly
the industry is focused on because there are customers and
our employees want to see us address issues like that.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
All right, Michael, it is good to talk to you.
Thank you for your perspective. That's Michael Kobori, the former
Starbucks Chief Sustainability Officer, also at Levi's.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
For more from Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio
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