Can Brands Help Save the World?

“India is one of the most vulnerable countries globally in terms of the population that will be affected by sea-level rise,” said the IPCC. “By the middle of the century, around 35 million people in India could face annual coastal flooding, with 45-50 million at risk by the end of the century.”

The continent is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies and this, combined with an acute need to reverse global warming, makes it fertile soil for green tech.

Perhaps most fertile of all is India itself, where “a variety of government incentives strongly support green innovation, said Anant Kataria, CEO, Sagacious IP (India).

“This has aided similar activity in green tech space as well. Over the last few years, we’ve seen funding of about US $3 billion in about 40 green tech companies.

“Most of these companies are eager to expand their IP portfolio, and soon we will witness the next set of Indian unicorns emerge from the green tech space,” predicted Mr. Kataria.

Patrick Desmond, special counsel, SCG Chemicals Co., Ltd. (Thailand), works at a brand that is emblematic of the region’s growing emphasis on sustainability. One of the continent’s largest petrochemical companies, SCG Chemicals produces packaging in all shapes and sizes. It is proud of its efforts to reduce the environmental impact of its factories as well as its green tech innovations, such as bioplastics one might find in shopping bags.

As a company that relies on fossil fuels, SCG Chemicals believes it has a responsibility to lead the way on green initiatives—and it takes this seriously. The company monitors its sustainability performance and works extensively to instil a “circular economy” culture, based on the mantra “reduce, recycle, reuse.”

Mr. Desmond said brand owners can do a lot by carefully choosing, for instance, what packaging they use on their products.

“I think any casual observer could surmise that there is a tendency to overpackage,” he said. “Brand owners need to reconsider their packaging needs, balancing product performance and consumer wants with environmental concerns, such as sustainability (including energy and materials usage), carbon footprint, and post-consumer waste.”

And he questions why brand owners do not routinely review their environmental impact at the same level as they would for cost control.

Inspire and Influence

Iris Gunther, director, Brand Enforcement and Sustainability, INTA (US), said brands must leverage their influence. “Brands are a manifestation of value. People buy a brand because of what they represent and how that aligns with their own values,” she said, noting that consumers now expect brands to represent values other than style, function, and “coolness.”

Environmental performance, labor conditions, diversity, and equality positions are now also significant in people’s purchasing decisions.

“If a brand leads by example and represents the value of creating sustainable, equitable business practices while at the same time serving consumer needs, this will motivate consumers as well as competitors to follow with similar policies and commitments,” Ms. Gunther suggested.

Plus, there are good financial reasons to be climate champions. Adopting and committing to CSR and environmental, social, and (corporate) governance, (ESG) policies is good for the brand’s bottom-line.

“At INTA and within the BFaBS, we believe that raising awareness of these facts and encouraging brands to consider good policies for all the right reasons is within our mandate of protecting IP rights and consumers,” Ms. Gunther said.

How to ‘Be Fabulous’

The BFaBS Committee encourages INTA members to “be fabulous”—to explore, educate and encourage, and be the “best global citizens we can be,” said Ms. Heathcote.

By aligning itself with UN Sustainability Goals, which include taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, the BFaBS recognizes the social responsibility role of brand owners, leaders, and advisors.

The Committee is encouraging INTA members to engage with WIPO GREEN, a World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) initiative to connect green technology and service providers with those seeking innovative solutions. WIPO GREEN operates an online database and network that brings together a wide range of players in the green technology innovation value chain, matching those offering green technology solutions or products with those trying to solve a problem.

According to Anja von der Ropp, senior program coordinator, Climate Change and Food Security, Global Challenges Division, WIPO (Switzerland), “WIPO GREEN can establish relations that will help you to find linkages.”

In 2021, the database had 2,065 registered users and hosted more than 120,000 technologies, requests for assistance (tagged as “needs”), and experts who can help implement solutions.

Success Through Collaboration

WIPO GREEN, on an ad hoc basis, also picks an environmental challenge or theme and makes it the subject of an acceleration project. One project in Indonesia in 2021 looked at palm oil mill effluent, a wastewater produced during crude palm oil milling activities.

The project identified 19 needs and 24 potential solutions to that particular issue. Another project, this one in Latin America, during 2019 and 2020, studied solutions for “climate smart” agriculture. Around 200 stakeholders were contacted with 10 needs identified and 81 potential technological solutions.

Ms. von der Ropp said collaboration, which is at the heart of the project, is essential to meet the ambitious, but planet-saving, climate change targets.

“We can only further decarbonize if we collaborate, and it takes different partners to achieve that,” she said. “The core relationship in WIPO GREEN is those who look for technologies and those who offer them. But this network of diverse partners also brings in expertise in different regions and technologies; you might need not only the technology, but also a project developer or someone who knows about licensing or finance.”

Last year’s UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP) event, held in Glasgow (UK), resulted in commitments to phase down coal power, halt and reverse deforestation, speed up the switch to electric vehicles and reduce methane emissions. Most memorable perhaps was an impassioned speech by naturalist Sir David Attenborough.

Ms. von der Ropp said that even before the conference, since last summer, she had noticed a “considerable” increase in web traffic through WIPO GREEN, more registrations on the site, and more requests to speak at conferences.

“There is a sentiment that people have to move from lofty declarations to implementation. And that’s why our platform is of interest because it helps with the implementation of certain goals,” she said.

It is not just brands that can play a part in reducing climate change. Individuals must also be proponents of, and participants in, this challenge if the COP26 climate target of limiting the rise in global temperature to 1.5 Celsius is to be achieved.

But with such an enormous problem, how can one person make a difference? Just as with everything else in life, it all starts with small steps, said Ms. Gunther.

“We can all do our part within our own bubbles to lessen our impact. Small contributions such as offsetting your carbon when travelling, bringing your own reusable coffee cup, reducing your consumption of single-use plastics, and educating your peers about these choices can make a big difference when practised widely,” she said.

Ms. Gunther concluded: “What we need is a more conscious approach to our acts of daily consumption by everyone, rather than the token big showy activities by just a few.”