9

People, Planet and Profit

Profits vs. planet: can big business and the environment get along? Q
Sustainability con bring benelits to everybody - including company execs with their eyes on the bottom line.
year, Greenpeace released a virleo parody of a KitKat
commercial.
The clip opens with a bored office worker feeding papers
into a shredder. Then, the screen turns red with the text
"Have a break7" The worker opens a KitKat wrapper, but
instead of fingers of chocolate, he finds the fi nger of an
orangutan - complete with tufts of orange ha ir. Coworkers
watch in horror as he crunches into the finger and blood
1

dribbles on to his keyboard. The video urged viewers to

"give the orangutan a break" and "stop Nestlé buying pa lm
oil from companies that destroy rainforests".
arren Buffett said, "lt takes 20 years to build a
W reputation and five minutes to ruin it:' lt has been
more than two decades now since a 1996 issue of
Life magazine depicted a Pakistani boy sewing a Nike
soccer bali, reportedly for six cents per hour. After the story,
the company lost more than half its market capitalisation
in just one year - it took Nike six years of demonstrated
social responsibility to recuperate.
Environmental reputations can be just as hard to rebuild.
NGOs like Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund
believe in the potential fragility of the environ ment, and
they see the potential fragility of companies' brands as a
means of pressuring them to change.
•r, "When Greenpeace re aches for its toolbox, it tends to
fi nd only one tool, and that's a mallet:' sa id Scott Poynton,
founder of the Forest Trust, "and it tends to beat people
over the head with it:'
If you want evidence the mallet approach works, consider
'11 KitKat. ln 2010, Guinness World Records certified th at
KitKat was the world's most global brand, sold in more
countries than any other that year. But on 17 March that
Greenpeace used the power of social media to attack fast,
far, and wide. ln a matter of weeks, 1.5 million people had
watched the video. The attack surprised Nestlé. Although
the effects of the campaign on KitKat sales are not publicly
known, we canin fer they were significant - it took just eight
weeks for the company to agree to Greenpeace's demands.
Public shaming may drive change in some notable
instances, but success stories such as this are few and fa r
between Campaigns from environmental NGOs such as
Greenpeace are necessarily targeted, their effectiveness
limited to the company or brand under fi re.
The dual role of businesses' supply chains in creating both
economie growth (including jobs) and environmental
impact highlights a fallacy in the Greenpeace story of
"profits v planet': The environmentalists' narrative ignores
the role of businesses and their supply chains in both
employing people and delivering improved standards
of living to humanity, especially to the billions of people
who have yet to enjoy the plenty that modern industry
can provide.
After Walmart's 201 1 pledge to buy more sustainable
seafood, Greenpeace contended that Walmart was not
doing enough, whereas Alaskan fishermen and state
officiais complained that Walmart was asking too much
of them. The real confiict is not "profits v planet" but rather
"some people v other people". Our challenge is to prove
that sustainability benefits everybody, but especiall)
those CEOs whose company profits drive such decisior
ma king.
Adapted from Yossi Sheffi, The Guordion, September 7, 20' .

114 it Fair Trade and Sustainable Development

 Anticipate
Scan the document and identify its nature and
its source.
Use the title and the picture next to the text to
anticipate what this article is about.

Now read
From "Sustainability can bring..." to "social
respons ibility to recuperate." (line 8)
• Explain the Nike factory scandal.
• What impact did it have on the company?
From "Environmental reputations"... to "over
the head with it." (line 18)
• Comment on the role of Greenpeace.
From "If you want evidence of how...." to
"Greenpeace's demands". (line 39)
• How did Greenpeace use social media to
launch an attack on Nestlé?
• How successful was their brutal 'mallet
approach' strategy?
From "Public shaming" to the end of t he text.
• What is the role of businesses?
• According to the journalist, what is the third
element missing that defines a successful
sustainable company?

Your turn
Expressworks.com W ork in g roups.

You are to take part in the Big ldea Challenge.

Come up with a business plan that is
environmentally and/or socially responsible.
Structure these ideas into a convincing oral
presentation.

Grammar tools
# 1 Parler de son expérie nce p. 216
Global consumpt ion of paper has increased by half sinee 1980...
# 6 Ra pporter des propos p.224
The 2020 report from the Environmental Paper Network
highlights/argues/explains/underlines t hot...
# 8 Re lie r des idées par des liens logiques p.226
First, then, after int roducing ... next, finally/eventually
# 13 Comparer des objets, des personnes ou des situations p. 233
Cheaper thon ...
Less efficient thon...

115
 _.._CD_____________
~~Audio 42
China, moving to eut emissions, hennathan frlyq939s

halts production of 500 car models

China is suspending the production 40 dean car market. "This shows their emission
of more than 500 car m odels and mode! standards have teeth*:'
versions that do not meet its fuel economy The Chinese government has already
standards, severa! automakers confirmed become the world's biggest suppo rter of
5 Tuesday. lt is the latest move by Beijing electric cars, offering automakers numerous
to reduce emissions in the world's largest 45 incentives for producing so-called new
auto market and take the lead in battling energy vehides. Those incentives are set to
dimate change. The government-affiliated decrease by 2020, to be replaced by quotas
C hina Vehicle Technology Service for the number of dean cars automakers
10 Center said that the suspension, effective must sell. That bas encou raged global
Jan. l, would affect both domestic carmakers so automakers to accelerate in their shift
and foreign companies. toward battery-powered cars. By contrast,
Cui Dongshu, the secretary general of the the United States is considering relaxing
China Passenger Car Association, said that tailpipe* emissions standards and very
1s the ban would affect at most 1 percent of the nearly killed off a tax credit for electric
Chinese market. But the government's decision ss vehides during its latest tax overhaul.
to cite fuel economy in the deregistration The Chinese government had long held
of so many versions at the same time is back from aggressive emissions standards
nonetheless a signal of the government's to allow its own automakers to catch up
20 commitment to fuel economy. The country, with the latest dean car technology. But
which for years prioritised economie growth c,o that is changing, with th e government
over environmental protection and now setting increasingly stringent tailpipe rules.
produces more than a quarter of the world's The latest development "is a testimony to
human-caused greenhouse gases, has become how quickly their own automakers have
25 an unlikely defender of climate action after evolved;' Mr. Dunne said. "They're saying:
President Trump's rejection of the Paris 65 We are ready to play this game."
Climate Agreement. Global automakers will h ave no
Chinese leaders are under intense pressure choice but to meet the increasingly strict
to eut in dangerous air pollution, a hot-button government policies in China, said Michelle
Jo issue in China, where thick smog has at times Krebs, an analyst at the Auto Trader
forced schools and businesses to temporarily 10 Group. "The simple fact that China is the
shut clown. Late last month, China said it was biggest market means automakers will be
going ahead with plans to create the world's accommodating;' she said.
largest carbon market, giving Chinese power Adapted from The New York Times,
35 companies a financial incentive to operate January 2, 2018.
more cleanly. "They are sending a signal to
• to have teeth: expression idiomatique qui signifie
everybody that this is for real;' said Michael
avoir du pouvoir, de l'influence
Dunne, president of Dunne Automotive, a
• tailpipe: pot d'échappement
Hong Kong-based consultancy on China's

110
) 1 Find the lexical equivalents in the text:
To meet standards • fuel economy • latest
move • ban • deregistration • greenhouse
gas • a hot button issue • smog • incentive •

eac.
:r
f Ol..
,
r
tax overhaul • to hold back from • testimony •
accommodating.

f) Read the wtîole text

a. Comment on the title.
ne· b. What industry is concerned by China's c;,
~t t· decision? 1 1 z
ota
<er' 9 Check the facts ·
tba; a. Give the key ideas in each of the six
hi ft paragraphs in one or two sentences.
ast, b. Focus on the last paragraph and explain why
ing foreign automakers will have to adapt.
~r r
rie Drrainfo~
Go further:
~Id a. Why is it important for a country to eut out its
ds co2emissions?
lp b. ln what way has China's government's
ut attitude towards pollution radically changed?
nt c. Why did the US step out from the Paris
s. Agreement in 2017?

L'~Topic debrief
0
·e
,.
1• Use your answers above to write a short account
of the article (50 to 100 words).
)

~ Language ~
Adjectifs et noms composés -+ page 1701 Superlatif -+ page 202
Proposition infinitive -+ page 197 1 Préfixes et suffixes -+ page 189
Translate into French.
1. China produces over a quarter of human-caused greenhouse gases.
2. Those measures are taken to decrease and to be replaced by dean car quotas.
3. China plans to become the world's largest carbon market.
4. China has become an unlikely defender of the environ ment.

World challenges: sustainability and AI 111

 ~~Audio 43
How Artificial Intelligence helps sustainability hennathan.fr/mh9x85

-10 algorithms. At the warehouse leve!, AI

A study conducted in May 2020 in France
showed that a brand's positive contribution solutions have helped Amazon reduce
packaging requirements by 33%, saving more
to social issues is the main criterion of brand
than 915,000 tons of packaging materials,
loyalty for 57% of people in France.
which is equivalent to the elimination
Although awareness is important today -15 of 1.6 billion shipping cartons. As far
and has been increasing year after year as shipping is con cerned, information
(seven out of ten people in France consume technology companies are now able to
organic foods at !east once a month) when deploy tools that generate a complete cost-
it cames to sustainability, the market and benefit analysis, which details estimated fuel
to expectations are still difficult to estimate. so consumption, fuel costs, and C02 emissions
Organic, carbon neutra!, recycling, recycled, and identifies different scenarios to optim ize
zero-plastic, circular economy, green,
delivery strategies.
vegan, natural p roducts, etc.: the list of
Manufacturing only the number
characteristics is often long and complicates
of products sold is the dream of any
L5 the notion of eco-responsibility.
35 organization. ln addition to the economie
But today, there are many measures
gains associated w ith reducing the number
that companies can take to support their of unsold items, it is also a great way to
eco-responsible approach. The good n ews lower the carbon footprint (fewer raw
is that a brand, by pursuing sustainable materials used, less energy consumed, etc.).
20 development, also improves its economie
60 Carrefour, with the help of the information
gains. Nearly 80% of brands say t hat doing technology sector, is using Al to optimize
so increases customer loyalty and 63% inventory management and reduce waste.
report that it directly contributes to an By collecting and processing data from
increase in revenues. stores, warehouses, and e-commerce sites,
25 Artificial intelligence (AI) bas already 65 Carrefour can better anticipate demand
reduced greenhouse gases by about 13% and adjust orders from suppliers. Thanks
among manufacturers and retailers and to a smarter management of its s upply
can help brands reach 45% of their carbon chain, Carrefour has reduced the number
reduction target by 2030. Thus, how of shor tage and overstock in stores as well
30 con cretely can it help brands accelerate 70 as warehouses.
their eco- responsible initiatives? Al is We can no longer afford to evaluate
involved in many stages in the value chain, companies based solely on tradi tional
from supplying materials to shipping criteria. lnstead, the carbon standard must
products. Once the units are produced, be integrated into the entire value chain
35 the right products must be sent to the right
ï5 to allow consumers to choose the most
stores while avoiding error and optimizing
respectful product on the p lanet.
distribution. • Adapted from capgemini.com,
Inventor y management, logistics, and Paris, France 2021.
overall processes are improved through

112
 l
~ a. Translate the following words from § 1:
~ Organic • carbon neutral • recycling • recycled •
zero-plastic • circular economy • green • vegan.
b. Fi nd two verbs in the article meaning the opposite
of "increase".

R. 1the wf
a. Comment on the title.
b. Write ali the words and expressions you know
related to Artificiallntelligence and sustainability.

lSt- ~ .')

Uc Answer the questions for each paragraph.

>n: §1 What do we learn about French consumers?
ize Why is the notion of eco responsibility complicated?
§2 Say why it is positive for brands to support
•er sustainable development
nr §4 What famous company did Al help? How?
lie How is shipping optimized?
er §5 What was Carrefour able to do thanks to Al?
to §6 Wh at essential standard must be integrated t o the chain of value?
,~,

). 1 f
·n Find the keys ideas of each paragraphs.
:e
§1 §4 §7

n §2 §5
;, §3 §6
:1
s (" Ji<.
{
Use the information above to write a 50 to 100 words account of the article.

~ Language ;_
Proposition subordonnées -+ page 198 1 Indénombrables -+ page 187
Expression de la fréquence -+ page 183 1 Auxiliaire modal must -+ page 176
Translate into French.
1. Although awareness is important today the market is stiJl difficult to estimate.
2. The good news is that a brand, by pursuing sustainable development, aiso improves its economie gains.
3. Seven out of ten people in France consume organic foods at least once a month.
4. the carbon standard must be integrated into the entire value chain.

World challenges: sustainability and AI 113