Sustainable Business

Mobile Solar Class Room
© The Mobile Solar Class Room

The private sector is in a position to make significant contributions to sustainable development, one of which is identifying and developing business models which offer business solutions for environmental and social problems. In addition, companies can improve their existing business models by managing production processes more efficiently, tackling environmental and social issues more actively and including ecological and social factors in procurement processes. On a global scale, adelphi helps companies realise their potential in the field of sustainable development as well as optimise their respective business models and to make the corresponding value chains more efficient. We advise the full range of private sector organisations, from micro/small enterprises, medium-sized companies and larger family-run firms to publicly listed companies in Germany, developing countries and emerging economies.

  • Sustainability Entrepreneurship
    Nuru Energy
    © Juozas Cernius

    Anyone who starts a company today must be more than simply innovative: they must also be able to recognise and react to social and ecological challenges. adelphi supports companies based in developing countries and emerging economies, offering business plan consultancy and the development of success indicators. As hosting partner of SEED - a global partnership for action on sustainable development and the green economy, founded by UNEP, UNDP and IUCN - adelphi honours outstanding social and environmental enterprises every year. Moreover, adelphi generally facilitates the creation of an improved enabling environment for the successful starting of an eco-inclusive enterprise.

  • Integrated Product Policy and Labelling
    Eco-Label
    © Gregor Schuster

    Production and consumption patterns in developed countries are rarely sustainable, and the economic development in emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India and South Africa shows that the consumption of resources must be significantly reduced in the long term. adelphi advises decision-makers at home in Germany and abroad on innovative environmental and resource policies; for companies, we develop training methods, measures and instruments for an integrated product policy and promote national and international policy instruments such as Ecolabelling.

  • Cleaner Production
    Metal finishing at INDSAT_ECOCHARM
    © Fredrik Eisinger - adelphi

    Technical and organisational changes which lead companies to increased resource efficiency fall under the heading of Cleaner Production. Many of these measures do more than simply contribute to the improvement of ecological performance: they also improve companies’ economic efficiency. adelphi consults with small and medium sized enterprises on the topic of Cleaner Production and develops innovative programmes which will be implemented worldwide, in collaboration with other disseminators such as chambers of commerce, associations and government agencies.

  • Environmental and Sustainability Management
    Energieanlage
    © adelphi - adelphi.de

    Companies confront a major challenge in pursuing the path to sustainable growth. We support enterprises across the globe in the implementation of certifiable environmental and energy management systems according to EMAS/ISO5001 and in alignment with internationally recognised sustainability standards such as ISO26000. This includes developing training programmes and advising smaller companies. At the same time, adelphi advises governments in emerging economies and developing countries in the expansion of frameworks necessary to promote corporate responsibility.

  • Corporate Responsibility
    Compass with data
    © Tamisclao - shutterstock.com

    Corporate Responsibility has taken on increasing importance across the globe. More and more investors, partners and consumers are examining the sustainability of institutions. This is especially prevalent with regard to resource scarcity, pollution, climate change and heightened consciousness of poor working conditions. Due to increasingly long value chains, this issue is of growing importance, especially for developing countries and emerging economies. adelphi designs training and qualification measures for businesses, associations, chambers of commerce and financial institutions, implementing them worldwide. adelphi thus makes a significant contribution to the social relevance of this topic.

  • Sustainable Consumption
    Woman checking food labelling
    © USAart studio - shutterstock.com

    Successful climate protection and resource efficiency require long-term, sustainable consumption and production patterns in private industry, politics and civil society. Consumption that takes ecological and social criteria into account drives sustainable markets and production. To support sustainability in production and consumption, adelphi designs dialogue processes and platform-based initiatives, as well as conducts studies and monitoring projects. We explore the potential and challenges of digitisation and current consumer trends, and develop strategies and tools to help decision-makers promote sustainable consumption. We also identify innovative approaches to consumer policy – in Germany and around the world.