Why consumers should shift allegiance to eco-friendly products, services —Experts

FOR many, the term, ‘sustainability’ should no longer be treated as a buzzword. It has become imperative. If mankind is to guarantee a place to incoming, after it is long gone, its present activities must guarantee the safety of those generations, even though unborn.

Not a few marketing communications practitioners also shared this line of thought at the recent time World Consumer Rights Day outing organised by the Brand Journalists Association of Nigeria (BJAN), in Lagos.

They believe the thematic focus of this year’s edition of the event, woven around, “A Just Transition To Sustainable Lifestyles”, could not have been more apt. There is the need to urge individuals and businesses to transit to a lifestyle that is sustainable, and how they embark on such transition also matter, they argued.

The practitioners noted that while a transition to sustainable lifestyles has become imperative, the process of achieving such transition must be fair, just, and, at the same time, ensure no one suffers neglect.

For this group of Marketing communications practitioners, a ‘just transition’ to sustainable lifestyles can only be achieved, when consumers begin to shift their allegiance to green and eco-friendly products.

The experts, comprising brand custodians, advertising practitioners, marketing professionals and regulators, argued that patronizing companies and products that promote sustainability remains one of the strategies today’s consumers can adopt, in the fight against business activities that promote unsustainable lifestyles.

For instance, in her Keynote Address, tagged: “A Just Transition To Sustainable Lifestyles”,  the CEO, Kratos Sustainability Consults, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, believed consumers could begin with the ‘passive resistance’  of shunning products and industries that promote unsustainable lifestyles. This, she noted, is one of the ways consumers can leverage the immense powers they wield to put businesses on sustainability path.

“If consumers begin to wield their powers, and begin to demand for eco-friendly products, every business will sit up, because no business wants to lose market share,” she stated.

According to her, the theme of this year’s World Consumer Rights Day has become essential since businesses and consumers must begin to address climate crisis, and its attendant social inequality,  the world is presently grappling with.

Reeling out some statistics, Omobolanle decried a situation where the world’s wealthiest 10 percent is responsible for half of the global emissions, and its poorest 50 percent, which contribute only about 10 percent of such environmental degradation,  bear the consequences of the climate change. The disparity, she argued, therefore, underscores the urgency of a just transition.

According to the sustainability activist, ‘just transition’, remains the gradual process of imbibing sustainability, without leaving anyone behind; and taking care of the gender, racial and geographical inequalities,  existing in the society.

“The transition to sustainable living is not just about reducing individuals or businesses’ carbon  emission footprints or choosing eco-friendly products emission, it is about ensuring that the transition is just, and that it leaves no one behind.

“A truly sustainable world is one where everyone has access to tools and knowledge to live in harmony with the environment without compromising the quality of life.

“A ‘Just Transition’ acknowledges that while the world must go greener, the way it approaches the transition matters. It ensures communities are not left behind. It calls for fairness and equity, ensuring that everyone has access to sustainable development. It calls for protection of the vulnerable group, focusing on the needs of women, low-income groups, racial minorities who have disproportionately bore the consequences of unsustainable practices,” she added.

 On the role of businesses and industries towards achieving this, Omobolanle called for some form of investments in their operations that will aid the gradual shifts and focus of such businesses to green and eco-friendly products and services.

The Head, Corporate Communications and Sustainability Lead, Nestle Nigeria, Victoria Uwadoka advised consumers to begin to examine and choose their products, based on the degree of compliance of such products with sustainability tenets.

She however believed there is an awareness gap among consumers, which must be quickly addressed for a just transition to sustainable lifestyles to be achieved.

Uwadoka also argued that for transition to sustainable lifestyles to be just, such transition must not put an extra burden on consumers.

 In his welcome remarks, the association’s Chairman, Daniel Obi, highlighted the importance of consumer awareness and education in promoting sustainability.

 He explained that the decision to bring the topic to the front burner stemmed from the need to sensitise individuals and businesses to the importance of a just transition to sustainable lifestyles, and its benefits for mankind.

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