The Head of a white goods company expressed that companies should set sustainability goals even though they don’t know how to meet them.
Hakan Bulgurlu, the CEO of Arcelik said, “We have to make sustainability commitments that we don’t know how to meet. We have to commit to investing in technology and innovation and set the bar so high that it may scare us, but we have to be brave and attack it in a way that’ll make a difference.”
Bulgurlu said that the Arcelik sees its sustainability initiatives and efforts as a business opportunity.
Bulgurlu expressed regarding Archelik’s target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, “It’s not. I mean, a straight answer, it is not. Laws of physics dictate that it’s not. But what we can do is reduce our emissions and impact drastically. Long-term business survival is possible only when a company does right by the environment.”
Arcelik has been listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices for five years.
Bulgurlu added, “Doing the right thing by the environment, which means trying to mitigate the impact of a changing climate, became a priority because we saw it as an opportunity to differentiate vis-a-vis our competitors. In the past, you could have separated the two, purpose and profit, but today, if you don’t have that purpose, you will certainly lose the profit. I believe that this transformation is the only way for companies to survive the long term.”
