The birth of “sustainagility”

It’s been more than five years since Walmart introduced its goals of being supplied 100% by renewable energy, creating zero waste and selling products that sustain people and the environment. These audacious goals initially fell under the umbrella of sustainability, but now we get word out of Miami that sustainability has been transformed to “sustainagility.”

At least that is how Walmart Latin America CEO Eduardo Solorzano referred to the company’s environmental and resource conservation efforts during an annual “Outlook of the Americas” luncheon presented by the Association of American Chambers of Commerce. Few people have a better perspective on the Americas than Solorzano who leads an organization with nearly 3,300 stores in nine countries and annual sales of $36.6 billion.

“This is a key region for Walmart with significant growth opportunities in the coming years,” Solorzano told those at the luncheon. “We are sharing best practices across markets and developing new formats to serve the unique customs and needs of Latin America customers, but it will take leveraging the company's expertise in sustainability to manage costs.”

“To sustain our growth in the region we cannot exponentially increase our costs or impact on the environment,” Solorzano said. “Our approach must be agile and innovative to meet the challenges in a very diverse region. That is why we are moving more aggressively to integrate into our business strategy and operations a holistic sustainability plan for 100 percent renewable energy, zero waste and selling products that sustain people and the environment. We call it ‘sustainagility.’”