Investors, customers and other stakeholders are asking leading companies to address social and environmental concerns. In turn, these leading companies recognize the importance of developing strategies to strengthen their position as a sustainable business. Together with the Environmental Defense Fund, many corporations are finding ways to work together in collaboration to achieve these goals.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is a national nonprofit organization representing more than 500,000 members.  Since 1967, the EDF has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. The EDF engaged in its first corporate partnership project in 1990 and many of its corporate partnerships have been long lasting.

One example is of a successful corporate collaboration is Walmart and the Environmental Defense Fund. In September, Walmart announced it would partner with EDF to cut global shopping bag waste. Total global consumption of plastic bags is estimated at 4 trillion per year, at the expense of the world’s marine life-as sea turtles, fish, mammals and birds eat or become entangled in bags-and at a cost of millions of dollars to municipalities, which must collect and dispose of bags. The Walmart bag waste reduction pledge has the potential to eliminate approximately 9 billion plastic shopping bags per year from its existing stores by 2013. EDF and Walmart anticipate that the bag waste reduction initiative will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 290,000 metric tons and reduce energy consumption equivalent to 678,000 barrels of oil per year. Collaboration to reduce bag waste is just one aspect of EDF’s work since 2005 to inform and influence Walmart’s sustainability goals and motivate change in the company, its supply chain and its customers to measurably reduce environmental impacts.

A central component to successful collaborations is a shared common vision that brings together distinct perspectives, expertise and resources. Both the Environmental Defense Fund and Walmart will benefit by working together to leverage their expertise and capabilities. The success of their collaboration will be measured by the environmental impact and business results. Building and maintaining trust is also a key component for successful collaborations.  EDF’s Corporate Partnerships rely on public transparency on past financial support, decision-making and results to help ensure this.

Working in collaboration, corporate partnerships such as Walmart and the Environmental Defense Fund can achieve widespread and lasting change by harnessing the power of the market. Often millions of people use the products and rely on the services of EDF’s corporate partners. Environmental improvements initiated in collaboration by EDF and its corporate partners can spread throughout an industry and often actions taken by market leaders will encourage competitors to follow increasing the benefits still further.

Today there are many examples of corporations such as Walmart working in partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund to collaborate on the issues of environmental sustainability. These collaborations have the potential to provide intangible benefits such as industry leadership in new environmentally friendly technologies and business practices. These intangible benefits would be difficult to achieve without the EDF and its corporate partners successfully collaborating together.