Having good ethics in running your business not only helps the environment but also helps your pocket, so claimed Paul Monaghan, Head of Sustainability and Social Goals at The Co-operative. Mr Monaghan was speaking at the Environment Agency’s annual conference in Westminster yesterday.

“We asked ourselves how could we keep our commitment to the environment and towards sustainability in this faltering economy? We took a highest common denominator approach to the ethics,” he said.

Mr Monaghan told delegates: “You’ve got to get the basics of sustainability right before you make the progress. It starts with being well funded, having lots of staff and specialists. In this day and age you need core members of staff. There is a philosophical choice between what we do and what others do. It’s essential if things are to move forward.”

The Co-op has made sustainability at the heart of its sales and growth policy and in June Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) was named sustainable bank of the year.