How Your Organisation Can Become A Sustainability Champion

A growing number of organisations are incorporating sustainable business practices into their company strategy and implementing them to ensure they are doing business without negatively impacting the environment, community, or society as a whole.

For companies to become sustainability champions, there are four fundamental areas they must harness to achieve positive impact, including environmental, social, economic, and governance. There are a number of ways you can achieve this and we have some tried and true considerations to look at when developing these areas.

Different Elements of Becoming a Sustainability Champion (ESG)

Environmental Sustainability

Microsoft defines Environmental Sustainability as the "ability to maintain an ecological balance in our planet's natural environment and conserve natural resources to support the well-being of current and future generations". 

Thus, for organisations to achieve environmental sustainability, they must act and implement policies that positively impact the environment, such as conserving resources, e.g., water and energy, minimising waste, adopting circular economy principles, switching to renewable energy, protecting and maintaining healthy biodiversity and ecosystems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and emission to land and water systems, adopt green products and services, and promote sustainable sourcing. 

For example, IKEA uses environmental sustainability principles to promote positive impacts on the environment and secure the welfare of animals and other natural habitats in its value chain. Some renowned principles include sourcing wood, cotton, food, and other raw materials from sustainable sources, e.g., recycled or FSC-certified wood.

Social Sustainability

The United Nations define social sustainability as an organisation's ability to identify and assess the positive or negative impact of business activities, development, systems and processes on people and communities. The World Bank study indicates that social sustainability comprises four key factors: social cohesion, inclusion, resilience, and process legitimacy. Earlier work on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and social sustainability focused on core business principles and impact on well-being, community connections, equal opportunities, poverty alleviation and engagement.

For example, as one of the largest consumer goods companies worldwide, with over 400 brands in over 190 countries, Unilever implemented a climate justice initiative across its value chain and communities. Unilever used a climate transition action plan to set targets to implement climate justice to address underlying systematic inequalities due to climate change disproportionately affecting specific communities.

Economic Sustainability

Economic sustainability applied to organisations may be defined as organisation practices designed to create long-term economic development, growth or profits while managing the social and environmental impacts. This definition challenges the legacy aim of constantly increasing the quantity of goods and services and increasing income to a predetermined group of shareholders without managing the broader social and environmental impacts.

With economic sustainability, organisations consider the lifecycle costs of products and services to create new business models, design out waste and keep materials in use as long as possible than the take-make-waste economy. Additionally, organisations invest in sustainable innovation and technology to enhance resource efficiency and create products to manage supply chain risks and resilience. 

Signify, formerly Phillips Lighting, has generated a new economic model called circular lighting, where the traditional cost of buying equipment is replaced by monthly payments with guaranteed performance – lighting as a service (LaaS). With the LaaS business model, Signify owns the lighting system and offers a 5-year guaranteed performance contract under metrics such as light level, uptime, and energy savings. The customer can extend the contract or return the lighting to Signify for rescue or recycling. 

This innovative business model incentivises Signify to design out waste, implement artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, and design modular equipment that circulates in use longer than the traditional linear model to conserve resources. Signify has used the LaaS model with Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam; the energy consumption was reduced by 50% compared to the previous system.

Governance Sustainability

As Peter Druker famously said, "Culture eats strategy for breakfast".

For organisations aspiring to be sustainability champions, any great sustainability strategy relies on the company culture to succeed in its implementation. At the heart of organisational culture are people, e.g., the leadership, routines and rituals, organisational and power structure, myths, and control systems.

Organisations need effective governance to provide the infrastructure to improve the quality of decision-making and how they set and pursue sustainability objectives, practices and processes in the context of social, regulatory, market, and environmental settings. There are many governance factors in organisations depending on the size and nature of the company.

How to Develop Sustainability in ESG

Below are some of the main factors for companies aspiring to be sustainability champions to consider achieving effective governance for social, environmental, and economic sustainability. 

Leadership Commitment

Start effective leadership with commitment at the top of the organisation with visible actions and not just words. Senior leadership support for sustainability could be the most essential factor to achieve sustainability success. 

Set Clear Sustainability Goals

Companies should set sustainability goals based on the company vision, mission, purpose, and values and align with the environmental, social, and economic pillars. Also, the sustainability goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). 

Stakeholder Engagement

Good organisation governance engages effectively with critical stakeholders such as customers, employees, investors, and local communities. Effective engagement seeks feedback and involves stakeholders in the company's decision-making process. 

Training

Companies must educate employees on sustainable practices and upskill their leadership and managers on transparent reporting of their sustainability performance to show accountability to stakeholders. 

Regulatory Compliance

Good corporate governance works towards ensuring compliance with current and upcoming regulations focusing on company environment and social standards. Practical governance activities include setting the appropriate culture, such as sustainability practices, processes and control mechanisms to link sustainability legislation and strategy with delivery. 

Continuous Improvement

For companies to deliver the level of transformation required for achieving organisational sustainability, there must be a culture of continuous improvement in all elements of the organisation – processes, tools, and products. Organisations with good governance can use data to evaluate and improve sustainability performance and share knowledge within and across departments.

The impact of becoming a sustainability champion is multi-fold. The reputational enhancement enables organisations to maximise the opportunities present in a market packed full of moral-led consumers. The long term financial savings can snowball drastically, providing not just a short term gain but a hugely beneficial long-form reward.

Becoming a sustainability champion is an ongoing process that requires commitment, continuous improvement, and a genuine dedication to making a positive impact on the environment, society, and the economy. It is about integrating sustainability into the culture of your organisation and promoting responsible and eco-friendly business practices at every level. One of the primary ways you can become more sustainable is by investing in a thorough environmental training program. We have IEMA courses available for all levels, from management to frontline workers, so your organisation can being your journey to a more sustainable future.

About the Author

Enock Ebbah MSc has a wealth of combined experience, having spent 13 years developing and delivering energy, environment and sustainability projects, energy research and responsible engineering. His specialist expertise in strategic NetZero solutions, energy transition, decarbonisation initiatives, and sustainable approaches to using energy, materials, and resources for sustainable development. As an Environment and Sustainability Consultant at Astutis, Enock helps organisations deliver ambitious environment, sustainability, and NetZero outcomes by providing environmental assessments, environmental and sustainability training, ESG materiality assessments, as well as sustainability reporting and strategy.