Sustainability action – the priorities for the C-Suite

Gartner recently published a report on the importance of C-Suite in driving sustainability. The conclusion was that business leaders must convert sustainability plans into tangible action and clear results. Energy Search Executive explores the main findings from the report.

For sustainability strategies to be impactful, executives must define their goals and integrate their plans into business outcomes, which can often be challenging. Business leaders are critical to delivering sustainability promises, earning stakeholder trust and driving growth. Businesses must prioritise their leadership and communication strategy, technology investments and how to respond to the energy transition to create impact from sustainability goals.

According to the report, only 38% of business leaders claim to have embedded environmental sustainability into their decision-making strategies. Executive leaders must determine the business outcomes and resources to invest in sustainability plans.

A business sustainability strategy can generate specific outcomes, like enhanced compliance, resource optimisation or transformation via new business channels. There are also other indirect benefits, like reduced operational expenses. Less than 10% of business leaders stated that they have recognised these benefits. 

To continue progressing with sustainability goals, executive leaders must be clear on decisions between costs, services and environmental/social impacts. They will also need clarity on the factors influencing short and long-term decisions. 

Gartner suggests three core practices to support executive leaders continue moving forward with their sustainability goals:

1. Determine the definitive sustainability priorities, such as complying with sustainability legislations and regulatory rules and focusing on the areas of importance to stakeholders and impactful to business.
2. Define activities that benefit sustainability and the bottom line, like energy efficiency.
3. View sustainability as a long-term process and not a quick fix. Create long-term sustainability goals that can adapt to potential challenges.

Meeting bold sustainability goals requires clear decisions, aligning strategic priorities and leveraging the right skills. Sustainability goals require the collective efforts of the entire workforce and creating a culture of sustainability. How business leaders manage and communicate strategies and performance will influence stakeholder trust in sustainability plans. To enable change and embed sustainability within a business, Gartner suggests the following factors:

Change Management – explore how change management plans can support embedding sustainability into core business decisions.

Work with employees – educate employees on the importance of sustainability and how their actions can influence enterprise goals.

Build partnerships – work with others to tackle sustainability challenges via innovation and collective action.

Communicate – Prioritise the communication of sustainability performance to stakeholders.

Adopting and applying new technologies to deliver on sustainability goals

Technology can drive sustainability performance by generating insights to automate or enhance decision-making. Business leaders must ensure they are using the right technology at the right time and in the right way. According to Gartner, 94% of business leaders believe their future growth depends on the increased use of technology. With this reliance on technology, we must consider the environmental and social impacts, associated with technology development. There are three categories defined within the Gartner Hype Cycle for Environmental Sustainability:

Resource Optimisation – Technologies that allow energy, packaging and material efficiencies i.e. sustainable packaging and energy management systems.

Data and Analytics – Solutions that generate insights for decision-making, i.e. AI for sustainability or carbon accounting software.

Drivers and Concepts – Strategies and plans that support and drive sustainability goals i.e. ESG Solutions, Scope 3 emissions analysis and voluntary 

carbon offsets.

While adopting these technologies takes time, most will likely be adopted in the coming years. Integrating these solutions earlier could provide a competitive edge and position a business as a sustainability leader.

Manage growth to enable GHG emissions targets

Business growth typically increases GHG emissions, creating challenges for reaching net-zero goals. The Gartner report suggests that 26% of business leaders are not consistently measuring their operational emissions, which could impact financing for GHG reduction strategies. Business leaders should apply the following actions:

• Define clear goals for emission reduction accounting for growth
• Forecast and measure the relationship between growth and emissions
• Deliver detailed, cost emissions-reduction plans to inform decision-making
• Prioritise projects intended to decouple emissions from business growth.

Balancing energy costs, security and decarbonisation

While cost is critical, energy strategies must consider energy security and emissions reductions. Business leaders should explore the following approaches:

-Use scenario planning to determine different outcomes, impacts and indicators influencing decision-making

-Manage energy consumption and costs via efficient practices

-Secure energy supplies by diversifying and selective sourcing

-Progress decarbonisation plans by integrating renewables and sustainability plans into operations.