Technique is a time period thrown round with out a lot thought or rigor. And this typically appears doubly true on the planet of company sustainability. As extra firms embark on their sustainability journey, all people appears to be speaking in regards to the significance of making a sustainability and ESG technique — but what this implies precisely stays nebulous. 

At its core, technique is about decisions. In a world of restricted time and sources, it’s about deciding what to do and what to not do as a result of you could have a transparent imaginative and prescient of what you wish to obtain. 

To create some readability on this essential matter, I gathered a number of sustainability and ESG leaders from throughout industries for a panel at GreenBiz 23 referred to as “The Non-Negotiables: 5 Key Sides of a Sturdy ESG and Sustainability Technique.” The session included Gail Grimmett, senior vp of sustainability and company iInnovation at Delta Air Strains; Annabelle Stamm, director of sustainability technique at Edison Vitality; Blake McGowan, options government at VelocityEHS; and Nancy Mahon, senior vp of worldwide company citizenship and sustainability at The Esteé Lauder Firms.

The breakout room was packed (standing room solely, like lots of the GreenBiz 23 periods), with a whole lot of attendees curious to study extra from and assist contribute to our dialog. After a lot debate and dialogue, the panelists and I — with heavy enter from the viewers — mentioned 5 key aspects of a powerful sustainability technique. Right here they’re: 

1. Be agile, and combine sustainability into your company technique 

The very best sustainability technique is a enterprise technique that advances sustainability. That’s to say, in an ideal world, an organization’s enterprise technique is targeted on creating long-term social, environmental and monetary worth — making a separate sustainability technique redundant. 

“We at all times say that we’re making an attempt to work ourselves out of a job,” Mahon stated. “However I don’t suppose we’ll in the end be capable to try this.” 

At The Esteé Lauder Firms, the group integrates sustainability into its enterprise technique by assigning senior executives to committees masking the environmental, social and governance pillars. The top of provide chain is concerned with surroundings, human sources with social and the CFO with governance. Whereas the committees are led by individuals on the highest ranges, they’re made up of practitioners.

We’re all on this collectively, and in a task that requires some kind of disruptive considering.

Delta additionally used a committee system to higher align its sustainability technique with enterprise technique, Grimmett stated. “We’re all on this collectively, and in a task that requires some kind of disruptive considering.”

Whereas an organization might need a strong sustainability technique, the world is altering so quick that flexibility should be baked in. All the panelists agreed that agility and adaptation is crucial to sustainability technique success. 

2. Set targets, and understand how you’ll measure progress

The subsequent non-negotiable follow is establishing clear targets and a plan for getting there. Whereas setting targets is straightforward, establishing the fitting ones isn’t at all times so easy. 

Setting gasoline effectivity targets, for instance, might be difficult, in line with Grimmett, as a result of the airline can’t at all times straight management each issue impacting gasoline effectivity. That’s why Delta has a number of completely different councils that encourage integration of all of the gamers liable for enhancing gasoline effectivity. This might embrace everybody from airport operations management, which could trigger an airplane to burn extra gasoline when requesting it fly a holding sample, to technical operations groups that may make technical changes to planes to enhance effectivity, 

“In some methods, we’ve management over nothing and affect over every part,” stated Grimmett. 

Whereas many firms set 2030 or 2050 targets, they need to additionally stay targeted on the rapid wants of working a enterprise. Setting shorter-term milestones can assist firms keep on observe and in addition encourage disruptive expertise, Grimmett stated. Typically, the expertise doesn’t but exist for firms to satisfy their bold sustainability targets, and creating milestones can assist unlock entrepreneurial innovation to satisfy the second, Grimmett stated. 

3. Knowledge high quality over amount

We dwell in an period the place sustainability information is plentiful, however its high quality is questionable. Fairly than specializing in amassing as a lot info as doable, sustainability groups ought to deal with discovering the fitting information, the panelists stated. 

“Good information is key to a profitable sustainability technique,” Stamm stated. “Knowledge that drives decarbonization is essential.”

We don’t have a long time to gather and analyze information, the panelists agreed. We want metrics that may be acted on instantly, so we will implement measures that drive decarbonization and advance sustainability targets. 

4. Deliver your stakeholders alongside for the trip

Sustainability groups are usually small with restricted rapid spheres of affect — to achieve success, they need to depend on stakeholders all through the group. Among the best methods to do that is by partaking these of us throughout technique creation. 

With the language of sustainability being wonky, sustainability leads must translate issues right into a language that folks perceive and hyperlink it to a powerful worth proposition, Stamm stated. It’s additionally essential to take cultural variations under consideration. In terms of sustainability motion, the US could be very carrot-driven whereas Europe tends to be extra in regards to the stick, she added. 

The hot button is to establish these key people who find themselves going to be the influencers … and who’s going to be your largest champion.

“The hot button is to establish these key people who find themselves going to be the influencers … and who’s going to be your largest champion,” McGowan stated. These inside champions will assist be certain that your sustainability technique is successfully carried out, he stated. 

One other key level is that usually when an inside stakeholder says “no” to one thing, it actually means they want extra info, McGowan added. 

5. Guarantee philosophical consistency all through the group

Towards the top of the panel, a member of the viewers instructed a fifth non-negotiable: attaining a philosophical consensus all through your group: To achieve success, the identical sustainability ethos should be maintained throughout departments and groups.

If, for instance, an organization has a powerful company sustainability technique but has a authorities relations technique that doesn’t match, this weakens the group’s general effectiveness for attaining its sustainability ambitions. 

At these phrases, the viewers erupted into applause and the panelists nodded in settlement.