This Inc. article, titled “Corporate Sustainability Isn’t Just for the Big Guys” touches on the following reasons why all companies, no matter how small, should become certified sustainable –

• If you are a small company, you have an easier time interacting with, and understanding, the demands/needs of your stakeholders – employees, management, owners, vendors, customers, prospects, community – that your company become sustainable.

• Once known, the demands/needs of your stakeholders – employees, management, owners, vendors, customers, prospects, community – should not be ignored. If you do not listen to what your stakeholders are telling you, others will take your place and serve them.

• It will enhance your hiring and retention of top talent.

• Your costs will go down.

• It will improve your ability to attract money – debt and equity investment in certified sustainable companies is expected to rise to $50 trillion within the next 36 months.

• If you are small and/or private, you get the good without the bad – You get the above benefits without the scrutiny that large/public companies face.

• You have a (large/public company) path to follow.

Edenark Group can help you get there.

Per this article, IT leaders are advancing sustainability in their departments and their businesses.

Due to the pandemic, global conflict and climate change, global awareness of environmental, social and governance topics has gone up.

Further, the belief that ‘sustainability is someone else’s problem’ has been replaced with a take-charge attitude.

As such, interest and activity has dramatically increased – 90% of companies are adopting ESG programs.

For organizations that want to consider sustainability but do not know where to start, we recommend following the 8 points listed in this PPP.

According to the World Economic Forum, as stated in this article, about 90% of all companies on the planet are small to mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) and of this group, two thirds are fighting for survival.

The article gives six major problems faced by SMEs.

To each we give a response.

Top challenges facing SMEs

• Problem – 67% are struggling with maintaining and growing the business, low margins, and unable to expand to new markets and new clients/customers.
• Solution – Companies certified sustainable under our standard are able to differentiate, are growing up to 20x faster than their non-certified peers, are generating 7x margins versus their non-certified competitive peers, and have 7 out of 10 consumers willing to move their business to them.

• Problem – 48% struggle with attracting and retaining talent.
• Solution – The majority of all workers want to work for certified sustainable companies; this allows certified sustainable companies to hire and retain better talent, at lower wages.

• Problem – 34% struggle with maintaining a strong culture with clear company purpose and value.
• Solution – If a company pursues, attains and maintains sustainability certification, this becomes core to its purpose and values….and 90% of the world support a SME being certified sustainable.

• Problem – 25% struggle with keeping up with technology demands from the market.
• Solution – Certified sustainable companies incorporate advanced technology as part of their energy reduction and operational efficiency projects.

• Problem – 24% struggle with access to affordable funding and access to capital.
• Solution – Certified sustainable companies receive more funding (both debt and equity) and at lower cost (on both debt and equity) than their non-certified competitors.

• Problem – 22% struggle with government policies and regulations.
• Solution – Companies certified under our program have, as part of their certification process, an analysis and alignment with government regulations.

While being certified sustainable does not solve every corporate problem; it can certainly contribute to helping solve many of the ones that keep SME leaders up at night.

As this article, titled “Sustainability is no longer a ‘nice to have’ goal for the data center industry”, states:

• Data center operators can no longer consider implementing a sustainability strategy as a “checklist item” since failing to meet sustainability targets may result in lost clients, higher rates, and perhaps even carbon taxes or government fees introduced to penalize less “green” companies. In a more stringent scenario, regulation and legislation may induce data center operators that are less efficient or not focused on sustainability to quit their activity altogether if they cannot comply with environmental regulations.
• The data center industry faces pressure from multiple sources — including government, financial markets and corporate clients — to improve sustainability and reduce carbon emissions. A sustainability strategy is no longer a simple “nice to have” item for data center operators; in the future, it may determine whether an operator succeeds or fails. Additionally, with financial organizations at both ends of the data center transaction — as both clients and providers of capital — data center owners and operators will need to meet a wide range of sustainability demands when seeking to fund future projects, particularly as pressure increases for private equity and real estate investors to make more green investments.

With regulatory pressure, investor pressure and customer pressure, all bearing down, data centers need to be proactive and use sustainability certification as a way to differentiate from competitors.  This PPP defines the eight items your business should look for in a sustainability program.

A few key points from this article

• 76% of consumers say they are discontinuing relations with companies that treat the environment, employees, community poorly – This ties almost exactly with other studies we have shared, that show that 25% of consumers have already moved their business to certified sustainable companies.

• 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company that shows environmental support – This is consistent with other studies we have shared, that show a range from 70% to 90% of consumers are looking to move their purchases to companies that can prove they are sustainable. When you add this to the above number, you see that the vast majority of consumers are searching for companies that can prove they are sustainable, and when they find them, they reward them by moving their business to them.

• 84% of employees are more likely to work for a company that shows environmental support – This is consistent with other studies we have shared, which shows 60% – 90% of employees want to work for a company that can prove its environmental sustainability commitment. This does not mean they will not take your job.  It just means they will continue to look for a sustainable company to work for and will leave your company when their find it.

This global movement, reported in many studies, and seen across the world’s competitive business landscape, results in certified sustainable companies dramatically out-performing their non-certified peers.

This is an opportunity for those businesses that wish to lead.

This PPP shows what a business should consider when thinking about sustainability / ESG.

This article lists 7 steps to develop and implement a strong ESG strategy.

To that, we add 3.

1 – Don’t start with an ESG program!

This is one of ours.  This might seem odd, but we are recommending you NOT start with an ESG program.  Don’t jump into the deep end of the pool.  Instead, start with becoming environmentally certified sustainable.  This has the highest ROI.  Then, once comfortable that your sustainability program is working to your satisfaction, become certified carbon neutral.  It is a natural second step after your sustainability certification.  Then…proceed with the S and G of your ESG program (you already have the E).  Finally, turn your attention to becoming certified Net Zero.

2 – Hire a Pro

This is also one of ours.  Bring in a group that helps you achieve the points listed in this PPP.  If you follow this PPP, it will be far less expensive and have a much higher ROI for you, than if you try to build a custom program that is not aligned with global standards.

3 – Carry out a materiality assessment

A formal materiality assessment is used to benchmark how different ESG issues rank in terms of importance for your business and your stakeholders. Starting with a materiality assessment can help to prioritize different issues and initiatives as you develop your ESG strategy and can also suggest where you need to be setting targets or developing your reporting. 

4 – Assess your current baseline

Once your ESG themes are prioritized, the next step is to record a baseline of your existing policies, metrics, and engagements. It’s a good idea to engage cross-functional stakeholders within the organization that have expertise in each priority ESG topic for this activity. Information can then be collected from annual reports, policies, and other available data, which can then be supplemented by interviews with internal stakeholders to build a full picture of the current baseline.

5 – Set Objectives and Goals

When implementing any new strategy, it’s important to set objectives and goals so you can track your progress and ensure that the actions you have taken are making a positive change. Your baseline should help to give you a better understanding of what is a realistic goal for your business, and your key stakeholders should agree that these goals are achievable and feel motivated to reach them.

Your objectives should, at a minimum, cover the following: Measuring the impact of your actions, tracking your organization’s overall ESG performance and benchmarking yourself against industry peers.

6- Conduct a Gap Analysis

A gap analysis is the next step in helping you to determine how to achieve the ESG goals you have set out. It makes a comparison between your current baseline and the target ESG model you have for your organizations and highlights the disparities and opportunities for improvement.

A better understanding of the scale and area of these gaps can help you to do the right preparation to ensure your new ESG strategy is successful, and to highlight areas where you may have problems down the line.

7 – Design your framework and build the roadmap

You should now be in a position to design your ESG framework and build a roadmap – mapping out your organization’s vision and goals, and showing the tangible steps you will take to achieve it. This a great tool to ensure accountability for key milestones, help to track your progress and allow you to share your ESG strategy both internally and externally with customers and key stakeholders.

8 – Set an action plan and measure KPI’s

Now that your general roadmap has been determined, it’s time to set out a detailed action plan and begin tracking KPI’s that feed into the objectives and goals you set earlier.

Your action plan should focus on the steps needed to integrate an ESG focus into existing processes and practices. It should ensure the ESG remains a core focus of your organization and doesn’t slip off the agenda, meaning that going forward you will be able to have positive and productive conversations about ESG at any point.

The KPI’s you put in place at this stage should track progress at an individual or team level – measuring the small but significant actions and improvements that are being seen day to day.

9 – Report progress

To develop your ESG report, it’s important to decide what you want the report to accomplish. It can be a combination of communicating ESG strategy to stakeholders, sharing company specific ESG goals, and evaluating progress and engagements in key ESG areas.

It’s important to decide this early in your ESG strategy so that you can ensure the right data is being captured, and it will simplify the process when it comes time to run the report.

The ESG strategy should be reviewed and updated every year to ensure the organization stays aligned with current industry standards, stakeholders’ and customers’ expectations and overall business strategy.

10 – Promote your achievements!

Again, this is ours.  The market wants your company to be certified sustainable; it wants you to be carbon neutral; it wants you to have an ESG program in place; and it wants you to be Net Zero.  If you have done the works to achieve these, be proud of it – promote your accomplishments.  The market will reward you.