Our annual Sustainable Futures conference, held under the Chatham House Rule, is an opportunity to check the temperature of the sustainability agenda for global business. Many speakers, sharing their experiences of lessons learned in the current market, agreed that sustainability remains firmly on the regulatory, consumer and investor agenda, despite challenging headwinds and push-back on ESG.

Include all stakeholders

In fact, the dial has moved since last year’s conference, with more organisations speaking to an increased focus on the resilience and business value delivered by integrating sustainability into the corporate strategy. The rallying cry across the day was the importance of including everyone throughout an organisation in progressing the sustainability agenda, from the boardroom to the shop floor.

Prepare for uncertainty

That said, delivering sustainability in an uncertain business world is no easy task and requires an organisation to quantify the benefits from making the necessary investment in change. Media commentator and statistician, Professor Sir David Spiegelhalter set the tone for discussion with his keynote, making the case for business to acknowledge uncertainty and highlighting the importance of considering multiple possible future scenarios to support strategic decision-making. Companies that acknowledge uncertainty and are agile enough to pivot when new evidence requires a change in direction will more likely thrive.

Climate and nature present significant physical and transition risks that cause uncertainty to organisations. Companies are navigating their dependency on nature, regulatory changes, disruption to operations and supply chain and the increasing cost of carbon, as well as demands to evidence sustainability claims from regulation, consumers and investors.

Companies judged to fall short of expectations risk damage to reputation that can ultimately affect share value. Fear of being accused of greenwashing emerged in discussion throughout the day, with business leaders reporting a cautiousness from businesses around communicating sustainability, a greenhushing, leading to less sharing of innovations and potential solutions across sectors.

Embed sustainability into processes

The interplay between climate and nature shaped discussion of how to effectively embed sustainability into existing processes, reduce raw material consumption and move towards more circular business models. Speakers repeatedly highlighted the role of data as key to building and quantifying the commercial strategy, deciding where to invest resources to meet the material effects of changing regulatory frameworks and drive sustainable global business growth into the future.

Explore scenarios to stress test business

Having a window into different plausible futures across a range of global emissions pathways, while considering the drivers and complex changes across the risk landscape, is critical to stress testing a company’s resilience and readiness to pivot. The energy transition is looking increasingly likely to be delayed, disorderly and piecemeal and businesses need to plan for this context. Many organisations have now made net-zero commitments, but this entails costs and significant operational changes.

Sustainability as a route to business resilience

Our conference heard from organisations at different stages of their sustainability journey; while there is sharp focus on the financial case and extra cost pressures were widely acknowledged, so was a shift in the perception of sustainability, both as a route to reduce risks to business and a point of difference that invites competitive advantage. Ultimately, this shift is helping to sell sustainability into the financial strategy of the company. Measuring the business value delivered by sustainability is on the radar of many organisations; the importance of integrating sustainability into the corporate strategy to develop aligned KPIs that enable measurement of success emerged repeatedly in discussions.

Taking the temperature of the sustainability agenda at our Sustainable Futures conference confirms that although global transition may be slowing or delayed in the real economy, the imperative to use sustainability as a competitive edge still remains. Uncertainty shapes the business landscape and cost pressures remain high but companies choosing to postpone transition plans risk losing the long game. Sustainability, delivered through a financially quantified and actionable transition plan, is becoming business as usual, widely viewed as a source of business resilience that enables efficiencies and a competitive advantage.

  • Dr Andrew Coburn is speaking at GSPN, London, on Tuesday 3rd June, 1.10pm to 1.30pm. His presentation, titled ‘Business value of sustainability’, takes place at the Main Room.
  • Risilience is working with increasing numbers of large companies in quantifying the financial implications of their sustainability strategies. Contact us if you want to better understand the business value of your sustainability initiatives.