The current debate, with businesses as the main stakeholders, is about a nodal issue for the sustainability of projects in line with long-term climate goals.
It is critically important to understand how to manage today's challenges related to rising inflation, war in Ukraine, energy uncertainty and potential global recession, which are proponents of economic and geopolitical instability, without losing sight of ambitious sustainable development goals.
Here comes back the key concept of resilience, a peculiarity necessary to ride out the storm, which must be properly balanced with the will to pursue goals.
How can a workable strategy be implemented to ensure that the path to a sustainable future is not interrupted?
The pressure to demonstrate real progress and create true value through sustainability is growing steadily. At the same time, we are entering a difficult era for CEOs and business leaders to build resilience to today's shocks to meet tomorrow's challenges.
We believe that the right response to such a challenge is always an approach of "analyzing" the sustainability of projects in the long term, based on current conditions, rather than a choice to be pursued at any cost in order to claim to be in line with the agenda.
The task is far from easy, however, as leaders gathered in Egypt for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) discuss the most pressing issues, we can report encouraging signs:
- To date, sustainable systems create more value than traditional systems;
- Sustainability, economic competitiveness, accessibility and national security travel hand in hand as never before.
Assuming that the success of such a transition as desired necessarily comes through responsible governance and cooperation between public and private institutions, some approaches will be easier to implement than others and will provide a good starting point for companies that want to improve long-term competitiveness and create value, enabling them to outpace competitors who decide to forgo their goals because of current conditions.
Some key actions at the heart of a new sustainability strategy
- Accelerate the implementation of systems that increase energy independence through the use of renewable energy and clean energy and the identification of the full potential of theenergy efficiency and of distributed electricity.
- Bring new value to and optimize existing systemsby implementing operational decarbonization measures that have an immediate impact translated into energy efficiency.
- Accelerate the sustainable materials transition:Commitments to decarbonize automotive, consumer goods, packaging, and other sectors are already affecting the supply and demand gap in aluminum, plastics, and steel; if supply eventually meets demand, first movers will benefit.
- Demonstrate shared air and water resource management, ensure a responsible supply chain, and contribute to a just transition by conducting specific studies and implementing corrective actions.
- Building partnerships for the comprehensive development of the ecosystem, create opportunities for collaboration by sharing goals and results through transparent communication tools such as the sustainability report..
- Developing new skills to keep up with the competition: as companies embrace a sustainable future, they will need new skills. Sustainable fashion, for example, requires a complete rethinking of design, production, sourcing, marketing and waste management processes, while better monitoring carbon emissions and circularity. Talent in all organizations will need to retrain to meet these new demands. Companies must identify the skills needed for their most sustainable business models and work to acquire and build them internally.
By maintaining vision, moving nimbly, investing intelligently, and embracing opportunities instead of getting stuck with risk, leaders can improve the future of their companies and the planet.
Contact us for advice on your company's sustainable development projects by writing to info@lca-ambiente.com or at info@scfinternational.it
Our experts will be able to show you the steps you need to take to achieve and report on your goals.