The Meaning, Changing Perceptions, and Expanding Agendas

Traditionally, sustainability has focused on the direct effect climate change has had on the environment, but now there’s an increased emphasis on social equality and responsible governance within business models and systems such as sustainable supply chains, circular economies, and ethical labor practices. Sustainability is now a significant driving force in all industries, and it’s helping to influence everything from blockchain and big data to the way smart cities are designed.

What is sustainability?

Defined simply, sustainability is about acting responsibly now to safeguard our future communities and the environment. However, sustainability is not the same thing as environmentalism. While environmentalism is part of it, the concept of sustainability is much broader. It’s the integration of environmental health, social equity, and economic vitality to create thriving, healthy, diverse, and resilient communities for this generation and generations to come.⁶

The focus of sustainability

Globally, sustainability is understood as having three different focus areas: environmental, social, and governance. These are also the main criteria by which most sustainable agendas and development plans are measured. Environmental sustainability considers how an individual or a company performs as a steward of nature. It’s defined as the responsibility to conserve natural resources and protect global ecosystems to support health and wellbeing.⁷ Social sustainability examines how a business manages relationships with suppliers, employees, customers, and the communities where it operates. This includes reporting on diversity, equity, and inclusion. And lastly, sustainable governance deals with responsible leadership, internal controls, audits, executive pay and the rights of the shareholders, among others.⁸ It can be defined as the process in which a company implements sustainability strategies across the business, manages goal-setting and reporting processes, strengthens relations with external stakeholders, and ensures overall accountability.

How is sustainability measured?

Our research found that the most common factors that are used to report on sustainability dovetail with the globally-accepted standards, which are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that the United Nations first adopted in 2015.⁹ These goals also straddle the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) categories used widely in the corporate world. The ESG criteria are a set of standards for a company’s operations that sustainability-focused investors use to screen investments.

What are the Sustainable Development Goals and ESG Pillars?

The SDGs are interdependent and interconnected goals, and some of the SDG’s work across more than one of the three ESG categories. Businesses apply varying importance to the ESG pillars depending on the industries they’re in, their commercial goals, and their future growth plans. The global sustainability agenda defines businesses as an essential partner in addressing the SDGs, both in providing finances and creating products and services that address sustainability.¹⁰

Businesses need to ensure they work towards the SDGs that are most applicable to their business. Every company requires a bespoke sustainability development plan, but currently, most businesses report on three primary issues.

On a business level, there’s plenty of motivation to use the globally accepted SDGs and ESGs, as long as the correct industry-specific ones are used as benchmarks. Companies with high ESG ratings consistently outperform the market in both the medium and long term.¹¹

What are the ESG priorities for businesses?

According to our research, businesses’ interpretation of sustainability is aligned with those on an individual level, and both have been affected by the pandemic and climate change. The largest ESG priority for businesses focuses on social issues, and external research shows that the pandemic has amplified existing inequalities, especially within diversity, equity, and inclusion.¹² As a result, more individuals are prioritizing it within their business needs.

What are your business’s ESG priorities?

The second priority deals with environmental issues: people are sharing how they want to live more sustainable lives, and this has been heightened during the pandemic. Working from home has emphasized our impact on the environment, from the resources we consume to the waste we generate. This trend also raises another vital point: the drivers of altruistic motivation and the climate emergency are linked. As the danger of climate risk increases and the effects become more evident globally, individuals will be motivated to do more in terms of sustainability. This means the urgency behind sustainability and altruistic motivation will increase with the pressure of climate change.¹³

The urgency of sustainability

As a working professional, how do you see the focus on sustainability goals changing?

Our survey reveals that most respondents place a different urgency on SDGs in a current setting versus which ones they interpret to be most important in building a resilient future. There are two notable survey patterns. First, the importance of climate action and socially-led drivers for the future, like ending poverty and hunger, has jumped to the top of the list. The second pattern aligns with the rise of the climate emergency. The year 2019 was the second-hottest on record, and 6.7 million people were displaced from their homes due to the increase in natural disasters linked to climate change.¹⁴ Every species on this planet is now threatened by these rising dangers; climate change is no longer a discussion point, it’s the world’s biggest crisis. Like sustainability, the climate emergency has several definitions, but they all define a drastic call to action to stop climate change’s adverse and potentially irreversible effects on the environment. It’s becoming a mainstream media description, and several publications, such as The Guardian, have changed their language to replace ‘climate change’ with ‘climate emergency’ as they found the original phrase to be too passive for such an alarming reality.¹⁵

The effect of the climate emergency on sustainability agendas is clear: it has spurred urgent action for authentic, lasting changes – both in individuals and on a corporate level.

Doing good for society can’t just be a marketing strategy; it’s now a necessity. Today, consumers are showing their power by holding businesses accountable for socially conscious business decisions. Nearly 80% of consumers indicate sustainability is important to them, and 60% are willing to change their shopping habits to reduce environmental impact.¹⁶ Based on this, not embracing sustainable business practice poses a serious business risk.

Sustainability is also driving the growth of impact investments. These are investments made to create beneficial and measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Early in 2020, Blackrock, the world’s largest money manager in the world with over US$7 trillion in assets under management, announced that sustainability has become a crucial part of their investment criteria.¹⁷

These drivers have already influenced change: the last few years have seen a marked increase in corporate sustainability commitments.¹⁸ From starting carbon-neutral goals like net zero through to pivoting products and services, many leading businesses have realized that sustainability is not just a checkbox to be ticked for Corporate Social Investment (CSI) or Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); it needs to be part of their core of operations.¹⁹

Businesses that can see climate change – and sustainability – as an opportunity will be best placed to unlock innovations, ignite unexpected collaborations, and help build a better society for all.²⁰ The real question that this effort poses: what are the sustainability changes you should make in your company to unlock these opportunities, and how should they be implemented for best results?

Collaboration will be your solution to achieving the SDGs

Our survey insights show that business partnerships are vital in tackling sustainability challenges, and, as an added benefit, they can also offer a competitive advantage. While the results showed that only a low percentage of respondents (5%) recognised SDG 17 (Partnerships) as a top priority, most respondents (66%) believe that delivering successful sustainable development is a joint responsibility for governments, non-governmental organizations, non-profit organizations, companies, and individuals. A real-life example of this is the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As a global firm that engages with business, government, and the social sector, BCG focuses intensively on SDGs. However, they place particular emphasis on SDG 17 to achieve their company goals, as it’s through partnerships that they succeed in sustainability.²¹

Education, which is just after climate action, is highlighted as the UN’s second most urgent SDG. Upskilling is a vital social requirement, and crucial for the development of sustainability and its execution at a business level. Upgrading skills may unlock new career opportunities, but could also have a bigger positive impact within new partnerships. Empowering professionals and organizations to upskill will inspire a collective and transformative move towards sustainable practices.

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