How Sustainability Initiative Mapping Can Help Your Organization Achieve Its Sustainability Goals

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In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of the need for businesses to embrace sustainability and take action to reduce their environmental impact. But with so many different sustainability initiatives out there, it can be difficult for businesses to know where to start.

 

That’s where sustainability initiative mapping comes in. Sustainability initiative mapping is a process that helps businesses identify and prioritize their sustainability initiatives, map out their environmental, social, and economic impacts, and develop strategies to mitigate those impacts. Here’s a closer look at how sustainability initiative mapping can help your business achieve its sustainability goals.

 

Identifying Sustainability Opportunities

 

Sustainability initiative mapping helps businesses identify opportunities to improve their environmental performance and reduce their impact. One key aspect of this is that sustainability initiatives often require companies to look beyond their own operations and consider the broader environmental, social, and economic context in which they operate.

 

In other words, many sustainability initiatives require companies to look externally for solutions rather than developing something of their own that they can create an ecosystem around. For example, a company that wants to reduce its carbon footprint might need to work with suppliers to reduce emissions throughout the supply chain, invest in renewable energy sources, or partner with customers to encourage sustainable transportation options.

 

By mapping out your environmental impacts and considering the broader context in which you operate, you can identify areas where you can make changes to reduce your environmental impact, conserve resources, and minimize waste. This might involve exploring new technologies, collaborating with other companies or organizations, or engaging with customers and other stakeholders to identify new opportunities for sustainability.

 

Ultimately, by taking a proactive approach to sustainability initiative mapping, businesses can identify and prioritize the most effective and impactful initiatives, and develop strategies for implementing them in a way that is practical and achievable. This can help businesses not only reduce their environmental impact but also create value for customers, employees, investors, and other stakeholders by addressing sustainability challenges and contributing to a more sustainable future.

 

Prioritizing Sustainability Initiatives

 

Once a company has identified sustainability opportunities through initiative mapping, the next step is to prioritize which initiatives to pursue. This can be a complex process, as there may be many initiatives to choose from, each with their own costs, benefits, and risks.

 

One way to prioritize sustainability initiatives is to focus on those that align with your company’s overall goals and values. For example, a company that values environmental stewardship may prioritize initiatives that reduce its carbon footprint or water usage, while a company that values social responsibility may prioritize initiatives that support local communities or improve working conditions in its supply chain.

 

Another approach is to assess the potential impact and feasibility of each initiative. This might involve conducting a cost-benefit analysis, assessing the level of stakeholder support, and evaluating the risks and challenges associated with each initiative. By weighing these factors against one another, a company can identify which initiatives are most likely to have a positive impact while also being achievable and cost-effective.

 

In some cases, prioritizing sustainability initiatives may require a trade-off between short-term financial goals and long-term sustainability goals. For example, a company may need to invest in renewable energy sources or sustainable production methods that have higher upfront costs but can deliver long-term cost savings and environmental benefits.

 

One example of prioritizing sustainability initiatives is Patagonia, an outdoor apparel company that has made sustainability a core part of its brand identity. In 2019, Patagonia announced that it would donate the $10 million it saved from tax cuts under the Trump administration to support grassroots environmental organizations. This decision aligned with the company’s values and demonstrated a commitment to investing in sustainability initiatives that have a positive impact beyond its own operations.

 

Ultimately, prioritizing sustainability initiatives requires a holistic approach that takes into account a company’s goals, values, stakeholders, and broader social and environmental context. By prioritizing sustainability initiatives, companies can not only reduce their environmental impact but also create value for their stakeholders and contribute to a more sustainable future.

 

Engaging With Stakeholders

 

Sustainability initiatives often involve engaging with a range of stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and local communities. By involving these groups in the sustainability process, companies can gain valuable insights, build stronger relationships, and create a shared sense of purpose and commitment towards sustainability.

 

One example of effective stakeholder engagement is Unilever, a global consumer goods company that has made sustainability a core part of its business strategy. Unilever engages with a range of stakeholders through its Sustainable Living Plan, which outlines a set of targets and commitments aimed at reducing the company’s environmental impact and improving social outcomes.

 

Through this plan, Unilever has engaged with suppliers to reduce their environmental impact, launched sustainable products to meet consumer demand, and collaborated with NGOs and governments to address social and environmental challenges. By engaging with stakeholders from a purpose perspective, Unilever has created a sense of shared responsibility towards sustainability and built trust and loyalty among its stakeholders.

 

Engaging with stakeholders also creates opportunities for innovation and growth. By listening to the needs and concerns of stakeholders, companies can identify new market opportunities, develop more sustainable products and services, and strengthen their brand reputation.

 

For example, outdoor clothing company Patagonia has engaged with its customers and employees to develop sustainable products and initiatives that align with its brand values. Through its Worn Wear program, Patagonia encourages customers to repair and reuse their clothing rather than buy new items, reducing waste and promoting a culture of sustainability. This program has not only reduced the company’s environmental impact but also created a loyal customer base that values sustainability.

 

Creating a Culture of Sustainability

 

Creating a culture of sustainability within a company means embedding sustainability into every aspect of its operations, from its core values to its daily practices. This involves creating a shared sense of purpose and commitment towards sustainability, and empowering employees to take ownership of sustainability initiatives.

 

Deep creativity freedom is a key element of creating a culture of sustainability. Companies that foster a culture of sustainability encourage employees to think creatively about how to reduce their environmental impact and contribute to a more sustainable future. By giving employees the freedom to explore new ideas and approaches, companies can tap into a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and drive innovation and growth.

 

One example of a company that has successfully created a culture of sustainability is Interface, a global manufacturer of commercial flooring. Interface has a mission to become a sustainable, restorative company, and has implemented a range of sustainability initiatives across its operations.

 

Interface has created a culture of sustainability by empowering its employees to take ownership of sustainability initiatives. The company encourages employees to think creatively about how to reduce their environmental impact, and has established a Sustainability Task Force to drive sustainability initiatives across its operations.

 

Interface has also embedded sustainability into its core values and business strategy. The company has set ambitious sustainability targets, such as becoming carbon negative by 2040, and has aligned its business model with the principles of the circular economy. By creating a culture of sustainability, Interface has not only reduced its environmental impact but also created a strong sense of purpose and commitment among its employees.

 

Relevance for today is another important aspect of creating a culture of sustainability. In today’s world, consumers and investors are increasingly focused on sustainability and are demanding that companies take action to address environmental and social challenges. By creating a culture of sustainability, companies can stay relevant and competitive in today’s market, and build a more sustainable and prosperous future.

 

Measuring and Reporting Progress

 

Measuring and reporting progress is essential for sustainability initiatives. It enables companies to track their performance, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate their commitment to sustainability to stakeholders. However, many organizations face limitations when it comes to transparency, such as concerns about disclosing sensitive information or uncertainty about what to measure and report.

 

Sustainability initiative mapping can help companies overcome these limitations. By developing their own sustainability initiatives, companies have more control over what they measure and report. They can tailor their sustainability initiatives to their unique circumstances and priorities, and report on progress in a way that is meaningful and relevant to their stakeholders.

 

Moreover, sustainability initiative mapping can help companies identify the most effective metrics for measuring and reporting progress. By engaging with stakeholders and understanding their priorities and expectations, companies can select the metrics that are most relevant and credible, and ensure that their reporting is transparent and accurate.

 

One example of a company that has used sustainability initiative mapping to measure and report progress is Danone, a multinational food products company. Danone has developed a comprehensive sustainability initiative called “One Planet, One Health”, which aims to create sustainable value for all stakeholders, including consumers, employees, suppliers, and communities.

 

As part of this initiative, Danone has set ambitious sustainability targets, such as achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and using 100% renewable electricity by 2030. The company regularly reports on its progress towards these targets, and has developed a sustainability reporting framework that is aligned with international standards and guidelines.

 

Through sustainability initiative mapping, Danone has been able to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability, engage with stakeholders on sustainability issues, and identify areas for improvement. By reporting transparently on its sustainability performance, Danone has also built trust and credibility with its stakeholders, and strengthened its reputation as a responsible and sustainable company.


Conclusion

 

We strongly believe that sustainability initiative mapping is a game-changer for businesses. It not only helps them achieve their sustainability goals but also enables them to take meaningful action towards creating a more sustainable future. By identifying opportunities for improvement, prioritizing the most impactful initiatives, engaging with stakeholders, creating a culture of sustainability, and measuring progress, businesses can stay on track and hold themselves accountable. Through sustainability initiative mapping, businesses have the power to break free from the limitations of today’s transparency standards and chart their own course towards a better future. By taking these steps towards sustainability, your business can not only make a positive impact on the environment but also set itself up for long-term success.

Marketing Sustainability

How to Choose Your Sustainability Initiatives – (Private sector)

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How to Choose Your Sustainability Initiatives in the Private Sector

Sustainability initiatives are both critical and fragile to a business.

Whether you have embarked into sustainability before or thinking of incorporating it today, knowledge, strategy, and economic returns all play a role in the success of your sustainability initiative.

To reap the benefits of sustainability within your industry, understand who this initiative will affect.

For example, suppose your goal is to market and publish yourselves as a sustainable company (brand impact). In this case, the people that need to hear about the initiative the most are your customers.

In another example where the goal is to save costs or gain revenue (monetary impact), your initiative needs to resonate with your 1st-degree connections such as clients/partners/shareholders.

Your goal describes the reach.

By understanding who you want to reach with your sustainability initiative, you can start to know the different routes accessible within your company.

Note: Identifying whom to reach can be determined by short and long term company objectives.

Now that you have an idea of who you’re trying to address, let’s make sense of the roadmap below.

If you’re thinking about what kind of different initiatives you can consider, there isn’t just one perfect initiative. Instead, understanding the dynamics of your company’s ethos and operations will get you closer to creating your own initiative. Initiatives that will stick and become perpetual as you focus on creating value and impact in your business.

Your sustainability matters.

 

Choosing the correct initiative:

Once you have an idea of who you want to reach, you can then go about and plan different initiatives around said demographic. But, again, let it be simple and non-invasive.

The whole point of adopting sustainability is to integrate it into your model. You don’t want to overcomplicate anything. On the other hand you don’t want to hand the keys and let someone else dictate your sustainability either.

For example, suppose you’re doing outdoor activities as an organization such as organizing a trash pick up day or a tree planting day. In this case, the only people who benefit from this is the organization that arranges it in the first place. You might get a few pictures for content and “green-wash” data, such as daily picking 50 kgs of trash. But, again, the only people who benefit are the organizers. Your customers are educated enough to know this isn’t helping the root cause.

Though I do understand that the only options you are provided are limited, that’s where developing your own initiative comes into play.

Identify a simple initiative that your company can scale. To understand how to scale, you can use the TAM SAM SOM method and dot down how the roadmap would look. Again, this would be a straightforward step to identify how your initiative can take shape.

Other methods provide more accurate results, but those require resources and time to perform. For example, we map out initiatives every other day at Anima using various methods such as MOST analysis, GHG mapping and our own processes depending on the industry.

Sustainability doesn’t require additional resources but instead streamlines your resources into your company’s vision. 

Since your vision is targeted towards a sustainability impact. Henceforth, the initiative and commitments should align with whom you are addressing and milestones you need to achieve as your company progresses.


Setting milestones:

Milestones that you set for your initiative show the progress as a company. It showcases proof that what you have committed to has movement. If you fail to meet your targets, you can interact with the audience you cater to with your initiative should the need arrive (and it will). This in turn brings your 1st degree network closer.

The idea of transparency is a fragile outlook for a company but executed right; this fragile view resonates with the audience you cater to.

The reason why audiences resonate with this fragile outlook is because of a term called business consciousness. It is to remind them that the brand you are creating does not only care about the growth but also about the environment and socio-economic concerns.


Conclusion: Choose the correct initiative

Suppose you favor the initiative that doesn’t provide value or benefit to any enviro-socio-economic areas. In that case, the company is held accountable at the end.

Sustainability does not require additional resources; instead, it puts your existing resources towards the company’s vision.

There are a lot of easy way outs when it comes to sustainability, such as paying an organizer, acquiring various reports, even an expensive marketing campaign to show you are genuinely sustainable. But to reap the benefits and gain the expected ROI. Transparency is key.

Where have you reached in your sustainable journey?

sustainability

Profiting through sustainability in business?

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Profiting through sustainability in business?

Building a profitable business is a challenge, and running a sustainable business can be tricky. But if we rethink and reimagine possibilities, we can achieve anything.

To define profit in this article, consider the gain in finances being the difference between how much money is invested and money gained—assuming that there is a way to calculate sustainability impacts and metrics that result in monetary gain.

Profit is a derivative of the economic area in the graph below. Usually, for a business to profit through sustainability initiatives, there needs to be an impact on society. Here we define society as your customers, clients, partners, collaborations, or anyone involved outside the company that your services and products create value.

Now to create a significant enough impact in the societal area, environmental implications takes shape. Studies have shown that consumers of any service or product will pay higher, buy more, and resonate well with a business that cares about the environment and is doing its best to create a future-fit world.

When you read articles about sustainability, people mention that the environment is the highest priority, and this is true. But since your objectives are different, we at Anima feel that the commonality of any objective is to create fuel for the business, which is money.

So if everyone says, Environment —> Society —> Economy, we say Economy —> Society —> Environment. But, unfortunately, for an organization like yours to take any action, money is the language to go for; even though morally, our priorities are dead set on saving the environment, we tend to get confused on where to begin.

It’s imperative that everyone, even you, make a positive impact on the environment. Unfortunately, our days to save the planet are incredibly limited. We at Anima are highly motivated to solve challenges organizations such as yours face to better the world by taking action. We design tailored sustainability initiatives that your business can thrive on.

carbon off

Carbon offsets aren’t the solution but are necessary for markets to snowball.

by with No Comment ComprehensiveSustainability Initiatives

At this very moment, organizations (both private and government) are creating best-hope estimates in their decarbonization plans – keep in mind that they are only estimates.

In the race to make organizational pledges, commitments and guarantees to decarbonize, the carbon-offset market needs to become more significant and have standard procedures in place quickly. n

The current struggle of any organization today is to find a feasible, sustainable way to remove carbon altogether from its supply and value chain. We are a few years away from fossil or hydrogen fuel technology to break even. We’re in this awkward phase where the solution is not clear, though the goal is.

Many small businesses centred around sustainable solutions have sprung up over the past five years. Most of them will provide a service or product that solves the most pressing issue. One of the cardinal rules of achieving sustainability is collaboration. Given the options available today, organizations will take any help.

THERE ARE THREE TIERS OF EMISSIONS ORGANIZATIONS CAN TRACK TODAY.

  • Tier 1- These are the direct emissions from operations owned or controlled by an organization.

  • Tier 2- Emissions consumed indirectly by the organization, such as heat, steam, electricity or cooling.

  • Tier 3- These emissions include everything indirect through value or supply chains.

Tier 3 emissions are the most difficult to keep track of for an organization. Keeping track of tier 3 emissions requires complete transparency between all players in the value chain. It requires organizations to question everything from where each fabric is sourced to its location, ethicality, and sourcing.

There is no sugar coating around it. If you are dependent on your supply chain, you are responsible for all three emission tiers.

 

Today, organizations may use carbon offsetting to achieve net-zero emissions, especially to compensate for tier 3 emissions. But carbon accounts and offsets must be standardized.

 

Specific demographics might consider carbon offsetting to be the lazy way out. And it is a persuasive argument. But Organizations use carbon offsetting as the last tool in their belt. Tier 3 is almost impossible to keep track of in-house.

 

Green/carbon financing has taken a lot of steps since its inception. Banks spend weeks talking to C-level executives to understand their plans because this, in turn, affects the bank’s plans.

Lets talk about the carbon offset market.

It isn’t news that this market is in its infancy stage. However, the market is both problematic and filled with opportunities. It has to snowball and to a scale where impact is visible from the naked eye.

 

The year 2050 net-zero targets will demand 7.6 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide to achieve net-zero status. That’s 7,600,000,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide, seriously tonnes (1 tonne = 1000 Kilo gs).

 
 

At the shallow end, markets for carbon offsetting will quadruple – Bank of America.

Today, there are four primary registries for carbon offsets: Verified Carbon Standard, or Verra; The Gold Standard, the American Carbon Registry and the Climate Action Reserve. All are non-profit, non-governmental organizations.

 

Note: These organizations have to come together soon to form some standardized process.

 

There’s bound to be bad press around carbon offsetting. It is inevitable. At this stage, we can’t be picky. There are a small number of cases of greenwashing, and it gives the entire market a bad reputation. But planting a tree is still desirable, compared to not planting one.

 

 
HEARD OF THE NEW TOKEN - CARBON CREDITS?

We’ll define what carbon credit is a few lines below, but let’s take a quick look at its value in

 

2019 – 8$

 

2020- 18$

 

2021- 35 $

 

It’s 2022, and it’s not getting any lower. Why the rise? Let’s define what a carbon credit is first.

  

According to the Corporate credit institute, a carbon credit is a tradeable permit or certificate that provides the holder of the credit the right to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide or an equivalent of another greenhouse gas (GHG).

 

The increase in price relays one thing. If organizations can pay their carbon away, they will.

Let’s look at it from a basic level. If a farmer can demonstrate a reduction in one metric tonne of CO2 or its equivalent on their farming operation, they should be able to create and sell a carbon credit.

 

There is a more pragmatic practice today if you’ve heard of the term ESG investing. Organizations have started investing in forestry and community climate facilities. The carbon not emitted through these facilities sells as carbon credits by investing in these areas. As a result, the term offset has a more precise meaning now.

 

 

At Anima, we see any movement as progress. Is this the right direction? Of course, it is. Any forward or adjacent movement is a good movement. But do we think that this is the only way to move? Most definitely not.

 
 

The key to progressing sustainability within an organization is by being proactive. These solutions provide a reactive premise because they were designed reactively. The second something new comes up, we need it. And we must support these projects on all fronts. Time is of the essence in our world. Every year there seems to be one calamity after another, and it’s not helping our cause.

 

Nonetheless, at Anima, we believe that every organization has something more to contribute. A solution to sustainable issues that genuinely defines the organization.

 

 

Prevention is always better than cure.

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4 sustainability transitions set to gain traction in 2021

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4 sustainability transitions set to gain traction in 2021

The buzz around sustainability has increased since the start around the pandemic. Industries and business models are trasinstion to cater to customers’ needs and demands. These shifts are driving the global population to give more importance to equality, sustainability, health and the environment.
    1. Smart cities and communities: Using renewable energy, multiple modes of transport, circular models, and low carbon emissions are some of the elements of a smart city. Dubai has aimed to make itself a bicycle friendly city and reduce carbon emissions by 16% in 2021.
    1. Digitalization: Advancements in AI and blockchain allows transparency and traceability through an organizations operation, which has grown increasingly important recents. The rise of the digital industry for software services, education, healthcare and finances saw a major rise in 2020.
    1. Ethical investing: According to a survey conducted by Arabian Business, 90% of investors are interested in sustainable investments, with 42% planning to invest 5-15% of their funds for such projects. The rise of women investors is growing as well, and you can read more about this on our series titles “Gender lens investing”.
    1. Youth engagement: The youth are the greatest asset we have. A study done by WEF (World Economic Forum) stated that 58% people aged 16-21 would invest and purchase products that are eco-friendly, even though they may be more expensive. Knowing the dangers that may be coming up soon in our world, the youth are working for climate action to limit climate change.
More initiatives are being taken around the world, and the transition to sustainability would be quite evident in the years to come.