How can you make your business more climate resilient and low-carbon?

Don't forget that there are other frameworks that you can be using to conduct the assessment. For example: ISO 14001 - It not only helps you understand how your business impacts the environment but also helps improve regulatory compliance. Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) - This offers a more comprehensive view of sustainability and can be appealing to a broader range of stakeholders. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) - This can provide new insights into how to reduce carbon footprint across your entire value chain, not just your operations.

When assessing risks and opportunities, I believe every company should see themselves as a subject and an object. Become a subject means you contribute to climate change. Counting your business emissions should be a first step before assessing the risks and opportunities. With the right methodology such as GHG Protocol and ISO 14064-1, incorporating to other standards and frameworks will be much relevant. Act as an object means you need to prepare your business to become climate resilient company. Assessing both of transition and physical risks will help to identify what your business can improve and mitigate.

Understanding and addressing climate change is no longer an option but a business imperative. Using frameworks like TCFD, SBTi, or CDP helps you navigate this complex landscape, turning climate challenges into opportunities and staying competitive in a rapidly changing world.

Risks and opportunities cut both ways. While an obvious place to start is the risk impact of climate change on your business, it is equally important to look at the impact of your business operations on climate. Ie, to what extent are your operations contributing to the problem. Frequently this will identify opportunities for efficiency improvements, cost savings and product innovation.

Some ways to assess the risks and opportunities of climate change for your business include: 1. A climate risk assessment can help identify the potential impacts of climate change on your business and develop strategies to manage those risks. 2. Engaging with stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, and investors, can help understand their expectations and concerns regarding climate change and develop strategies to meet those expectations. 3. Scenario analysis can help understand how different climate scenarios may impact your business and develop strategies to adapt to those scenarios. 4. Collaborating with other businesses and organizations can help share knowledge and resources to become climate resilient and low-carbon.

Bottom line, be clear about your goal. Align it to a major agenda like Net Zero, True Zero or Regenerative. Use the SDGs to provide rigor in your transition strategy. At the ESG Institute, we've identified 5 stages in the corporate sustainability journey. This is the foundation.

Setting ambitious climate goals and strategies is not just about compliance; it's about future-proofing your business. Embracing SBTs, TCFD, and aligning with SDGs shows a commitment to long-term success, fostering innovation, resilience, and sustainability, while meeting stakeholder expectations. It's a win-win for business and the planet.

An opportunity but as usual, a challenge for the global companies is to be existed at differant territories which has differant perception level of the sustainablity. Therefore, defining the level of awareness and regulations within the country can be very important to start with, even though our concerns and solutions are at a global level.

Besides setting SMART goals based on the mentioned frameworks, our overall plan must allow us to keep committed, flexible to adapt, to monitor efficiently our progress and to create value through green-innovation.

I agree. even other frameworks as the the B Impact Assessment can help look holistically on how to become a sustainable business. The recent integration with the SDGs makes it a first tool, free of charge, to stat analysing and craft a strategy for improvement.

Create a living project without any grey space left inside for the operation staf which will be regulary updated in the meaning of all aspects regarding to sustainabilty. The need for qualified human resources to work in this field will be one of the main problems.

Implementing climate actions and sustainability solutions is more than a responsibility; it's an opportunity. Embracing innovation and technology not only benefits the environment but also makes good business sense. It's a proactive approach that enhances competitiveness and secures a sustainable future.

When it comes to implementing actions and solutions, the action plan or goals should be first as clear as possible, in order to be able to prioritize and use smartly our resources. The chosen approach is not as important as how we monitor the progress of our analysis and how we respond to the challenges and market changes that might arise.

Implementation is by far the most difficult part. A factor overlooked for the success is how are you changing your KPIs? are you embedding sustainabilty choices into your strategy? are you still only focusing on the bottom line or thinking broader? those are critical steps for any manager and leader.

Corporate sustainability is a transformation program. Test the rigor of your actions by evaluating how much attention you are paying to progress in your physical world impact (waste, water, biodiversity etc) and how much you are doing on the Social and Governance side of ESG.

Monitoring progress is vital to ensure your climate and sustainability efforts stay on course. Regular data-driven assessments help identify successes and areas that need improvement. This information empowers you to make informed decisions, foster innovation, and demonstrate your commitment to stakeholders, fostering trust and long-term success.

KPIs selection are vital to the monitoring stage. Depending of the industry we are assessing, will be the SMART selection of the relevant KPIs. The data collection process must be continuous, relevant, trustworthy and comparable. Also, should be easily available for analysis and reporting as needed. Transparency should be the norm during this stage.

I agree. One important part, especially for SMEs is to seek support to enhance capacity buidling to improve in the monitoring and evalutation of the impact.

Ideally, KPIs have already been set upfront at the strategy-setting phase. They are essential to provide measurements for the goals set.

Effective communication of your climate and sustainability results is like a bridge that connects your efforts with the understanding and support of stakeholders. Transparency and clarity build trust and inspire others to join your journey toward a more sustainable future.

More than just plain communication I would point out that is about integrating climate action into the business DNA, into the business core. We could mention several effective ways of communication and platforms, however, the impact should be tangible. From the leadership to the business plan, green innovation must be present in every stage of decision-making. Be that we communicate in our sustainability reports (GRI, SASB and so on), projects, seminars, trainings, feedback, evaluations etc. No matter what we do, and how we do it, the call to action and credible results must be present.

communicate the story can be a wonderful opportunity to engage your staff and the broader stakholders. It is not risk free, but as well constructive criticism can help improve your strategy. A certification like B corp can showcase immediately to the public your commitment.

Collaboration is really key in this journey. Working with peers can help you overcome challenges and as well act as a motivator. Local chapters of the UN Global compact, B Local or other fora can be ideal places to learn and share your journey.

Sustainability is a collaborative domain, network-based approach, engaging with ongoing peer network platforms basically imbibing the principles of SDG 17 - Partnerships for all is vital in driving any sustainability agenda. Stakeholder engagement is vital for developing knowledge, leveraging strengths and collaborations with innovators, solution providers and civil society enables shared learnings on generating collective impact. Today the world is not about competition but one of collaboration as through synergetic approach, we can collectively address diverse challenges and achieve a joint and meaningful impact.

See your sustainability journey as a continuous process of iteration and acceleration. The sooner you are underway, the faster you can learn. This is a practical lead indicator of your business's ability to take on new opportunities and thus business growth.

As in every transformation few key factors to consider are support from the higher level, a change in the incentive system to embed the strategy in your culture and the costant feedback and learning. The race towards net zero is constantly evolving, standards and regulations are as well changing so it is continuous improvement journey.

Establishing precise goals for lowering emissions and enhancing resilience is the first step. To determine your present carbon footprint and climate-related risks, start with a baseline assessment. Create methods for gathering information on resource utilization and emissions. Choose key performance indicators that are consistent with your sustainability goals and evaluate your development frequently. Transparent reporting on your emissions, adaptation initiatives, and progress toward your objectives should be shared. Utilize the information in your data to continuously improve your plans, increase the sustainability of your company, and strengthen its resistance to climate change.