INSIGHTS
Strategic priorities in modern sustainability management
The landscape of sustainability management is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by technological advancements, increasing regulatory pressures and evolving stakeholder expectations. Our research has identified three key themes that are shaping the strategic priorities of sustainability leaders across various industries.
C. Adapting to changing regulatory and stakeholder expectations
2. Adapting to changing regulatory and stakeholder expectations
As more regulations are coming down the line, including financial regulations, organisations are finding new ways to adapt and benefit from these new reporting regulations.
Biodiversity net gain regulations present both opportunities and challenges for organisations. Edward Barlow from Local Partnerships LLP explains: "For baselines, there's a metric in place. You conduct an appropriate survey, which provides the baseline. However, there's a significant risk of gaming the system, where people might buy a site, degrade it, then conduct the survey, making the 10% improvement seem minimal." To address this, Barlow suggests alternative approaches: "One idea could be increasing the net gain requirement to 20% in cases of enhanced uncertainty regarding the baseline."
Some organisations are turning regulatory requirements into business opportunities. Alistair Blackmore from Bidwells shares an innovative approach: "Our rural and natural capital teams collaborated to identify ways to deliver BNG credits, developing the largest such project in the UK. This has not only supported local developers in meeting the BNG hierarchy requirements but also bolstered our own top line."
For baselines, there's a metric in place. You conduct an appropriate survey, which provides the baseline. However, there's a significant risk of gaming the system, where people might buy a site, degrade it, then conduct the survey, making the 10% improvement seem minimal.
Edward Barlow
DIRECTOR - CLIMATE, LOCAL PARTNERSHIPS LLP
Collaboration across industry is key to promote knowledge sharing, improve visibility and transparency. Moving from competition to collaboration will accelerate the action and allow us to not only monitor but also improve our ethical and sustainable practices throughout the supply chain.
Anna Richardson
ESG LEADER
The increasing emphasis on embodied carbon and scope three emissions is driving changes in sustainability strategies. Carl Brooks from CBRE notes: "We're actively enhancing our capabilities to assess and mitigate the environmental impact of our projects, helping our clients advance towards their goals of achieving net zero emissions."
Industry-wide collaboration is emerging as a key strategy for addressing regulatory challenges. Anna Richardson, formerly of GSK, emphasises its importance: "Collaboration across industry is key to promote knowledge sharing, improve visibility and transparency. Moving from competition to collaboration will accelerate the action and allow us to not only monitor but also improve our ethical and sustainable practices throughout the supply chain."
For many organisations, meeting new requirements is closely tied to reputation and strategy. "Recognition for our sustainability efforts, like being highly ranked on Barron's sustainability list and improving our CDP score, enhances our reputation and confirms the effectiveness of our organisational strategy," explains Carl Brooks from CBRE.
The role of technology in meeting new regulatory requirements is significant. Geospatial technology and historical records are playing an important role in supporting fair and accurate baselines for biodiversity improvements, as highlighted by Edward Barlow.
Recognition for our sustainability efforts, like being highly ranked on Barron's sustainability list and improving our CDP score, enhances our reputation and confirms the effectiveness of our organisational strategy.
Carl Brooks
GLOBAL HEAD OF ESG - PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, CBRE GROUP, INC.
As regulatory pressures continue to increase, organisations are recognising the need for proactive adaptation. This involves not only compliance but also seeing regulatory changes as opportunities for innovation, collaboration and strategic differentiation. The ability to anticipate and effectively respond to these changes is becoming a key competitive advantage in the sustainability landscape.
