ERM Sustainability Institute

33% of the technology companies we interviewed in our recent report “Breaking Chains, Building Sustainably: Overcoming supply chain barriers“, mentioned scorecards as a recent successful initiative implemented to support their sustainable supply chain goals. Find scorecard best practices here: https://lnkd.in/dZCJZFuT #SupplyChain #Circularity #Sustainability Ed Struzik, CPIM, Dia Rizakos, Katie Langemeier

In case you missed it. ⬇️ Our “Breakthroughs and Backlash: The Dual Forces Shaping Sustainability Leadership” webinar with our partners at GlobeScan explored findings from the 2024 Sustainability Leaders Survey. Panelists discussed trends such as the growing role of regulations, AI's impact on sustainability reporting, and the challenges posed by the ESG backlash, especially in North America. They also highlighted the need for businesses to deeply integrate sustainability into their core strategies and scale up solutions effectively. Watch the discussion between Mark Lee (ERM), Chris Coulter (GlobeScan), Alex Hausman (Google), and Stacy Mahler (Siemens Smart Infrastructure) and gain more insights on the topic here: https://lnkd.in/dFqaPGgt #Sustainability #SustainabilityLeadership

Leading up to Climate Week NYC, the world experienced the warmest 12 months in 125,000 years, and the economic damage caused by weather-related disasters is soaring. At the same time, fossil fuel-related emissions keep breaking records. As attendees reflect on a week spent in New York, one thing is clear: embedding sustainability in the nuts and bolts of operations is the only way to address the deepening climate and sustainability challenges and ensure long-term commercial resilience. So, it’s time for companies to step up and translate their sustainability goals into action. One of the ways to do so, of course, is switching to renewable energy. Renewable energy has many environmental benefits, ranging from climate change mitigation impacts, air quality advantages, and minimal water use and water quality improvements. On the other hand, renewables often have unseen or unnoticed negative environmental effects. With this in mind, we’ve compiled the newest report in our "Renewables Conundrums series - Building Benefit: Four steps to mitigate renewable energy’s environmental downsides". Access it here: https://lnkd.in/d3CkD9HD #Renewables #RenewableEnergy #ClimateWeekNYC Andrew Angle

Climate Week NYC brings home the importance of speeding up the net-zero economy but also that this transition needs to be just. Our new briefing explains how companies can make that work.   The rallying cry of this year’s Climate Week NYC captures it well: It’s time. For companies, it’s time to step up and decisively switch from setting climate goals to putting them into operational action. This is the best way to both lower risks and seize the economic opportunities of the current transformation.  As companies start to plan for a net zero economy, there is global recognition that they must ensure their climate transition is “just.” The current discourse in defining the term “just” refers to an ambitious aspiration: that no one is left behind and that sustainable development (as captured in the UN Sustainable Development Goals) is integral to the plan. Learn more about Just Transition in our report “Embedding Just Transition into Corporate Climate Action Strategies“: https://lnkd.in/eyg_sEMf #BCTI #JustTransition #ClimateWeekNYC Alexandra Guaqueta, Sabrina Genter

Speeding up corporate decarbonization is a primary goal of Climate Week NYC. Robust climate transition planning is a great but underutilized way to move decarbonization from goals to action. As attendees descend upon New York for Climate Week NYC, one thing is clear: embedding sustainability in the nuts and bolts of operations is the only way to address the deepening challenges and achieve commercial resilience. So, it’s time for companies to step up and translate their sustainability goals into action. Companies can leverage the current trend toward mandatory climate transition plans to do just that. Regulators are moving beyond mandatory climate target disclosures and also want to see what actions companies are planning to take to achieve those targets. However, the climate transition plan itself is merely the ‘tip of the iceberg.’ Over time, regulators and investors will want a detailed overview of the concrete results it delivers and how companies have integrated the transition plan into their operational cycle. Most importantly, moving from a static transition plan to dynamic transition planning offers companies an excellent tool for converting broad climate goals into operational action in a systematic way, a step that many companies find the most challenging. In our recent blog, “Ahead of the Climate Curve: Leveraging Climate Transition Planning to Prepare for a Low-Carbon Future,” Max Crawford and Paul Simpson OBE explain how to start the process: https://lnkd.in/d3WweaQx #ClimateTransition #ClimateWeekNYC #SustainabilityGoals

Decarbonization is already driving the rapid adoption of renewable energy technologies like solar panels and wind turbines to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change. However, the arrival of #ClimateWeekNYC is a good reminder that the pace of decarbonization of business and the economy needs to be faster. Companies face many complexities, from resource constraints and a tenacious ESG backlash, especially in the United States, to insufficient capabilities and knowledge within companies. Yet, it’s time for them to step up. Embedding sustainability in the nuts and bolts of operations is the only viable route to long-term commercial resilience. While decarbonization is a key advantage of renewables, they also offer significant improvements in air and water quality and consume far less water than fossil fuels. Nonetheless, the rapid increase in renewable energy adoption could amplify environmental challenges related to raw material extraction, manufacturing, disposal, and impacts on land, sea, and wildlife. With the right strategies, companies can mitigate these impacts and enhance the overall environmental benefits of renewable energy. Explore the third part of our Renewables Conundrums series for more insights: https://lnkd.in/d3CkD9HD #Renewables #RenewableEnergy Andrew Angle

Next week in New York, meet Aiste Brackley and Mark Lee at the Sustainability Value Creation Partnership Forum taking place Tuesday, September 24 at 2 PM Eastern Daylight Time, which we are co-hosting with SustainableIT.org, GlobeScan, Salesforce, and Accounting for Sustainability (A4S). #ClimateWeekNYC couldn’t arrive at a more pivotal moment. The climate crisis leaves a growing trail of physical, environmental, and social damage while hurting business operations and profitability. It’s time for companies to step up and integrate sustainability deep into their operations. In this forum, partnership members will share preliminary research questions designed to identify the most effective cross-functional strategies and best practices for achieving enterprise sustainability goals and driving maximum social and environmental impact, then Mark Lee will facilitate a discussion designed to improve and add to the research design. Learn more about the event and register here: https://lnkd.in/deJcS46A #Sustainability #ValueCreation

Final call 📣 Join us and GlobeScan tomorrow as we talk through the findings of this year's Sustainability Leaders Survey and review which companies and NGOs are at the top of the leaderboard in advancing sustainable development, as considered by our global panel of nearly 500 sustainability experts. Save your seat here ⬇ https://lnkd.in/dEV_GuUA #Sustainability Mark Lee, Chris Coulter, Alex Hausman, Stacy Mahler

The Climate Week NYC organizers hope to trigger progress on an ambitious list of topics. Disclosure regulations are an indispensable ally for all of them. Our latest briefing compares the main pillars of the sustainability disclosure ecosystem and how they reshape business. Scientists warn almost daily that climate change is accelerating, and we can see and feel its impact all around us. At the same time, many companies are struggling to get their climate efforts into higher gear. The rallying cry of this year’s Climate Week NYC captures it well: It’s time. For companies, it’s time to decisively switch from setting goals to putting them into operational action. This is the best way to both lower risks and seize the economic opportunities of the current transformation. At what speed this will happen depends in no small measure on the emerging sustainability disclosure ecosystem and the level of pressure on companies it will generate. Our briefing compares CSRD, ISSB, the SEC Climate Rule, and California SB 253/261, exploring scope, overlaps, interoperability, and their joint potential to reshape the corporate landscape. #CSRD #ISSB #SustainabilityDisclosure #ClimateWeekNYC Catherine (Katie) Osborn, Justin Nelson

We are thrilled to announce that we are a part of the newly formed Sustainability Value Creation Partnership. ERM Sustainability Institute, together with GlobeScan, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S), SustainableIT.org, and Salesforce, is collaborating on a new research partnership with a shared vision for advancing enterprise-wide value creation based on sustainability. The partnership aims to accelerate how companies can most effectively integrate sustainability across their corporate finance, technology, and sustainability functions to drive long-term value. Learn more about the Sustainability Value Creation Partnership here: https://lnkd.in/g5x3GSpW #Sustainability #ValueCreation