How can you use data analysis to identify your organization's most pressing sustainability issues?

Bold goals are out. Achievable sustainability goals are in. Shareholders and stakeholders have grown more skeptical of big promises. There are a lot of great impact metrics out there, but companies should start by looking inward. Survey your employees, community, customers, and other stakeholders to identify what matters. Keep your efforts manageable by trying to achieve an impact relevant to your business. Identify sustainability metrics that align with your revenue model. Bring mindfulness, resource efficiency, and responsibility to your existing business function to achieve a positive impact that can't be seen as a distraction.

Rather than viewing sustainability solely as an obligation or cost center, reframe it as an opportunity for innovation. Impose it as a “creative constraint,” challenging teams to find unconventional solutions. How might we reimagine business models, products, operations, or partnerships if environmental and social stewardship were an inviolable constraint vs. a nice-to-have add-on? How might technology and design be pushed forward with these guardrails? Data analysis should not only be used to audit and optimize what exists but also to redesign systems.

In my work I often observed that when you define and set goals you have to make sure that you break them down into components of sustainability such as Environment commitment, Social work, and Governance. I would also add that for the environmental goals, specifically climate-related you could always get the support of Science Based Targets platform.

Before leveraging data analysis for sustainability, it's crucial to define your organization's sustainability scope and objectives. Aligning these with global frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals or the Global Reporting Initiative provides a structured approach. Conducting a materiality assessment to pinpoint key sustainability issues relevant to your stakeholders and business is also vital. This clarity guides focused data collection and analysis, ensuring you address the most impactful sustainability aspects.

Para usar a análise de dados na identificação dos problemas de sustentabilidade mais urgentes da organização, é necessário estabelecer um escopo e definir os objetivos de sustentabilidade. Aqui está um processo geral que pode ser seguido: Definir o escopo Estabelecer objetivos de sustentabilidade Coletar dados relevantes Analisar os dados Priorizar os problemas Estabelecer ações corretivas Monitorar e avaliar A análise de dados é uma ferramenta poderosa, mas deve ser complementada por uma abordagem holística e consideração dos aspectos sociais, econômicos e ambientais da sustentabilidade.

Effective sustainability management starts with robust data collection and organization. Diverse sources like surveys, audits, and sensors provide comprehensive insights. Ensuring data accuracy and adherence to quality standards is essential for meaningful analysis. Tools like Excel or Power BI are invaluable for organizing and managing this data, forming the foundation for informed sustainability decisions.

Important to mention one detail here, if the company considers obtaining an assurance over specific sustainability KPIs it’s crucial that it has controls and verification processes in place guided with overarching data policies because that will ensure reliability of data and plus will impact the assurance procedures with material risks level assessment decreased.

Establish baseline values for your selected KPIs. This involves understanding the current state of your organization's sustainability performance. Baseline data serves as a reference point for measuring improvements or identifying areas that need attention.

Collection is probably the most painful step in CSR reporting, but probably the most crucial one. Why ? Because a bad collection process could really endangered the data quality, and could lead to wrong reporting and wrong actions. My advice would be to really work with your suppliers but above all anticipation is key ! Tools and process for data collection should not be designed during the reporting phase but way more before and during all the year.

Having worked with a lot of sustainability teams in this area, data collection is one of the most (a) time-consuming and (b) under-appreciated aspects of sustainability work. My advice: 1. Make sure you're measuring what (really) matters. There are thousands of potential ESG metrics - focus on measuring a few material, priority things well first. Don't over-extend yourself or your team. 2. Engage teams that already do this well like IT and finance. How can you apply their expertise, tools, processes, and practices to sustainability data? 3. Having one central source of truth for sustainability data is extremely valuable. Scattered documents, spreadsheets, and systems creates inefficiency and errors. Collect and organize in one place.

Sustainability data analysis and viz should be closely linked to (a) your objectives and (b) priority stakeholders: 1. First, make sure your data's clean, accurate, and has been checked for errors. "Garbage in, garbage out" 2. Is your goal to create external reporting (ex: for investors)? Internal reports for your leadership? Help make more sustainable business decisions? What you analyze and how you represent it should reinforce what you're trying to achieve and be designed for the audience who sees your analysis. Focus on big questions, risks, and opportunities. 3. Bring appropriate resources, tools, and data science expertise to this task. There is a rich ecosystem of experts and technology partners who can help.

Analyzing and visualizing sustainability data uncovers critical insights and trends. Utilizing various data analysis techniques – from descriptive to prescriptive – facilitates a deeper understanding of sustainability performance. Tools such as Tableau, R, or Python are excellent for creating visual representations like charts and dashboards, making complex data more accessible and actionable. These analyses are instrumental in identifying sustainability gaps and opportunities, guiding strategic decisions.

Analisar e visualizar dados de sustentabilidade é uma prática importante para identificar gaps e oportunidades de sustentabilidade, orientando decisões estratégicas. A utilização de várias técnicas de análise de dados – do descritivo ao prescritivo – facilita uma compreensão mais profunda do desempenho da sustentabilidade. Construir um storytelling com esses dados traz fluidez ao entendimento de um público mais amplo, é necessário comunicar de forma clara e objetiva.

When identifying and prioritising sustainability issues, opportunities in sustainability are too often left out. It's important to identify and prioritise risks, but it's equally important to look at the opportunities that could result in new products, new markets, new technologies and a host of benefits stemming from those - such as improved efficiencies, financials, brand equity and more.

Scenario analysis helps identify an organization's critical sustainability issues by evaluating the impact of various scenarios on key variables. It involves defining and quantifying scenarios, assessing risks, identifying opportunities, and conducting sensitivity analysis to prioritize influential factors. Simulating changes in regulations, consumer preferences, or resource availability aids in developing adaptive strategies. Continuous monitoring ensures agility, and clear communication fosters stakeholder support. Integrating scenario analysis into decision-making enhances the ability to proactively address sustainability challenges and capitalize on opportunities, promoting a resilient and adaptive approach.

Identified material sustainability issues are also advised to be ranked based on the level of importance to and impact on the company and their stakeholders to get a clearer understanding on which issues should be given highest priority

Sustainability, above all, is management in action; that is, it is important to develop action plans that can be executed by employees from various areas of the company. A good action plan needs to be strategically aligned with the objectives defined by materiality and have evaluation cycles to check if the company and its team are heading in the right direction! With deadlines for the short term (1 year), medium term (+-5 years), and long term (+- 10 years or linked to global agendas). Each plan should have at least 1 strategic and 1 operational indicator aligned for a 360º evaluation. This way, your plan will be more efficient and measurable!

In my experience, establishing feedback loops for gathered data is crucial. This ensures that every individual within the organization understands not only their contributions but also recognized their potential to further the sustainability goals.

Process and practice review in sustainability play a fundamental role in increasing effectiveness. However, it is common to only review processes and forget about the practices themselves. Reviews should be conducted at two levels of perspective: 1. Process review: which involves analyzing all documentation and the process itself. 2. Management practice review: aims to assess whether the way the entire management system is effective with the company's governance strategy. In other words, one evaluates the process itself, and the other assesses whether the way we evaluate and seek results is truly generating the expected benefits.

Based on my experience, publishing annual reports on sustainability progress is not only helpful but also a key aspect of maintaining accountability. For smaller companies, this doesn't necessarily mean producing a standard ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) report. It could be as straightforward as a series of graphs displaying comparable year-to-year data, illustrating your progress. This practice serves a dual purpose: it publicly communicates your commitment to sustainability, reinforcing your credibility and dedication. Additionally, it keeps your organization consistently aligned with its sustainability goals, fostering a culture of transparency and responsibility.

In the end, the most important thing in sustainability is to be active, to have concrete actions that generate results for both the company and stakeholders, and if this is measured and evolves over time, true sustainability will be achieved.