How digital innovation can help to actualise your sustainability strategy

Implementing sustainability strategies for the benefit of the planet, people and the bottom line is a challenge for many organisations across sectors and regions. While the ambition is there and the agenda is aligned with many broader organisational strategies, almost 80 percent of executives believe that a moderate to significant gap exists between what they are trying to achieve and what’s getting done. Companies are increasingly achieving tangible impact and success through better-connected teams working across strategy, planning and operations. 

An effective sustainability strategy is one that considers a multitude of intersecting connection points — such as asset transition, business models, access to funding, communities and digital technology — and involves a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics, approaches and risks. When these elements come together, sustainability generates real value, but more often than not, strategies are disconnected and suffer from blind spots.  

Digital technology can simplify and expedite sustainability efforts. For example, decision-making solutions utilising artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins and data analytics sit front and centre in boosting efforts. Organisations are increasingly harnessing digital solutions to identify, monitor, report and address their impact on the environment, communities, supply chain and more. 

Leveraging data intelligence solutions to sustainability challenges is one way decision-makers are equipped with the information they need to put their organisation on the right path. Decisions backed by data and insights can foster the behavioural changes needed for transformation and operational improvement. Democratising digital sustainability data is the first step in closing the gap between where your organisation is today and where it needs to be to achieve its sustainability ambitions.

Organisations’ sustainability efforts differ depending on their mindset and maturity. No matter where they are on their journey, the ability of digital innovation to fast-track more sustainable outcomes lies in how data is gathered and made accessible and usable. Enabled by intelligent infrastructure, information must be shareable, connected and transparent across the organisation.  

Sustainability strategies often fail if organisations try to address too many issues at once. The sustainability issues and metrics and data to monitor your sustainability strategy should be informed by your materiality assessment. Having digitised networks, systems and platforms in place that allow for better access to relevant information enables faster and more informed decision making. The digital network and systems may be commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software platforms or custom.

Any discussion around digitised sustainability data and strategies is incomplete without addressing the use and value of AI. AI enhances the ability to process and analyse vast amounts of data, providing deeper insights and more accurate predictions, ultimately driving more effective outcomes. This includes both traditional AI, which excels at reading and processing large amounts of structured and unstructured data to develop insights for data-led decision-making and generative AI, which is instrumental in creating new sustainability policies, recommending sustainability projects and KPI’s, evaluating stakeholder input, mapping issues to sustainability frameworks, automating reporting and more. 

However, the conversation must address the large carbon footprint associated with AI due to the significant amount of energy it requires. To stay on track with their sustainability goals, organisations must weigh the value AI delivers against its environmental impact and make choices that prioritise maximising benefits while mitigating harm.

Investing in decarbonisation strategies is critical to achieving sustainability goals. One of the first steps in executing is establishing a baseline environmental footprint for material topics. This involves taking stock of various environmental impacts, such as direct and supply chain greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), energy consumption, water usage and waste generation. For an organisation looking to enhance its sustainability efforts, digitising the identification, management, storage and access to all environmental data can be game-changing. 

Using digital data management and analytics, decarbonisation scenarios can be digitally evaluated on user-friendly dashboards. From this, with the possible use of AI, leaders make sense of which internal processes might need to change to lower emissions, create benchmarks against peers or identify new business models to meet sustainability targets. Organisations gain the advantage of having more accuracy and confidence in their decision-making while strengthening their environmental stewardship. 

It's essential for organisations to address both off-the-shelf options and custom solutions when planning their sustainability strategies. The decision to use off-the-shelf solutions or custom solutions should be based on the specific needs and requirements of the organisation. Off-the-shelf solutions are typically chosen for their quick deployment and proven effectiveness, making them ideal for rapid implementation. These solutions are well-tested and reliable and come with vendor support, ensuring smooth integration into existing systems. However, when the unique needs of an organisation cannot be fully met by off-the-shelf solutions, developing custom solutions becomes necessary. This approach allows for tailored digital solutions that address specific organisational requirements, providing a balanced approach that ensures the most effective and efficient solutions to meet sustainability goals.

The United Nations Environment Programme cites behaviour change as a key risk to achieving credible climate action. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says mitigation efforts towards net zero are about enabling the new conditions around behaviour, technology, institutions, policies, governance and finance. As organisations explore new ways to track, report and visualise data, they cannot overlook the importance of combining these efforts with behavioural change strategies at the individual and organisational level.

While organisations are allocating considerable investment and resources to set sustainability targets, develop policies, and gather related data, many are falling short during the critical implementation phase. When introducing any new digital solution, whether related to sustainability or otherwise, the approach must include the individuals who are using it on a day-to-day basis. The goal is to make adapting to change as easy and automatic as possible.

An emerging best practice is creating a pilot study that identifies a portion of the organisation with clear sustainability actions and an associated stakeholder group that exhibits a sustainable, forward-thinking mindset alongside influential behaviours. These individuals assume much responsibility and become true ambassadors to the program when leaders clearly define the desired behaviours and look to this group to guide others. In the context of reducing carbon emissions, a pilot study allows organisations to trial and test digitised data gathering frameworks that identify and deploy alternative processes for emissions savings and set the groundwork for wider organisational adoption.

Leaders should look for opportunities to digitally innovate their efforts in a way that promotes the right beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours across the organisation. For example, introducing a software platform that enables transparency and tracking of carbon emissions progress across groups responsible for sustainable or social actions helps to drive the right behaviours.

More organisations are also celebrating success and elevating the profiles of individuals who adopt and demonstrate action towards strategic goals as a way to reward and reinforce desirable behaviours. Real-time feedback on sustainability performance that is connected to social rewards can also help to influence behaviour change among employees, clients, partners, and suppliers.

In a world demanding sustainable action, digital enables progress. Intertwining digitally innovative ways of advancing efforts with human-centric, change management considerations sets organisations up on a path to drive real and impactful operational and behavioural change. The following provides practical guidance on how to fast-track your sustainability journey: 

• Strengthen your sustainability strategy by using digital solutions to identify, monitor and make sense of environmental impact.
• Leverage digital solutions to model more sustainable scenarios for your organisation.
• Pilot new models and processes with a targeted group of stakeholders to lead change and drive progress.
• Embed new behaviours through social and performance incentives.

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