What do you do if your sustainability practices are outdated?

Lo que no se mide no existe, esta parece una frase recurrente en el mercadeo pero en sostenibilidad tiene todo el sentido, no puedes saber a donde quieres llegar si no sabes donde estas. Quieres reducir tu huella de carbono? tienes que saber cual es tu scope 1, 2 y 3 para saber que tipo de acciones debes tomar, quieres invertir en soluciones de energía renovable para autoconsumo? debes saber cual es tu consumo de energía para de esta forma proyetar cual sería la mejor y más rentable solución. Quieres actualizar tu estrategia de sostenibilidad? Mide tu impacto, identifica los puntos de mejora, traza objetivos que tengan un impacto relevante en el medio ambiente pero también en la sociedad y marca tu estrategia

In my experience, the best way to bring your Sustainability practices to the next level is to start a Green Team with people in your organization with a Passion for Sustainability. When you start bottom-up, you will benefit from the enthusiasm, energy, and knowledge of your employees, and they will provide you with ideas, that you can sponsor, as an executive sponsor (if you are in Management). Another key is: to select the sustainable development goals (2 or 3) that are more aligned with your core business and make it your mission to add value in those areas. If you explain this to your employees, you will find an outpouring of ideas, because there is clarity about what where you want to contribute.

It is critical to ALWAYS reassess your sustainability practices. This can be done through periodic audits of systems and standards implemented to find out what works, what does not, what can use improvement. This then translates into PDCA (plan, do, check, act) to test on small scales, monitor changes, and then expand. It is not usually a good sign to wait for practices to become "outdated", and mostly you cannot tell that they actually are outdated or innefective without reassessments and periodic audits.

Lo más importante en cuanto a gestión de sostenibilidad es conocer muy bien el impacto que tienen los procesos productivos de una empresa. En esta lógica, lo más importante y en mi experiencia, antes de actualizar estándares, indicadores o criterios de prácticas sustentables, es identificar qué actividades tienen puntos críticos de consumo de agua, energía, generación de residuos, etc. Esto se puede hacer a través de un ecomapa o un eco balance. Una vez identificados los puntos críticos, ahí si entramos a identificar las practicas actuales que podrían adaptar a la empresa.

É sempre importante se manter atualizado sobre as tendências e melhores práticas em seu setor. Caso isso não ocorra, realize uma ampla avaliação de suas práticas de sustentabilidade praticadas no momento. Assim, através de estudos e pequisas sobre novas normas e padrões, além de realizações de benchmarking, você poderá tentar alinhas as novas práticas com as expectativas atuais.

It's very important to have an active listening relationship with all stakeholders involved in your operation. Build feedback processes to assess whether your actions are up to date with society’s needs. Many companies carry out various research in the field of business and marketing strategies, but do not develop the same for sustainability strategies.

Staying informed about current and impactful sustainability practices is crucial to making a difference. Things you can do include subscribing to sustainability newsletters for your sector, working with industry bodies or signing up for committees on sustainability to knowledge-share; read news articles; read policy reports; partner with an accelerator to learn more about new technologies; and continuously upskill. Having a diverse team will also help you to stay informed and bring in new ideas.

There are many different ways to keep informed. One that I found relevant for me is actually LinkedIn and connecting to relevant industry peers and leaders. Once you curate your network, your feed will become a news feed for your sustainability topics and you can tap into the crowd knowledge.

To make it more concrete: 1. ask ChatGPT which are the top experts in the field and geography you're interested in. Go to LinkedIn and connect with them. 2. Go to the organizations you hear the most about or whose studies you've found most relevant, and subscribe to their newsletter. It's free. 3. Bonus: among other organizations, McKinsey and PwC have free newsletters specific to sustainability.

Empower your workforce with sustainability-focused training and development programs. Educating employees about the importance of sustainability and equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to implement updated practices fosters a culture of environmental stewardship within your organization. Additionally, frontline staff often possess valuable insights into operational inefficiencies or opportunities for sustainability improvements that can be uncovered through ongoing training initiatives.

While feedback from external stakeholders is crucial, many innovative sustainability ideas can arise from within the organization if practices are carried out in engaging way and include recognition and rewards. For example implementing a Sustainability Innovation Reward Program for practical, significant sustainability innovations could be a transformative step. Also, incorporate gamification into the process if possible to increase engagement. Best ideas emerges when we are in a state of playfullness.

Look for opportunities to collaborate with other organizations, NGOs, and community groups. Partnerships can enhance your sustainability efforts through shared resources, knowledge, and public support. Engaging stakeholders throughout the process not only helps in identifying and implementing the most effective and innovative sustainability practices but also builds a culture of shared responsibility and commitment to environmental stewardship within and outside your organization.

Desde o meu ponto de vista, o envolvimento das partes interessadas, tanto internas como externas, na revisão e atualização de suas práticas de sustentabilidade, poderão trazer insights valiosos e aumentar o comprometimento com as mudanças necessárias.

Ensure representation from diverse stakeholder groups, including marginalized communities, advocacy groups, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in your engagement efforts. By actively seeking input from a wide range of voices, you can gain deeper insights into the social, environmental, and economic impacts of your sustainability practices and address any disparities or blind spots in your approach.

Entendiendo que la sustentabilidad la hacemos entre todos, cuando hablamos de aprendizaje el impacto en los colaboradores de la organización tiende a permear con mayor facilidad y, en aquellas pequeñas actitudes que hacemos día a día, es cómo se invierte la pirámide y termina resultando más complejo que la alta dirección comprenda la importancia en materia de sustentabilidad. Sustentabilidad no como plantar arboles sino como el acceso a mayor financiación y tender relaciones con organismos estratégicos que podrían llegar a potenciar el modelo de negocio de la organización.

Changes are not easy. Start by recognizing the value of past practices, yet create attractiveness for the new methods. Be transparent on the reasons for change and find a way of including the value of the practice you are stopping as a basis for the practices you are starting now. Construct it together with the colleagues on the execution - they know their area best. Give them visibility, so they can explain how their activities are impacting the organization’s contribution to sustainability

Every small thing matters in Sustainability. At times, a small action/idea creates an enormous impact. However, change is a way of life and is embraced to ensure practices are adopted, actioned, and accomplished.

Consider piloting new sustainability initiatives on a smaller scale before full implementation. Pilots allow you to test the effectiveness and feasibility of proposed changes in a controlled environment, identify potential challenges or unintended consequences, and fine-tune strategies before rolling them out across the organization. Gathering feedback from pilot participants can also inform adjustments and optimizations to enhance the success of broader implementation efforts.

En primer lugar es fundamental identificar y visibilizar las acciones que sí se hacen. En segundo lugar trazar un plan estratético de hacia dónde quiere ir la organización en materia de sostenibilidad. ¿Buscar generar algún impacto en el producto? ¿Generar una experiencia diferencial en mis clientes? ¿Mejorar el ambiente para que mi producto y procedimientos sean más eficientes y sustentables? Con ello se pueden analizar los puntos de mejora e incentivar a los colaboradores a lograr esos objetivos. Todo esto se logra si la organización tiene una mentalidad abierta a cambiar prácticas que pueden ser eficientes pero no sustentables en el tiempo.

Changes are not easy. Start by recognizing the value of past practices, yet create attractiveness for the new methods. Be transparent on the reasons for change and find a way of including the value of the practice you are stopping as a basis for the practices you are starting now. Construct it together with the colleagues on the execution - they know their area best. Give them visibility, so they can explain how their activities are impacting the organization’s contribution to sustainability

Además de volcar las métricas y acciones llevadas a cabo en un tablero dinámico, resulta estratégico poder comunicarla. Que todos los colaboradores conozcan, quizás con la modalidad de una "memoria colectiva", el status y los objetivos a seguir. Así mismo, mantener informado a quienes ocupan los altos cargos sobre los beneficios de las acciones y las oportunidades de mejora. Que se concientice sobre ellas hace que la organización aprenda y evolucione en este contexto complejo y volátil.

Benchmark your sustainability performance against industry peers, sector-specific benchmarks, or recognized sustainability frameworks to gain context and perspective on your progress. Comparative analysis enables you to identify areas of competitive advantage, pinpoint areas for improvement, and learn from leading practices or innovations adopted by peers. Benchmarking can also serve as a motivation to strive for excellence and drive continuous improvement efforts to stay ahead of the curve in sustainability performance.

Investing in data monitoring systems and devices is critical. A verifiable, correct data gives insight into what initiatives are giving results. This also helps in building trajectory that one wants to follow for achieving their goals. Modification in Sustainability programs like increasing capacity or allocation of more funds can be done, only when the data backs up the claims that the team is making.

Hay mil y un indicadores sobre sostenibilidad en las empresas. sin embargo, los procesos de medición de dichos indicadores es uno de los dolores más fuertes de las industrias. Medir indicadore y monitorear las practicas sustentables de la empresa requiere tecnología, un equipo de trabajo dedicado a analizar y organizar dichos datos. Esto se debe hacer de manera continua y los reportes deben ser frecuente. Esto último permite que se tomen acciones dado el caso de que algún indicador no esté en los intervalos aceptables

Práticas de sustentabilidade desatualizadas, como o uso excessivo de plásticos descartáveis, não atendem às necessidades de preservação do nosso planeta! É importante renovar estratégias para garantir um futuro sustentável

Implement a structured process for iterative improvement, where feedback loops and mechanisms for continuous feedback are integrated into your sustainability management system. Regularly review performance data, gather stakeholder input, and conduct periodic assessments to identify areas for refinement and optimization. By iteratively refining and enhancing your sustainability practices based on real-world feedback and evolving insights, you can incrementally strengthen your organization's sustainability resilience and drive long-term positive impact.

In my experince while providing consultancy to organizations in business for quite a long time, I found that when a company keeps doing things the same way for a long time, they think those old waysare the only way to do things. They feel unsure about trying new ways because they're not sure if it will work. Mixing new gen with existing employees together and educating about the new practices help bring vibrancy in the team and identify possible improvements. This pave way for new thoughts and derive new sustainable practices relevent to time and the organization.

To ensure sustainability procedures remain current, it's advisable to develop, execute, and assess relevant projects using the theory of change. This approach offers the flexibility needed to adjust to evolving conditions and environmental shifts, enabling timely updates to be implemented before sustainability procedures become obsolete.

Actions must be taken to improve outdated sustainability practices: - Conduct an assessment of sustainability practices to identify outdated areas. - Be informed about the latest sustainability industry best practices. -Compare the current practices against sustainability benchmarks. - Engage all stakeholders. - Review sustainability goals to ensure they align with the sustainability priorities. -Determine all objectives, along with specific targets and timelines. - Identify the effective sustainability practices and technologies that improve sustainability performance. - Provide training and awareness. - Establish KPIs and measurement systems to track progress toward sustainability goals and continuously seek opportunities for improvement

Re-educate yourself, even on the basics. I've found that some people are surprised when I study an EdX course or take a module at a university- they assume because I've been working in sustainability a long time that I don't need mid level courses. However sustainability is one of the fastest changing fields around, so I like to keep myself fresh and study frequently- I also get to meet and talk with new potential colleagues and hear challenging ideas.

Benchmarking against industry standards and sustainability leaders is a crucial step in identifying areas for improvement in your own sustainability practices. Identify companies within your sector recognized for their sustainability leadership. Analyze their publicly available reports, case studies, or sustainability awards to understand their practices. Regularly comparing your practices with industry benchmarks and sustainability leaders ensures your sustainability efforts remain relevant and impactful.