How to advance sustainability from theory to reality for organisations

The scope of topics and issues covered within the theory of sustainability is wide-ranging.

Therefore, in the context in which organisations operate, it is essential to have an appropriate understanding of the relevant sustainability issues and, more importantly, the mechanisms for translating this theoretical understanding into reality for the organisation.

While the move from theory to reality may appear simple in practice, however, this can be very complex and difficult to achieve.

Organisations that successfully make this transition take full advantage of sustainability to grow their revenue, reduce costs, and manage their risks more effectively.

However, as noted earlier, it is critical to have a holistic view of what sustainability means for an organisation because only then can the organisation implement this understood theory and move it to reality.

A flawed understanding, if implemented, will result in adverse consequences for an organisation. For organisations to mitigate the risk of misunderstanding, it is recommended that they embark on training, awareness, and capacity-building sessions tailored to the various levels of the organisation, from the board and management to other functional teams.

Organisations must understand that the execution of their business growth strategy and the embrace of sustainability are not mutually exclusive goals. Therefore, the organisation’s purpose should incorporate sustainability at its core.

As such, through a materiality process, organisations must identify the material sustainability risks and opportunities that affect their businesses.

These material sustainability topics are enablers to the organisation’s overall business growth strategy and provide the business case for sustainability in the context in which the organisation operates.

Organisations must then cascade sustainability topics across their functional teams to reduce supply chain risks, financial risks (credit, liquidity and capital), brand risks, and regulatory and compliance risks.

In addition, organisations must leverage sustainability to reinvent their business model, driving customer growth and loyalty, product and service innovation, operational efficiency, waste reduction, and maintaining a competitive advantage.

Organisations must then ensure that they develop the right policies and processes to support their sustainability initiatives and efforts, including data systems to support decision-making and reporting.

Finally, organisations must establish appropriate governance structures to ensure accountability. It includes developing internal audit programs across the various processes that provide information and data used for decision-making. A successful transition from theory to reality requires organisations to take practical steps tailored to their unique position.

The writer is a Partner at Deloitte East Africa. He is an author who writes and speaks widely on corporate reporting topics.