How to measure the sustainability of an organisation

That word 'sustainability’; it seems to be everywhere at the moment. From fast-fashion clothing to corporations, its meaning is being interpreted in any number of ways. In this blog we explore the positives and negatives of measuring sustainability and show you the most efficacious way for any organisation to measure and report on their impacts.

It’s been touched upon in previous blogs, but let’s recap.

What is sustainability?

There are multiple explanations and perspectives, and what we mean is this... 

Sustainability is: the myriad of ways in which we can change how we interact with the earth and its inhabitants, to continue to keep it thriving for generations to come. Sustainability is a journey. It’s a process of continual change, learning and improvement. We call it ‘a journey’ because it’s never finished and it's certainly never perfect, which leaves a story to tell! Those who are doing things well are failing fast, learning from their mistakes and adapting to new routes forward. Conversely, businesses that are not doing their sustainability well are deceiving customers about their progress, omitting important information or measuring only the items which make them look greener.

How are some businesses failing global sustainability progress?

Around the world, many organisations are exploitative of our environment and its inhabitants. One of the ways that businesses do this is through Greenwashing.

They claim that their services or products are capable of being sustainable and make bold claims in their policies to ‘becoming greener’, but in reality what they’re actually doing is more harmful than they lead people to believe. 

Just one example of this is the car manufacturer Volkswagen who admitted to ‘cheating’ emissions tests on vehicles. They did this by fitting a device which contained software that could tell when it was being tested and would alter the performance of the car to reduce the emissions level. While this was all going on, the company was advertising to customers all of the amazing eco-friendly and low emissions features of their vehicles.

“In actuality, these engines were emitting up to 40 times the allowed limit for nitrogen oxide pollutants.” BBC News, 2015

Another is the company Coca-Cola; who, among others, were mentioned in the 2020 annual report by Break Free From Plastic.  Claiming the high accolade of ‘the world’s number one plastic polluter’ for the second year in a row. Despite this, they have refused to do away with their plastic bottles. Instead, they attempt to placate their customers by saying that they are attempting to tackle the waste of single-use plastic, and that their ‘100% recycled plastic bottles are now in an ever-growing number of markets. Their attempt at this sustainability pretense has meant that they have been sued for falsely advertising their so-called ‘sustainable’ and ‘eco-friendly’ claims.

These are just a few alarming examples from recent years. Clearly there are issues around a lack of legislation, rules and regulations for sustainability reporting - So how can organisations ensure that they are leading the way and reporting to a non-existent exemplary level?

How can you measure sustainability?

There are a million and one ways of measuring your organisation’s sustainability. 

We use GRI - Global Reporting Initiative, a modular system that is scalable and malleable for any size and type of organisation. Plus, it’s free to use!

There are a few stages that need to be undertaken in order to use the GRI standards. 

Firstly, it’s important to look internally at the available budget and resources for this project - as we mentioned above, sustainability is a journey and something that will need consistent attention and iterative improvement. Choosing a sustainability leader within the organisation is key - someone who can lead this initiative and be held accountable for the measurement, recording and improvements, year on year. 

Look at existing sustainability reports - for example: Bloomberg’s annual reporting is exemplary.

Then, speaking with stakeholders to understand which of the many sustainability issues are the most important to that group of people. For example, a business owner might want to look at the carbon footprint of employees, whereas the employees might want to look at the social impact of the company - If you have a well-chosen cross-section from across all stakeholders, there will be a handful of key themes that are most important to each group of people.  Depending on the size of your organisation, you might want to start small with say 3-5 different impact areas and grow from there. 

The measuring starts with recording where you are now (including the bad parts) and creating a plan for where you want to go. This is where many sustainability reports fall short - they forget to include the current situation and leave out the negatives for fear of being seen as ‘not good enough’. But this is a great place to start. It shows that the organisation is committed to the long term efficacy of their sustainability. 

Each organisation will have their own way of recording. You could go as far as using an external verification provider, which can be costly, or by using the myriad of available free online resources to help you set up these systems and processes. We recommend My Carbon’s calculator for measuring carbon emissions. This process should throw up some clear areas for improvement and they can be used as your goals for incremental improvements. 

Once you have your benchmark and your goals for improvement, you’re better equipped to start reporting. GRI has a strict set of rules for reporting - but this is malleable depending on whether you intend to have the report formally verified, or if you’re just using the standards as a guideline.

By assessing how the changes you record perform across multiple years, you can look at striking a balance between all three in the Social, Environmental and Economic areas of your organisation (ESG), ideally keeping them balanced between all three.

Not as simple as it sounds, is it?!

We’re here to help you with your sustainability strategy and reporting. If you need assistance with any part of the process then we’ll be able to point you in the right direction. Book a discovery call now. 

Here’s a nice diagram to bring that all together: