OWP 2022: Leading For the Future

→Strategy

ACTION POINTS 1

CONSIDER YOUR VERDICT Start with a double

materiality assessment to identify the most important issues your company needs to manage. PERFORMINGWHILE TRANSFORMING Think in “three horizons” to continue performing, while transforming towards sustainability. OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS Don’t fall into the reporting trap, but search for and seize the opportunities that sustainable transformation offers for your company.

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Businesses are increasingly being asked to take a stance on topics of social interest such as Black Lives Matter in the US, the global #MeToo movement, or the war in Ukraine. While you cannot prepare for social issues that might arise, you should have processes in place that allow you to evaluate emerging issues, consider your company’s stance, and prepare a communication strategy that will, if appropriate, dictate how and when to speak up.

Carbon offsetting and capture technologies can only be one part of a broader solution. Currently, many companies rely heavily on carbon offsetting, yet real transformations are required if we want to change the destructive trajectory of our economies. NO ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL APPROACH Sustainability challenges require context-specific solutions; there is no one size fits all solution both for countries as well as companies. As a business leader, use a materiality assessment to understand which topics your company needs to address.

BEYOND CARBON EMISSIONS

NOT AN AFTERTHOUGHT ESG is a business topic. It’s often been seen as the soft spot of a firm, but it’s not. It’s pure business, pure strategy, pure risk management that can have real-world results: by incorporating ESG issues into your core business strategy, your corporate reputation can be enhanced, risk can be reduced, opportunities can be better managed, and you can gain important cultural value.

Environmental concerns go beyond carbon emissions. While climate change is a key driver of environmental problems, there are many additional complications that unfold with increasing speed (biodiversity loss, water management, waste, etc.). Companies need to look beyond ‘carbon myopia’. Driven by Covid 19 and the war in Ukraine, supply chain resilience is taking center stage. With more companies pledging for net zero, the pressure to reduce emissions is being passed down the entire supply chain.

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