The Governance of Sustainability Tuesday 10 October 2023 Presented by: Roger Garrini and Katherine Ingham Content Description: When analysing the issues of sustainability, it is clear that many issues will be addressed with complex projects and programmes which provide opportunities for good governance to influence. It is important that the Governance is sound and the PM community must be supported. We will discuss these issues in this session.

1. The Governance of Sustainability
Date of presentation 14pt Arial Regular

2. The case for sustainable development
We only have one planet,
therefore finite resources.
Economic models based on
growth cannot work in an
environment with finite
resources.
Therefore, to meet the needs
of all those on our planet and
the needs of future
generations we must take an
approach of sustainable
development.

4. • In 2020, more than 1 billion people lived in slums or informal settlements, with Central and Southern
Asia, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 85 per cent of them.
• In 2019, ambient air pollution from traffic, industry, power generation, waste burning and residential fuel
combustion resulted in 4.2 million deaths.
• In 2021, 99 per cent of the world’s urban population live in areas that exceed the new air quality
guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Between 2015 and 2030, annual passenger traffic globally is projected to increase by 50 per cent, and
the number of cars on the road is likely to double.
• According to 2020 data from 1,510 cities around the world, only about 37 per cent of urban areas are
served by public transport.
Source UN: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/cities/

5. • From 2000 to 2019, total domestic material consumption rose by more than 65 per cent globally,
amounting to 95.1 billion metric tons in 2019.
• In 2020, an estimated 13.3 per cent of the world’s food was lost after harvesting and before reaching
retail markets. An estimated 17 per cent of total food available to consumers is wasted at household,
food service and retail levels.
• In 2019, the amount of e-waste generated globally was 7.3 kilograms per capita, out of which only 1.7
kilograms was managed in an environmentally sound way.
• The capacity of developing countries to generate electricity from renewable sources has soared over
the last decade, from 109.7 watts per capita in 2011 to 245.7 watts per capita in 2020.
• In 2020, governments spent $375 billion on subsidies and other support for fossil fuels.
Source UN: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-consumption-production/

6. • In 2021, the global mean temperature was about 1.1°C above the pre-industrial level (from 1850 to 1900). The
years from 2015 to 2021 were the seven warmest on record.
• It is estimated that $1.6 trillion to $3.8 trillion will be needed each year through 2050 for the world to transition
to a low-carbon future and avoid warming exceeding 1.5 °
• About one third of global land areas will suffer at least moderate drought by 2100. By 2030, an estimated 700
million people will be at risk of displacement by drought alone.
• The sea level could rise 30cm to 60cm by 2100, even if greenhouse gas emissions are sharply reduced and
global warming is limited to well below 2°C.
• About 70 to 90 per cent of warm-water coral reefs will disappear even if the 1.5°C threshold is reached; they
would die off completely at the 2°C level.
Source UN: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/climate-change/

7. • Other than ‘climate change’, two of the most used terms in the IPCC’s sixth and most recent climate
change report are TRADE-OFF and GOVERNANCE
• Trade-offs are required as delivering on climate action may come at the expense of other SDGs (e.g. #11
developing cities and #12 reducing consumption)
• Governance is required to make decisions in relation to those trade-offs
• Decisions need:
• Alignment to context (organizational objectives and purpose)
• Authority
• Accountability
• Transparency
These are the foundations of the Governance of Change.
https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_LongerReport.pdf

8. Threat or opportunity?
“climate change and the nature emergency is a systemic problem, so needs a system
solution. Nothing is more systemic than project management”
– Jo Jolly, Deputy Director, Project Futures, UK Infrastructure and Projects Authority
Organisations are increasingly turning to projects to address their sustainability challenges
and opportunities
Projects themselves need to transition from being part of the problem (e.g. consumption) to
being part of the solution (e.g. climate action)
Project professionals who are more sustainability literate will be more valuable to their
employers (or prospective employers)

9. Decision making – how to make projects more sustainable
Scoping and
appraising
Project delivery Project product
/ output

10. Scoping and
appraising
In simple terms
• Refuse
• Reduce
• Reuse / Renew / Repurpose
• Recycle
• Recover
• Dispose
With organisational context and alignment to
business values, priorities or objectives.

11. Project
delivery
Some considerations
• schedule optimised for….. carbon, cost or
calendar?
• controls optimised for…..
• procurement and commercial optimised
for….
• reporting includes sustainability priorities:
how measured?
• delivery methods, e.g. modular off-site
manufacturing
• minimise waste: in particular materials,
movement, energy

12. Project product / output
Some considerations
• users - equality and social value
• operations
• maintenance
• lifespan
• resilience
• adaptability, e.g. platforms
• designed for decommissioning

13. Roles in Sustainability
Board
Sponsors
Gate reviewers
PM3 Managers (Portfolio, Programme, Project)
Suppliers and purchasers
Engineers
Auditors

14. Governance of sustainability – what can you do?
1. Understand
organisational
priorities and anchor
to them
2. Understand
Business Case
trade-offs and
opportunities
3. Have a
sustainability
management
approach for the
project
4. Integrate
sustainability into
reporting
5. Integrate
sustainability into
controls
6. Lead by example.
Don’t wait to be told