A few decades ago, organizations were turning a blind eye to the environmental repercussions of integrating sustainability policies that were growing in vigor due to capitalism. But the scenario is now changing. Sustainable business practices are finding their way into corporate obligation, and businesses are taking sincere initiatives to measure and minimize environmentally unfriendly operations. A KPMG study highlighted that sustainability reporting in G250 companies is growing - from 64% in 2005 to 96% in 2020.

1. Next In: Enterprise Sustainability
Investments in Technology
In today's capitalist economy, organizations are turning into a profitability model.
This enables organizations to strive to maximize margins and add more to their
catalog of offerings, as well as attract untapped customers.
A few decades ago, organizations were turning a blind eye to the environmental
repercussions of integrating sustainability policies that were growing in vigor due to
capitalism. But the scenario is now changing. Sustainable business practices are
finding their way into corporate obligation, and businesses are taking sincere
initiatives to measure and minimize environmentally unfriendly operations. A KPMG
study highlighted that sustainability reporting in G250 companies is growing - from
64% in 2005 to 96% in 2020.
Consumers are also expressing their desires to associate with conscientious and
ethically rooted organizations. This has led to an accelerated shift in sustainable
business models. Owing to this change, organizations are rigorously assessing their
carbon footprint, along with energy consumption and climate risk metrics, to steer
the necessary action to integrate sustainability as a critical corporate goal. For global
organizations, sustainability has neither been a revenue-generating process nor a
cost-containment function. It has always been a function that is either voluntary or
sometimes mandatory disclosure requirements due to the government or corporate
policies.

2. Read more: Sustainability in Tech: 3 Ways for Companies to Become More
Sustainable
While implementing sustainable policies is one thing, accumulating the relevant
data source as per standards like the GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) and the CDP-
Carbon Disclosure Standards Board is another. Organizations are now exploring
robust data integration models and analytics platforms. This is challenging because
traditional data collection, aggregation, and reporting have always been confined to
the four walls of an enterprise.
The government disclosure norms for sustainability are enabling organizations to
incorporate a value-chain orchestrator model that goes beyond the company's
environmental impact. Emphasis is also being laid on the inclusion of trading
partners for audit reporting, including suppliers, vendors, and other partners, who
equally contribute to the carbon footprint.
Organizations are now chasing unique approaches to tackle sustainability
management challenges and reform sustainability reporting.

3. 1. Third-Party Consulting to Establish a System-Driven
Approach
Deloitte's research study stated that almost one-third of CxOs who are now
measuring their company's environmental impact experienced a significant
challenge. The sole reason behind this is - sustainability assessments were
traditionally undertaken through third-party consulting firms. These firms hold a
treasure trove of data to assess multiple sustainability factors.
Organizations are now drifting away from their historical reliance on consulting firms
to set up integrated systems for sourcing and validating sustainability-related data
in their internal operations. This enables them to procure data directly from their
partners and build a trusted source of data that can power the measurement of
sustainability metrics.
Read more: Integrating ESG in Company Culture – A Move to Drive Resilience

4. 2. Boosting Investments in Sustainability Tools
Organizations are incorporating sophisticated technologies with predictive
capabilities to track, monitor, and extrapolate environmental, social, and
governance risks and opportunities. Sustainability reporting tools are garnering all
the limelight in the organization and are emerging as one of the instrumental ways
to collect reliable data to gain investor and customer trust. However, the use of
technology infrastructure is raising concerns about energy consumption. As per a
Deloitte study, if enterprises continue to employ fragmented, legacy data centers,
power usage is expected to grow to a substantially higher rate of 20%.
Technologies to measure carbon footprint and emissions, along with IoT-powered
devices to track energy consumption, are already being employed by organizations
across industries. These technologies can also assist businesses in spotting high
energy-consuming data systems and recommend alternatives, such as cloud
solutions, to report energy savings.
3. Sustainable Tech Strategy
Over the duration of the last few years, sustainability as a point of focus for
businesses has been largely underinvested. However, with the movement toward
integrating sustainability into core business operations, products, and services
gaining momentum, organizations are viewing digital and technology strategies
through a lens of sustainability. Businesses are conceptualizing, designing, and
implementing a sustainability tool stack, along with driving technology investments
in sustainability to anchor new solutions within their operations. They are

5. integrating sustainability/ ESG scores into lending rate determination for their
corporate customers. Larger enterprises are now taking a strategic view for
developing mid- to long-term tools and technology strategies to maintain enterprise
sustainability requirements in years to come.
4. Orchestrating the Focus on Brand's Value-Chain
Integrating sustainable initiatives are emerging as a collaborative effort between
businesses and their value-chain partners, including suppliers and distributors. A
McKinsey report highlighted that almost 18% of surveyed companies assist suppliers
in improving their sustainability performance. By taking a step further and working
with partners to enhance sustainability initiatives, businesses can demonstrate their
hands-on commitment to creating environmentally conscientious operations.
Read more: Aligning ESG with Corporate Strategy to Gain a Competitive Advantage
Businesses are also making and implementing stricter policies to work with partners
who maintain good environmental ratings. These practices are driving many
organizations to rethink their sustainability ideals as well as goals and enabling them
to create meaningful partnerships that are based on strong ethics and transparent
relationships.

6. Embarking on the Sustainable Journey
The ESG/environmental, social, and governance movement is now gaining steam.
Far-reaching challenges like economic inclusion are concentrating the minds of
investors and executives on long-term priorities and non-financial reporting.
Businesses are placing a new perspective on where sustainability is headed globally.
What technological investments will drive global discussions is a question every
organization is looking for an answer to. Sustainability experts are now presenting
their perspectives on climate technologies and ways to deliver the growing
investments in sustainable technologies. With the heightened awareness of the
rapid external shocks to the global economy, businesses are replacing sustainability
policies at their central trust for transparent operations.
Organizations are embarking on the transition to a net-zero economy. This shift is
considered to be as disruptive as the industrial revolution or the digital revolution.
They are exploring as well as grabbing opportunities to reimagine their sustainable
operations. Many management teams are also realizing that capturing the true
potential of sustainability calls for an all-in approach is vital for the company and the
business units to function.
The path to a net-zero future is creating new opportunities for technology and
service providers to create the underpinning technologies and enable sustainable
business. Organizations are required to integrate new technologies, business

7. models, strategies, and processes into their everyday operations to incorporate the
changes successfully.
Emerging environmental sustainability technologies, including cloud sustainability,
carbon footprint measurement, and advanced grid management, are expected to
reach early mainstream adoption within one to three years, according to Gartner's
latest research.
Read more: ESG and Sustainable Investing: A Guide for ESG-Focused Investors in
2022
To Sum Up
Today ESG is a sprawling topic. It presents new challenges for organizations. In the
case of digital, the uncertainty leads organizations to start small: like launching a
pilot, learning in the process, and running the risk of being overtaken by more
ambitious competitors. Like digital, sustainable revolution holds the potential to
revamp how successful organizations plan, implement, as well as operate.
The radical changes in how technology investments are flowing into the enterprise
sustainability space are enabling businesses to make room for the adoption of highly
automated tools. Many of the tools employed by consulting firms are becoming
mainstream within organizations and being employed in a SaaS or licensed model.
Consulting interventions are attracting massive traction across industries. The ESG
and sustainability consulting market is anticipated to grow at a 17% CAGR from 2022
to 2027, while the global market is expected to reach $16 billion by 2027.
Sustainability reporting and tech capabilities are spurring a new wave of advanced
corporate accountability to society and the environment at large. As organizations
are becoming more cognizant of building products and services, the employed
systems are centering around sustainability. These reformations are empowering
businesses to improve the world economy along with improving the lives of
individuals and the ecosystem.