An effective corporate sustainability strategy is essential for long-term business success and should focus on key elements that align with customer and stakeholder priorities. Businesses are advised to invest in the process, be adaptable, and prioritize action-oriented approaches over perfection to foster engagement. Transparent and high-quality reporting is crucial for accountability and demonstrating commitment to managing environmental and social impacts.

1. Marcel Kooter
AN EFFECTIVE CORPORATE
SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
TIPS TO CREATE

2. Today, for a business to
achieve long-term success,
it needs to have a solid
corporate sustainability
strategy in place.
Sustainability and success
now go hand in hand. While
every business’s strategy
will be different, the best
ones tend to have the same
elements in place.
Focus on What’s Most
Important to the Business
As well as considering the actions that will
impact the business in terms of cost, growth,
and risk, it is also important to focus on what
matters to the business’s customers, inves-
tors, stakeholders, and supply chains.
Focusing efforts on just one or two areas of
sustainability is likely to be a good strategy,
rather than trying to do too much and there-
fore not completing any element of the strate-
gy satisfactorily.
Tips to Create an
Effective Corporate
Sustainability Strategy

3. Invest in the Process
A business should invest in the entire process,
not just the projected end goal. This means
taking plenty of time to decide the best way
to approach the strategy. Creating dedicated
project teams whose role is to drive progress
and collaborate with both internal and exter-
nal stakeholders is a good approach.
Resist Chasing Perfection
Businesses with the most effective corporate
sustainability strategies tend to recognize that
they will face challenges in actioning their plan
and are able to adapt over time. This could
be to reflect, for example, the emergence of
new data. Transparent reporting in terms of
the strategy, which reflects both the successes
and challenges that have been faced, can en-
courage open dialogue and promote a culture
where failures are viewed not as mistakes but
as opportunities to learn.
Ensure the Strategy is Action-
Oriented
It is crucial that businesses design their strate-
gies around an action-oriented approach,
rather than focusing on background and po-
licy at the expense of the former. Keeping the
strategy action-oriented means that teams
will likely be more motivated to work towards
goals, and this approach allows all employees
to contribute to the success of the strategy.
High-Quality Reporting
High quality and in-depth public reporting are
essential for a business to demonstrate to
stakeholders that it is behaving in an accoun-
table and transparent way. This will evidence
that the business is serious about managing
its environmental and social impact.

4. For more information
about designing and
implementing a corporate
sustainability strategy, visit
the blog of Marcel Kooter.
Marcel Kooter