ChangeNOW 2022: sustainability needs aligned roadmaps across organizations and ecosystems

The Situation: A booming number of organizations and coalitions are aligning under the global sustainability context of decarbonization and all 17 UN Goals covering the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors that must underpin full sustainability. But it’s not nearly enough. We need roadmaps that align under the global context covering entire ecosystems of organizations, industries, and regions. Focused collaboration is vital.

I spent a few days at the ChangeNOW 2022 climate conference held under the gaze of Paris’ Eiffel Tower. On one hand, off-the-record conversations did not increase my confidence in certain firms’ and industries’ transition planning. More broadly, however, I did find increasing levels of ambition matching those I found at COP26, the November 2021 UN climate summit. But as with COP26, any optimism comes alongside the fact that climate change does a lot of harm and will only do more over the next 50 years while we solve the problem.

But, back to that optimism. Across organizations, industries, ecosystems, and the consulting, technology, and services firms that operate within them, I see alignment toward the global context and emphasis on partnerships, collaboration, data, roadmapping, CEO-led leadership, and other aspects among the infinite number of barriers remaining; we outlined five challenges to address in 2022. We’re making progress, and there’s a lot of encouraging collective determination and innovation.

Sustainability will dominate organizational and political agendas for at least the next 50 years

We will soon be publishing a piece framing sustainability and the global context beyond the comments above (see a recent similar piece). Transition plans covering organizations and entire ecosystems must align to this context. Organizations must align activities and goals for all employees in the organization and all players in their ecosystems. Further, they must define metrics, targets, accountability, and incentives at all levels.

We cannot address sustainability by continuing to “just do things”

It will be game-over as far as sustainability is concerned if we tackle the problem in a scattergun approach to grab headlines or because we lack detailed roadmaps telling us what to do and when. Of course, we need to do things and knock off low-hanging fruits while we build and align formal transition plans. But more broadly and bluntly (an acknowledging the over-simplification), I only really care about what an organization is doing if its action, project, or solution aligns with the global context. Roadmaps will allow us to present emissions savings as a percentage of the overall organizational and global emissions, link savings with inherent business benefits (energy efficiency and cost savings, for example), and align activities throughout value chains and ecosystems.

Compared to the last 10 to 15 years chasing digital transformation without a defined endpoint, the fact we have goals for sustainability is a massive step forward. I cannot understate that. Goals form the endpoint of our roadmaps; then, we can benchmark our start points and create a path forward. We know so much about the answers; the why, what, and how are clearer each day. But we need everyone to take that and fit themselves to a global roadmap.

Aligning with the global sustainability context is a powerful way to visualize the problems we need to solve and how organizations and solutions fit in that context

Detailed transition planning helps organizations outline the scale of a particular solution (again, think in terms of the percentage of the overall context). It also illustrates where responsibility lies across ecosystems and within organizations. For example, what targets and incentives do the supply chain, procurement, finance, and all other organizational teams need to execute the overall roadmap?

Collaboration is essential for sustainability—but it must be focused

Whether collaboration is between competitors, throughout supply chains, or between business and government, it’s a desperate solution to sustainability. But every day, new partnerships, collaborations, and coalitions are announced. “Coalition fatigue” was discussed at ChangeNOW. To ensure that collaborations or coalitions work and align everyone to sustainability, we must ensure the right people and organizations are in the right rooms at the right times. We need to work together to find the people and organizations who can make change happen; well-formed groups can create a sense of collective courage to change and show that you and your ecosystem align.

The focused collaboration and roadmapping we need can be triggered by those organizations and individuals at the center of these ecosystems. Consulting, tech, and services firms and the massive ecosystems of major organizations they work with, take note. These firms have the convening power to align industries and ecosystems.

The Bottom Line: There’s still a sizable gap between the global sustainability context and the state of transition planning across organizations and ecosystems

See our outline of how more than 80% of organizations don’t have the plans they need for sustainability.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a global standard on organizational plans for sustainability, recently released a progress report. It was a stark reminder of the challenge facing all companies and governments leading up to COP27 this November. SBTi now covers 1.5 billion tons of Scope 2 and 2 emissions (direct and indirect, respectively), and so far, there have been 53 million tons of emissions reductions across all targets. Unfortunately, globally we emit approximately 50 billion (note the “b”) tons (carbon dioxide equivalent, CO2e) through manufacturing, electricity production, agriculture, transport, heating and cooling, and so on. This gap is precisely why roadmaps must align globally throughout industries and ecosystems. We must evaluate plans and achievements in the context of how much there is to do.

Another dire comparison is that SBTi companies cover 33% of global market capitalization but only result in emissions reduction commitments of 3% and reductions to date of 0.1%.

This November, organizations and governments should bring detailed transition plans to COP27 that align with the global sustainability context. Industries and ecosystems must meaningfully collaborate. We need the right people and the right organizations in the right rooms at the right time (Here’s a hint: that’s right now).