We say that Sustainable Development and CSR is “not about how the dividends are distributed, but how the revenue is generated”. The sustainable development agenda in business tends to suffer from confused terminology (sustainability, CSR, HS&E, philanthropy, etc.), and little understanding of what constitutes core vs. peripheral business activity. We aim to:

• Create new business opportunities. Our consulting will look at your whole value chain through the lens of sustainable development, we identify opportunities for new products and services, and strengthening your brand and reputation. This extends to increasing brand loyalty amongst customers, staff and other key stakeholders.
• Generate good return on investment. Our consultants bring strategic thinking and commercial acumen to CSR. We aim to ensure that investments in CSR are truly sustainable – that is ensuring that they generate a return to the business and benefit society.
• Mitigate reputation and legal risk. We take a ‘whole-system’ view to reveal blind spots and identify areas where the business may be exposed to risk either now or in the future. This can include negative stakeholder action, unwanted media attention, legal exposure or threat of government intervention and regulation.

We do this by supporting the operational leader at the client to:

• Initiate and manage change. Frequently the person leading the sustainable development agenda is a ‘lone voice’, with limited budget and/or little direct organisational authority. They are also frequently technical experts (in environmental sciences, finance, HR, engineering, marketing, etc.) but lack change agency skills and techniques (stakeholder mapping, influencing, consulting skills, etc.). We work with them to build those capacities and build a groundswell of support for change in their organisation – regardless of their present circumstances.
• Develop and run low-investment, high-yield projects. Our experience is that behavioural change initiatives are comparatively low cost and high return. We seek to generate quick wins, which have a very high symbolic value and communicate to the wider organisation that the business is committed and moving forward. This generates additional support and lowers resistance in the organisation. It proves the business case to senior management and leads to further conversations about ‘what comes next’, after the easy steps have been taken.
• Overcome internal resistance from executives or line. Most business leaders agree in principle with the idea of making their business more sustainable, but are sceptical that it won’t generate a return. We work with the person leading the sustainable development agenda to propose strategies that support the value chain of the business, and coach them on their internal influencing tactics to get those strategies approved.

Read more: 7 Top Solutions for embedding Corporate Responsibility in your organisation

Read more: climate change services