The Core Skills in Top Sustainability Teams
The Core Skills in Top Sustainability Teams
The Core Skills in Top Sustainability Teams
The Core Skills in Top Sustainability Teams
Four key areas of expertise characterise successful sustainability teams:
1. Data & Analysis
This area involves sourcing accurate data within the organisation and establishing integrations between IT and sustainability functions. It also encompasses data science to generate new sustainability insights for the business.
2. Reporting & Regulatory Management
This is how most businesses currently perceive sustainability. It includes managing sustainability reporting and addressing compliance requirements effectively. In earlier stage sustainability teams this ends up being 100% of the team, and <50% in later stage sustainability teams.
3. R&D and Environmental Science
This is a highly specialised area that requires deep expertise. This is the team or individual that handles LCAs, environmental accounting, and the development of methodologies rooted in environmental science. Not every sustainability team needs this in-house.
4. Project Management
This emerging skill set is essential for sustainability teams. Project management involves building and implementing decarbonisation plans, developing new systems and processes, and creating transition plans with suppliers. This may be available in adjacent functions.
This is a rough guide and of course there are all kinds of exceptions. Based on my experience, the benchmark is about 1.5 FTEs for sustainability per billion USD in revenue. In smaller companies, one person often handles all these responsibilities.
Written by Saif Hameed
Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs): Why You Should Act Now
Panelists included: Cecilia Valeri Iribarren (PACT), Jessica Sansom (Huel), Steff Kulis (Kraft Heinz) and Ilya Kleyner (Altruistiq)
Yes, we are riding the PCFs wave for another week but hear me out… When it comes to PCFs, we find ourselves grappling with an inconvenient truth: consumers don’t really care yet. However, this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be acting now. Here’s why:
- Empowering Stakeholders with Data: The beauty of PCFs is their versatility; different stakeholders can use them for various purposes. A procurement colleague may need data to inform sustainable buying decisions or supplier contract clauses, while R&D might use it to make greener ingredient choices.
- Tracking Performance: PCFs serve as performance trackers, helping companies gauge the effectiveness of their sustainability initiatives. Further, comparison claims against your own products (where you have full visibility of the methodology and calculations) is an effective way to track progress internally, or even a less risky way to start a claims journey - e.g this product has 15% less CO2/unit than last year’s version.
- We’re in the Innovation Window: The governance of PCF data needs to catch up - meaning now is the time to work out the processes that ensure accuracy. Auditing PCFs isn’t just a good idea, it’s essential.
- Show Your Suppliers: Suppliers often see the data ask but don’t understand ho the data will be used- why not show them? By engaging with them on this granular level, brands can showcase the benefits of transparency—like changes in environmental factors (EF) or reductions in emissions. When suppliers understand how their actions affect their PCFs and your (the customer’s) footprint, they’re more likely to buy into sustainability initiatives.
We’re shifting from vague corporate footprint data to detailed PCFs, empowering consumers, stakeholders, and suppliers to make informed decisions. We need time-bound goals, effective governance, and a commitment to transparency. The future of sustainability isn’t just about reducing carbon emissions; it’s about creating a shared understanding of what those emissions represent—one product at a time.
Written by Frankie Musson
Other News
- 🛢️💰EU Subsidies for Fossil-Fuel Cars Total €42 Billion (Reuters): The EU’s five largest nations spend around €42 billion annually on subsidies for fossil-fuel company cars, with Italy and Germany leading. A study by Transport & Environment (T&E) criticizes this spending, noting it contradicts the EU's green transition goals, especially as electric vehicle (EV) sales drop. T&E urges more support for EVs to replace the current incentives for high-emission vehicles.
- 🇮🇳💨 Delhi's Air Quality Worsens Amid Smog and Toxic Foam (Independent): Delhi's air quality reached the "poor" category with an AQI of 273, and some areas hit "very poor" levels. Smog blanketed the city, and toxic foam covered the Yamuna River, posing health risks like respiratory and skin issues. The city imposed a firecracker ban ahead of the festive season to combat pollution. Air quality worsens in winter due to stubble burning and low wind speeds that trap pollutants.
- 🌊🐋 Far-off Framework Targets (Earth.org): Only 2.8% of the world's oceans are "effectively" protected, far short of the 30% target by 2030 set in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Although 8% of oceans are designated as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), many lack the resources and enforcement needed for effective conservation. A push for more ambitious national targets and actions like ratifying the UN High Seas Treaty needed to accelerate progress as global biodiversity continues to decline significantly.
- 🇨🇴🐝 Bee-Safeguarding Supplement Fighting Pesticides (Reuters): Researchers in Colombia, in partnership with U.S. and local universities, created a plant-based supplement that shields bees' brains from the harmful effects of pesticides. Developed by the Universidad del Rosario, the formula uses flavonoids to help bees avoid neurological damage and maintain motor functions when exposed to agricultural chemicals.
