Sustainability Performance: A Program for Continual Improvement
Environmental managers’ responsibilities are expanding beyond regulatory compliance and pollution prevention to areas of sustainability, including economic growth and corporate social responsibility. Today, they have a key role in helping their organizations better understand their current sustainability position, identify opportunities for performance improvement, establish baselines and benchmarks, and communicate progress toward performance targets. Continual sustainability performance improvement can be achieved by implementing processes synchronized with existing management systems and practices. The following diagram provides a general guideline for defining and implementing a sustainability performance improvement program.
Develop Policy
Many organizations have implemented environmental policies as part of formal environmental management systems or have clearly defined strategic objectives to guide actions. In these situations it may not be necessary to develop a specific policy that addresses sustainability. But some may find it beneficial to consider developing a policy as a means of acknowledging the organization’s commitment to sustainability. This can help focus the organization’s activities; optimize its return on investment; and communicate its position to employees, customers, partners, peers, communities, and other stakeholders.
Identify Opportunities
Identifying opportunities can be conducted through Web-based survey tools and facilitated work sessions that engage staff in the process and foster discussion of both opportunities and priorities.
Establish Objectives
Using the list of potential sustainability improvement opportunities as a starting point, objectives can then be defined, considering the ease of data collection and availability of industry benchmarks, among other issues. Measures and targets are then developed for each objective and initiatives or action plans are prepared to achieve the stated objectives and targets.
Implement Initiatives
Work plans for each initiative help further define objectives, measures, targets, and outcomes. These plans also document the scope, schedule, and budget that must be developed to accommodate operational responsibilities.
Monitor and Communicate Progress
Of course, tracking sustainability performance improvement and communicating this progress—both within and outside the organization—is key to continual improvement.
Together, all these steps help integrate sustainability and corporate citizenship into an organization’s existing management system, delivering maximum value for the bottom line—the triple bottom line of environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and economic growth.
You Should Know...
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Social responsibility reporting remains on the increase, with the number of organizations now reporting on their sustainability or social performance exceeding 3,200 per year.
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U.S. companies received a record 47 shareholder resolutions during the 2007 proxy season from institutional investors representing $200 billion in assets, doubling the number received in 2005.
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The European Union member countries recently agreed to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions a full 20 percent by 2020.
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Five western states (Arizona, California, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington) announced their intent to set GHG reduction targets in the next 6 months; Illinois and New Jersey announced their interest in California-style GHG regulatory programs.
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Five of 10 northeastern states in the Regional GHG Initiative decided to auction GHG credits, which is expected to dramatically increase companies’ costs to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
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California recently identified the first industry targets for enforceable reductions and mandatory GHG reporting: electricity power generators, oil refineries, cement manufacturers, and industrial/commercial combustion. Other states are expected to follow California’s lead.