Financial Times Series: Making Sustainability Progress Measurable

To date, hundreds of sustainability regulations and initiatives have been established around the world. Legislation is becoming increasingly common as deadlines associated with the Paris Agreement rapidly approach and as communities globally experience the impacts of extreme weather and climate events.

A company’s sustainability efforts in this landscape are only as successful as they are measurable - and measuring the impact of initiatives can be difficult. However, with some mindset shifts and the adoption of emerging technological innovations, business software has the potential to make it easier.

The second article from the new series of three articles from SAP Concur, produced in partnership with the Financial Times, addresses some of the changes on the horizon to business operations and tools in support of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

Expectations surrounding sustainability are driving the organisational transition from a shareholder model to a stakeholder one. Companies are feeling pressure to remain ahead of sustainability regulations and expectations. And technology baked into business software offers opportunities to do those things better, as artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning enable more efficient and effective data collection, analysis, and reporting.

 

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An accountability shift

Make no mistake: sustainability initiatives are a top business priority. According to the 2024 SAP Concur Global Business Travel Survey, around a third of business travellers (29%) and travel managers (33%) said that their company is more focused on increasing use of sustainable travel options than meeting employees’ expectations for flexibility or cutting travel costs.

Sustainability has become a business imperative, requiring that companies and their leaders shift emphasis from accountability to shareholders to a wider range of stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, employees, and customers.

A competitive advantage

Although sustainability legislation is increasing in prevalence, this isn’t just a check-the-box regulatory requirement. Business leaders must stay ahead of regulatory changes and the sustainability expectations of shareholders to drive competitive advantage and long-term company success.

It’s an effort that requires engagement from all employees and established company KPIs - like any important organisational initiative - to ensure that everything stays on track.

A measurement challenge

As SAP Concur SVP and Head of Product Marketing Chris Juneau says, “Ultimately, sustainability is a data challenge.” Data collection and analysis are central to measuring the success of sustainability initiatives. Reporting becomes an educated guess at best without the ability to aggregate clean data from across the organisation and without the right technology to analyse it. And when regulations are involved, guessing just isn’t sufficient.

In the future, ESG forecasting and reporting will be supported by AI—and CFOs are increasingly making investments to prepare, according to an SAP Concur CFO Insights report.