Current Project

This Week in Sustainability - (Mariana Solanilla 04-26-2023)

New initiatives coming our way for Organizational Sustainability 

Original Articles: https://theconversation.com/a-new-un-report-offers-businesses-a-template-for-achieving-true-sustainability-197872

A recent report from November 2022, is predicting its importance on sustainability for future generations to come. This publication is described as the United Nations’ Authentic Sustainability Assessment report. Global Reporting Initiative co-founder, Allen White, states that this report will act as a precedent for achieving excellence in the trajectory of sustainable development. “This report represents the first comprehensive guide to using planetary limits as a reference point in business-oriented sustainability reporting” according to the article. These planetary limits will act as boundaries that allow humanity to live and develop sustainably without depleting natural resources. After four years of research, data, and advocacy for accountability tools, this report is ready to start a “...new era of authenticity” for organizational sustainability. The landmark problem that this report tackles is that current business practices are “inauthentic and insufficient for achieving true sustainability” states the author, Sofiane Baba. Sustainable Development Performance In Sustainability indicators (SDPIs), “measure the sustainability performance of businesses, nonprofits and other economic organizations using a new and improved approach.”As a result of SDPIs, the approach addresses the underlying conditions that compromise sustainable development. As such, it respects social, economic, and environmental limits. In conventional disclosure, one compares one's performance to those of peers in the same industry or geography. SDPIs, on the other hand, “involve comparing companies against a scientifically established, context-based sustainability threshold.” The report believes that comparing actual impacts with normative impacts are ideal so true sustainability can be assessed. For example, take a company or an organization that is trying to figure out how to reduce their water use. Rather than comparing water consumption to ecosystem capacity, SDPIs recommend comparing water consumption to the actual water needs of living species. 

In the future, it will become increasingly necessary for companies to disclose their sustainability impacts. As a result of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, this will be the case for large European companies starting in 2024. Through widespread and concerted adoption of SDPIs, we will be able to foster authentic sustainability that will help us meet the magnitude of the challenges ahead. The relevance and originality of these new indicators offer a new pathway toward authentic sustainability, and we must be collectively ambitious.