As we start 2024, we are rapidly approaching the midpoint of the 2020s – the decade we must deliver on the UN Sustainable Development goals (SDGs). I would argue that this should be a shared purpose for businesses.
The 2023 SDG progress report is a sobering read and the April 2023 IPCC report is likely to be the last that talks about a viable 1.5-degree scenario. It was only last month that global leaders gathered at COP28 with a goal to unite, act, deliver. The success of agreements made in Dubai will depend on the ability of our governments and businesses to accelerate action and turn pledges into progress.
With eyes wide open to the scale of challenges ahead, I remain hopeful that business is a powerful engine for change and that they are made up of committed change makers who have the potential to shift our current trajectory.
As businesses are thinking about their ambition and strategy for the year ahead, here are five critical pathways for change I would love to see leaders taking bolder action on:
1. Dialling up ambition as corporate stewards to accelerate sustainable action
We need every business to understand how their unique skills enable them to solve today’s systemic challenges. While net zero and science-based targets have given us a direction of travel, we need to do more to shift the dial.
In 2024, we need bolder ambition, a focus on transformational strategies, and a commitment to accelerating action now.
2. Moving from Carbon Tunnel Syndrome to holistic sustainability and designing inclusive strategies
2023 was hyper-focused on decarbonization but saw this as an isolated issue, which is fraught with risks of unintended consequences for those who will be most impacted.
We need to see businesses looking at the bigger picture, designing strategies that facilitate a just and equitable transition, are restorative and regenerative, and invest in building green skills.
3. Redefining the role of purpose to drive corporate advocacy and systems change
COP28 saw intense scrutiny on business lobbying. We need business to think more broadly about who their purpose should serve, and move beyond self-interest to drive corporate advocacy that informs policy and regulation, which will enable sustainable outcomes and systems change.
4. Ramping up radical collaboration
Today’s challenges for responsible business are complex and interdependent. We cannot do it alone; organizations need to leverage the considerable power of their eco-system.
We need to see more pre-competitive collaboration, more open sourcing innovation, and businesses shifting their strategies from being the best in the world to being the best for the world.
5. Investing in talent to empower a culture of change makers
Businesses today often have small, dedicated teams doing incredible work to drive sustainability – yet these are typically a tiny fraction percantage of the work force.
Smart organizations are waking up to the enormous potential of their people as problem solvers and are investing in upskilling their talent in sustainability, so everyone is equipped to deploy their skill set to drive positive impact.
Responding to the systemic sustainability challenges of our time will take creativity, courage and collaboration. Coming off the back of COP28, the mood is hopeful but we cannot ignore the need to take action: business leaders must think about how their organization can contribute to a more sustainable future.
These five predictions are based on the findings of one year’s worth of sustainable leadership roundtables, with participation of leaders from over 150 businesses, including Amazon, Diageo, Capgemini, and more.
Insights from these dialogues have been distilled into Brandpie’s Sustainable Leadership Playbook, Levers for Change: Accelerating Sustainable Action, which is a pragmatic tool for leaders in any role wishing to accelerate sustainable impact.
If you would like to join one of our upcoming Levers for Change roundtables, please register your interest here.
We help complex, global organizations define and operationalize their purpose every day. We would love to carry on the conversation.
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