With the current flash floods in Queensland and NSW, it's time to talk sustainability and transformation...

With COVID giving people time and perspective to focus and consider what they spend their precious time on, people want to have purpose and there is arguably nothing more purposeful than looking after the planet.

Digital transformation has been ramped up in the current climate, with technology adoption at an all-time high. Sustainability has roared to the forefront of corporate priorities, with 73% of surveyed executives saying their organizations have set a net-zero carbon emissions goal. Through sustainability, a company’s ability to create positive environmental and societal impact is rapidly reshaping its competitive advantage. Talenza Project Services is starting to see roles that mean companies not only have a strategy, but they are building capability and executing it. We’ve seen an increasing number of roles from organisations who are looking for project professionals to deliver on sustainability goals.

There is a dearth of most skillsets but sustainability is reasonably new so we are looking at professionals who care, and are relying on organisations to build capability. The scale of this disruption will be staggering. According to BCG, just the push to limit global temperature increases to 1.5C will drive a massive transformation of the global economy and will require investments totaling an estimated $100 - $150 trillion by 2050.

Organisations are starting to look at transformation with sustainability as the goal. However, a lot of companies aren’t willing to do this at the cost of profitability...

The closer integration between sustainability efforts and digital transformation translates into a more innovative technology focus. The only way to become sustainable and profitable is to make digital transformation the strategy for doing it. Did you know that:

• A recent PwC survey found that 81% of investors wouldn’t be willing to give up more than 1 percentage point in their returns in the pursuit of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals
• While 86% of companies have a sustainability strategy, only 35% have taken action on it
• ​A recent survey by Ricoh Europe found that 71% of business leaders don’t believe digital transformation can help them achieve their long-term sustainability goals

The critical lever: Integrating sustainability and digital transformation technologies supporting a broad range of sustainability initiatives. And 70% of sustainability trailblazers are using a hybrid cloud to advance their sustainability objectives.

Sources

IBM, BCG, Forbes

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Which members of the C-Suite are primarily responsible for environmentally sustainable operations?

I've invested in a social impact fund management firm Beckon Capital, who have given me the below overview.

Beckon Capital exists to get capital & capability to where it’s needed most - local need. We help SMEs, NFPs, and government establishments, measure & track financial viability, investability and sustainability, and impact/ESG through our processes and platform - The Beckoniser.