Sustainability - December 2022

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BEING A GOOD ENVIRONMENTAL NEIGHBOUR

While hosting our Sustainability Live event in London it was consistently eye-opening to see how sustainability efforts and ethos are permeating all aspects of business and company organisation.

In this issue we look how efforts to be a good environmental neighbour does not need to come at the expense of being a successful enterprise, with our top ten of impact investment managers achieving positive outcomes whilst delivering a sustainable financial return.

We regularly speak to individuals and businesses providing inspiration and insight, but these case studies really do demonstrate how positive strategic action can both make a sustainable impact in their own business ecosystem but show others how they can do the same.

Every professional working in the field of sustainability has their own part of the story to tell, and as ever, it is a genuine pleasure to share them.

SCOTT BIRCH

scott.birch@bizclikmedia.com

Accelerate Your Net-Zero Carbon Initiatives with Low-Code

Featured with:

Executives from Appian, AWS, and Xebia share their collaborative efforts and excitement about their partnership in low-code, cloud, and sustainability.

Technology is instrumental to achieving next-level capabilities across industries. But organizations that want to operate sustainably must choose technology that lets them adhere to strong environmental, social, and governance principles.

Appian Corporation, a process automation leader, is a critical piece of the digital transformation and sustainability puzzle. The enterprise-grade Appian Low-Code Platform is built to simplify today’s complex business processes, with process mining, workflow, and automation capabilities.

“By quickly building apps that streamline and automate workflows, organizations are using Appian to make their processes for monitoring and reporting on ESG initiatives faster, simpler, and more effective,” says Meryl Gibbs, Emerging Industries Leader at Appian.

“Both AWS and Appcino are amazing partners of ours,” says Michael Heffner, VP Solutions and Industry Go To Market at Appian. “We have an extremely long legacy engagement with AWS as our trusted, go-to-market partner and Appcino builds “meaningful, business-focused applications on the Appian platform and is amazing in all things ESG.”

Digital transformation in ESG.

As an AWS leader enabling sustainability solutions built on the cloud, Mary Wilson, Global Sustainability Lead at AWS, talks about the partnership with Appian.

“Our objective is to help our customers achieve sustainability goals across their business operations,” says Wilson. “[This means] looking at data availability, meaning access to more data, and enabling actionable insights. “Lowcode, cloud-enabled, technologies will allow organizations to build fast, learn fast, iterate, and continue to improve these insights to drive their sustainability outcomes.”

Tarun Khatri, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Appcino (product part of Xebia), explains just how critical ESG is in the face of digital transformation. “The investment community now considers ESG reporting as a major factor for measuring performance,” says Khatri The collaboration will continually uncover new insights and provides customers the opportunity to accelerate their ESG goals with speed and security.

WIAM SAMIR WIAM SAMIR

In 2017, a study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) claimed that under a quarter of women in the Middle East and North Africa are employed – one of the lowest rates in the world. At the same time, the WEF’s Global Gender Gap Report stated that women in the Middle East and North Africa will not see equal political representation with men until the year 2116.

However, the green building movement shows a promising future for women in leadership. Out of the nine Green Building Councils in the MENA region, six are led by women, each of whom dedicate their lives to overcoming the negative impacts of climate change in the Middle East and North Africa.

Wiam Samir, the first female President of Morocco Green Building Council from 2018-2020, is one of the women demonstrating exceptional leadership in the sustainability movement. Now, Samir is a Sustainability Consultant and Projects Manager for ALTO EKO, an environmental services company that

strives to improve the sanitary quality and living comfort of spaces in Morocco.

“It is a truly great feeling to be part of the movement leveraging and leading the green sphere. Being an advocate for a topic that matters on different scales, from civil society to governmental entities, helps us realise the importance of our cause and double our efforts to make change happen,” said Wiam.

An advocate for a green and sustainable environment built on collaboration

After acquiring a degree in Engineering and Management Sciences from the Al Akhawayn University, Samir went on to gain experience as an intern for multiple manufacturing, supply chain and infrastructural companies. From there, she sought to gain a more permanent role as an engineer and consultant in environment, energy, and sustainable construction.

Between 2016-2018, Samir worked as a QHSE and LEED certification manager for the Casablanca Finance

Since being elected as the first female President of Morocco Green Building Council in 2018, Wiam Samir has played a pivotal role in promoting sustainable construction as a key part of the MENA region’s green building movement

City Tower project. Designed to minimise ecological impact, the tower set precedents in building performance, scale, and technology throughout the MENA region.

In 2018, while serving as the first female President of Morocco’s Green Building Council, Samir decided to reinforce her engineering and technical skills with a Masters in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment from Cambridge University. Since then, she has continued to collaborate with other sustainability pioneers to transform the MENA region’s construction landscape.

Speaking about her role at the 5th Edition Real-Estate Development Summit in Morocco, 2019, Samir said: “The targets of the project are to increase awareness and education, to achieve alignment between approach and certification schemes, and also to target the global market by showing examples of leadership. All of this started at COP21 for the Paris Agreement … the final objective is to limit global temperature rises below 1.5 degrees.”

A role model for female leaders pressing for progress around the world Samir and other women leaders in the green building movement are not only addressing the issue of climate change; they’re also challenging gender inequality and fighting for equal opportunities in their countries.

Strict cultural rules in the MENA region mean that many women lack the same professional rights as men

IS A TRULY GREAT FEELING TO BE PART OF THE MOVEMENT LEVERAGING AND LEADING THE GREEN SPHERE”

– including the freedom to pursue certain careers. Despite this, Samir’s dedication to collaboration and sustainable construction has given her a strong platform to demonstrate the important role women have to play in addressing environmental and social issues.

In 2022, Samir achieved WELL AP accreditation and received the community award from the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI). As Sustainability Consultant and Projects Manager for ALTO EKO, Samir continues to advocate for buildings, organisations and communities that support global health and promise a healthier future for all.

“IT

“THE

NEIL

D’Souza

Q. WHAT BENEFITS CAN DATA OFFER THAT WOULD MAKE THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS MORE SUSTAINABLE AND EFFICIENT?

» The data you need to optimize the sustainability performance of a process or product sits outside of your company. Using third-party data smartly can significantly reduce the time and effort to manually collect, clean, aggregate, and analyze data. E.g., to optimize a process, you need to know if the main driver for impact is the raw material or the processing. Up to 80% of the impact can come from what happens to the raw material before it gets to you –extracting, and processing it – in which case, you want to optimize for yield by minimizing how much you waste. This typically happens in downstream supply

chains where raw materials are already highly processed. On the other hand, in upstream processes, e.g., mining, the focus should be on energy efficiency. The two factors often work against each other, and without access to supply chain data, this would not be possible to evaluate reasonably.

To improve something, you need to know what “good” looks like. Regularly updated external data enables you to quickly benchmark and identify hotspots and often provides direction for further analysis.

When used correctly, external data can improve the accuracy of your analysis by completing gaps in your own analysis. This doesn’t replace the need for primary data, but information is hard to retrieve in large organizations, even when it sits within.

Lastly, Sustainability is a multi-faceted problem that includes cost, risk, and environmental dimensions. External data provides this view on a process.

Q. HOW CAN YOUR SERVICES BE OF BENEFIT TO BOTH LARGE AND SMALL COMPANIES?

» Our technology combines AI, data, and apps to power sustainable product and supply chain decisions at scale. Makersite’s AI automatically maps a company’s product data, suppliers, and manufacturing processes against more than 140 material and supply chain databases. It then constructs granular, precise digital twins of each product and how they are made, used, and disposed of. These dynamic, multi-criteria models and deeply integrated apps enable transparency and understanding of multiple factors, including environmental footprints, should-costing, and compliance risks, faster than any current approach.

The scalability of our approach through automation and AI are invaluable to large companies to resolve more complex, multi-criterial decisions that would otherwise be untenable from a cost, time, or effort perspective. This has been our primary focus to date.

Q. WHAT SORT OF R&D GOES INTO THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR PRODUCT?

» Extending the boundaries of industrial artificial intelligence, expanding our global supply chain database, and creating apps to leverage the digital twins we generate to provide more insights faster and to more people within the organizations that we support are the primary spend drivers in R&D.

Q. HAS AI MADE YOUR SERVICES POSSIBLE? HOW SO?

» Our product would not be possible without AI and the database that it relies upon. We utilize AI in multiple steps of the process, from data integration and mapping to constructing dynamic supply chain models to generating insights about the digital twins we construct. AI enables the scale we’ve unlocked for our customers that makes digital twins viable beyond narrow proofs-of-concept.

Q. WHERE DOES THE COMPANY WANT TO BE IN 18-24 MONTHS?

» Our mission is to instantiate 1 Billion supply chains on the Makersite platform by 2025. To do this, we will have grown to a 200-person-strong company in 24 months. We will continue to strongly invest in our database, AI capabilities, and customer service over this period. We strongly believe that to impact how the industry makes products in the future; the solution will have to integrate into existing systems that product and procurement teams use. Investments in this area, such as the one with Autodesk (https://www.engineering.com/ story/autodesk-fusion-completes-moreproduct-design-manufacture-workflows), will be another key area of investment. We are at the beginning of a green tech wave, and sustainability is finally ‘crossing the chasm’. Looking at where industries are now, there is much focus on reporting. In 3-5 years, no one will care about that. Product development, procurement, and management will be measured and held accountable for the changes they can systematically implement to drive the transition to a sustainable economy. We are the only platform on the market that powers this transformation at scale.

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From cost to profit: a new perspective on sustainability

WRITTEN BY: JOSEPHINE WALBANK

PRODUCED BY: LEWIS VAUGHAN

Clearly, sustainability is more than a low-level concern for Green. This Swiss data centre leader is rapidly expanding, going from a single site to a multi-site, multi-campus company in just a few years – and it plans to become pan-European in the near future.

All of this, while implementing sustainability standards as the cornerstone of its architecture.

Green’s monumental success demonstrates that sustainability doesn’t have to be a ‘necessary expense’ or a roadblock to data centre growth – in fact, it can be their differentiator.

Navigating the challenges facing the data centre industry

While many industries are facing major, omnipresent challenges, it’s hard to compete with the extent and variety of the difficulties faced by the world’s data centres.

Firstly, there’s the longstanding impact that COVID-19 and global conflicts have had on supply chains. “Of course, now, most recently – when we thought that finally the pandemic had ended – we have the Russian Ukraine war, which has again impacted global supply chains and energy supply in particular,” explains Roger Sueess, the CEO of Green.

“Certainly, with our clients and customers, this has created a lot of

anxieties about how they navigate through those crises, while at the same time, needing to transform their businesses.”

Running parallel to energy and supply chain threats is the rate of expansion that global businesses are demanding of data centres. As digital transformation is being deployed at an immense scale, meeting global demand is no mean feat.

Then, amongst all of this, there’s the issue that there simply isn’t enough talent out there to navigate these hurdles.

“While it's an old topic, what’s still very much true for us as we expand is the war of talent and getting the right people who can actually support that growth,” Sueess comments.

As data centre sustainability transitions from an added cost to an MO, Green demonstrates how ESG can offer an invaluable market differentiator

“It's about more than just chasing one KPI. It’s a very holistic approach – and that's also something that's very hard to just copy, because it's a complete mindset change”

ROGER SUEESS CEO, GREEN

ASHLEY DAVIS, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, GREEN

“I firmly believe that best-in-class operability is now in our DNA”

Ashley Davis, Executive Board Member, Green (left). Roger Sueess, CEO, Green (right)

Yet, in the face of all of these challenges, Green has continued to thrive, achieving a rapid rate of expansion.

For Davis and Sueess, this success is predominantly down to the talent of its teams, Green’s partner ecosystem, the consistent prioritisation of sustainability, and its ‘Best-in-Class’ status.

“Both Roger and I have been with Green now for the last four years, and have gone through significant transformation during that period. And, frankly, I think that's because of the commitment, discipline, patience, and hard work of our teams,” said Ashley Davis, an Executive Board Member of Green.

C o u n t o n t h e e x p e r tis e o f o u r in t e r d is cip lin a r y t e a m w it h s t a c k e d e x p e rie n c e in t h e in d u s t r y a n d f a m ilia r w it h a ll r e le v a n t le g isla tio n .

t m m n t x

W e g e t y o u r S w is s D C d o n ef a s t, f o c u s e d , o u t sid e t h e b o x .

Y o u r c o n s t r u c t i o n p l a n n i n g p a r t n e r f r o m g r o u n d t o c l o u d . Learn more

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ROGER SUEESS CEO, GREEN

Alongside this, Green’s growth has also been fuelled by an expansive, invaluable network of partners.

“On the one hand, we have a whole set of key partners involved in our delivery, as we build data centres and create the systems. Then what we've done – very much in the background – is create an ecosystem of partners supporting that transformation and that journey to cloud, making Green the place where everything comes together,” Sueess explains.

“As you look at our website, you’ll see the ecosystem described and a set of partners, starting from consultancy, across transformation, implementation, security, and then the infrastructure where our core assets are.”

‘Best in class’ in practice – achieving the highest standards of sustainable operability

Recently, Green was awarded the status of ISG’s Best in Class Switzerland Data Centre Leader, a feat the company has achieved for the third year in a row.

In practice, such a status comprises a wide variety of factors, in which operational excellence, sustainability and technological innovation are included.

For Davis, another contributing factor of Green’s success in this area has come from the fact that both he and Sueess have worked with data centres from every angle.

“Throughout our careers, both Roger and I have been demanding consumers of data centres, users of co-lo data centres, owners and operators of in-house data centres, and, now, we’re developers and operators of commercial data centres.

“We have a whole set of key partners involved in our delivery, as we build data centres and create the systems”

ROGER SUEESS CEO, GREEN

“For us, it was almost a given that we would invest in sustainability and differentiate ourselves there. But now, it’s actually become an advantage – in a lot of the discussions that we have – that we did this early on”

ROGER SUEESS

TITLE: CEO

INDUSTRY: DATA CENTRES

LOCATION: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

Roger Sueess is CEO of the Green Group - consisting of Green Datacenter AG and Green.ch AG, an ISP for private and SME customers.

Roger has over 20 years’ experience in the financial services industry, where he was Managing Director and Fellow at UBS and Credit Suisse, responsible for cloud strategy and execution, IT infrastructure, IT architecture and IT innovation, acting as Head Cloud Business Office, CTO and Global Head Engineering, steering and forming the banks’ IT landscape and the industry as a whole.

Additionally, Roger was responsible for the Swiss and EMEA region and the banks’ representation at various boards, including the Swiss Banking Association. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant across the IT industry.

Roger Sueess has spent many years living abroad in the US, Asia and all over Europe, providing him with a wealth of international experience and a broad network.

He holds a Master’s in Engineering and a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies from the University of Rapperswil (HSR).

ASHLEY DAVIS, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, GREEN

When you've been on the other side as a consumer, you recognise what's important in terms of maintaining the brand and the entity that you work for. Our being able to influence how Green has grown, with that lens across service, availability, consumption and development, certainly brings a unique differentiation for Green.”

“I've always said that best in class is a process, not just an event. The commitment and hard work behind the scenes, which goes into operating our sites, maintaining our sites, etc. is evident in our recognition as best in class,” adds Davis.

Utilising their perspective as former consumers – and thereby understanding the priorities of their consumers first-hand, as well as what their end-user experience expectations are – Green has taken its sustainability commitment several degrees further than its competitors.

“I think we really went through a whole journey. Of course, we chased the optimal PUE, which is something very much known in the industry, but then we went even further,” explains Sueess, outlining the approach and extra-mile-factor that set Green apart.

“When you've been on the other side as a consumer, you recognise what's important in terms of maintaining the brand and the entity that you work for”

EXECUTIVE BIO

“I've always said that best in class is a process, not just an event. The commitment and hard work behind the scenes, which goes into operating our sites, maintaining our sites, etc. is evident in our recognition as best in class”

ASHLEY DAVIS, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER, GREEN

A plan that works.

Pioneers in general planning MEP for high performance data centers –founded in Zurich, Switzerland, active throughout Europe.

For more than 15 years, the Swiss general planning and consulting company PBP AG engineering has been developing future-oriented customized infrastructure solutions in the field of hyperscale data centers with a load of up to 50MW. The specialists are highly competent in the conceptual development and plan ning of complex projects.

They accompany construction projects from the concept phase to the handover of the completed building to the client.

PBP plans and supervises conversions as well as new buildings and large-scale projects in hyperscale data centers, research, industry and pharmaceutical sectors.

click here to visit our homepage

We digitize sustainably

PBP AG engineering has played a key role in the planning of the new Green Metro Campus Zurich. Three high-performance data centers for cloud providers, enterprises and system integrators are built on 46,000 m2 of space at the Metro Campus Zurich. Green is an important player for the future of cloud computing. PBP was selected as a suitable partner for the implementation of the campus. In collaboration with Green, PBP launched a future-oriented modular DC hyperscaler concept with an IT load of approximately 50MW on a greenfield site and accompanied the huge project in close cooperation with the client. The unique PUE performance makes the Metro Campus Zurich the most energyefficient data center in all of Europe.

Salvatore Baia

Salvatore Baia is Co-Founder, Owner and Vice President of PBP AG engineering, a general planning, electrical engineer ing and consulting company operating throughout Europe.

Baia also acts as CTO for PBP as the tech nical leader in the Datacenter Green Metro Campus Zurich project. He has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has been involved in data center project planning from an early stage. Baia was involved in complex planning of cages, small DC conversions, followed by power upgrades to the largest hyperscale data centers in greater Europe.

“We are part of the Swiss Data Centre Association, making sure that some of the knowledge can be shared and that we can build on various ideas. We work together with hyperscalers to help them improve their architecture and evolve ours.”

“This includes actually working together with two universities in Switzerland, going further to lead a new standard to certify data centres that is more inclusive –not just in the PUE, but actually the whole front-to-back operation,” adds Sueess.

With regard to ecological footprint, Green is also taking new approaches. Not only does this pay off for Green, but it also aids the region’s climate protection drives. “We asked ourselves how we can use resources wisely and reuse them. For example, for the waste heat (which is lost in many data centres) we feed it into a heating network. We initiated this technology, using it to supply thousands of households and industries with climateneutral heating. This saves 20,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. We are convinced that sustainable data centres are a win-win for companies, operators and the environment," Sueess explains.

“It's about more than just chasing one KPI. It’s a very holistic approach, and that's something that's very hard to just copy, because it's a complete mindset chang.”

ROGER SUEESS CEO, GREEN

These ESG initiatives, in turn, drive a greater diversity in the talent pool, as sustainability is becoming an increasing priority for talent, when choosing companies for which to work. And, for Green, this trend has been clearly reflected in their recruitment process.

“We found the purpose element that ESG brings particularly helpful when acquiring talent, and, more and more, I think that's where it starts to pay back”

ROGER SUEESS CEO, GREEN

From cost to profit: a new perspective on sustainability

“We are part of the Swiss Data Centre Association, making sure that some of the knowledge can be shared and that we can build on various ideas”

“We found the purpose element that ESG brings particularly helpful when acquiring talent, and, more and more, I think that's where it starts to pay back,” Sueess says. “That sense of purpose is something that resonates with literally all employees. I don't think it's about particular demographics necessarily, but certainly the young ones –Gen Z in particular.”

“I firmly believe that best-in-class operability is now in our DNA,” adds Davis. “We have a very purposeful agenda, in terms of talent development, and I know for certain the contribution from our teams – in terms of our growth, and more importantly, our efficiency, our reliability, and so on – is a significant differentiation in Switzerland.”

Setting sustainability as a differentiator

Countless data centres have included sustainability within their pledges and future growth plans. But, as the title of their entire operations, ‘Green’ has made its presence in their strategy clear.

“We have a deliberate roadmap towards continuous improvement. We ensure that we actually have all the telemetry and instrumentation necessary so that we can be fully transparent, and so we can get those KPIs, maintain those KPIs, trend them and report them,” Davis explains.

“Having that, I believe, has made a significant contribution to a number of threads, in terms of sustainability. And again, I think ESG means many different things, but from a sustainability perspective, we have a very purposeful transparency that we share. I think best in class is a process we've institutionalised in those processes from the outset”.

Year founded 100+ Number of Employees

ROGER SUEESS CEO, GREEN

Far from this being a hindrance to their growth pace, for Davis and Sueess, it is actually the key factor that gives Green its best-in-class reputation.

“Initially, when you focus on some of the sustainability topics, particularly in data centres, they're always being viewed as a tradeoff. So, if you invest a lot in sustainability, then you're not as profitable.

“We are actually looking, every year, to see how we could push our new technologies”

In the meantime, though, our clients and customers are actively asking about ESG strategies,” Sueess continues.

“I see that as an opportunity to start monetising as, you know, we are the company Green.

“For us, it was almost a given that we would invest in sustainability and differentiate ourselves there. But now, it’s

actually become an advantage – in a lot of the discussions that we have – that we did this early on,” explains Sueess.

“For a data centre, you’re looking at a lifespan of 20 to 30 years. So, if you haven't already made those investments and if you don't keep improving, you'll have a stale asset, so to speak, and you have to innovate at another level.”

Thanks to its proactive approach, Green has set sustainability as its key differentiator, and a priority that marks it out from its competitors. As such, it has a marked competitive advantage over its rivals, who have only just begun to implement their ESG progress strategies.

“There's a tonne of competition out there that we consider ordinary. But very few that are extraordinary, and our achievement over the last three years is that we consider ourselves to be extraordinary on that basis,” says Davis.

“Sustainability is a differentiator that people are looking for, and I think more and more it is becoming an MO rather than something that you can choose to do,” Sueess elaborates.

“Having an advantage there, or being ahead of the rest, helps. It’s important that you keep working on it.

“That's a mindset that we were able to establish at Green – and that makes our customers very confident that they made the right choice, because they see us continuously improving.”

“It's not that we go, ‘Okay, now we put the ribbon on it, we're done’. No, we are actually looking, every year, to see how we could push our new technologies: can we improve processes, configurations and so on, to keep that advantage and to keep ahead?” concludes Sueess.

TO NORMALISE DE&I

The ongoing mission in the boardroom

Gender, ethnic and social diversity has proven to be an important driver of a board’s effectiveness, so why is it still undervalued by so many

The need for diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) in the boardroom is not a new discussion. For over two decades, research has sought to demonstrate the business benefits of valuing gender, ethnic and social diversity in recruitment and selection processes.

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC)’s guidance on DE&I in the boardroom states that “diversity in board composition is an important driver of a board’s effectiveness, creating a breadth of perspective among directors and breaking down a tendency towards ‘group think’”.

Nonetheless, DE&I progress is slowing in certain industries where board diversity is seen as part of a criteria list that simply needs ‘ticking off’. But, in reality, as more partners, clients and customers pay attention to DE&I as part of businesses’ environmental, social and governance concerns, it’s more critical than ever that companies ensure that recruitment processes and boardroom cultures are meeting set, and measurable, DE&I targets.

WRITTEN BY: CHARLIE STEER-STEPHENSON

SHERI R. HINISH GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY SERVICES LEAD, IBM

SHERI R. HINISH GLOBAL SUSTAINABILITY SERVICES LEAD, IBM

Tackling the gender imbalance in the boardroom

Although the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 – to ‘achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’ – is being addressed across many industries, a lot more needs to be done to secure DE&I progress in the corporate world.

According to Catalyst, a global nonprofit that helps build workplaces for women, 2020 saw more than one-third (38.5%) of global boards seat at least three women, up from 36.2% in 2019. Of these boards, 75% included at least 22% of women – a reverse from statistics in 2014 where 75% of boards represented less than 25% of women.

However, Catalyst warns that women are still underrepresented in leadership positions. Deloitte’s seventh edition of Women in the Boardroom: A Global Perspective suggested that, while the percentage of women in the boardroom is

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR A RECIPE, DIVERSITY IS THE FIRST STEP, BUT YOU MUST CREATE EQUITABLE SPACES TO GET THE EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE RIGHT”

increasing, it’s at a very modest rate. In fact, if the 2.3% rate increase continues as it is, gender parity can be expected around 2045 – an “unacceptably slow” outcome for Deloitte.

Punit Renjen, Deloitte Global CEO, is encouraged by the rising percentage of women in the boardroom, but remains cautious at lagging progress in areas like Asia and the Middle East.

“Advancement toward gender parity is not yet where it needs to be. I have seen many studies that correlate female board representation with greater innovation, thus enhancing financial performance in innovation-intensive industries. All of this together ultimately results in stronger financial performance,” said Renjen.

“At Deloitte, we have been lucky. We have many talented female leaders who are both qualified and willing to serve on the boards of our global businesses and member firms.

In fact, several of our member firms have exceeded a 50% ratio in terms of board gender parity – which is great. But what makes those numbers meaningful is that we are doing the work behind the scenes to transform our culture.”

Ethnic diversity is key to solving global sustainability issues Fostering an inclusive culture depends on giving prominent, leadership roles to previously marginalised ethnic groups. Whereas many businesses take a reactive approach to DE&I in order to meet the baseline of ethnic minority quotas, it’s beyond time that a proactive, diversityfocused method was implemented across all public and private businesses to ensure full inclusivity.

According to Dream Corps’ Chief Programs Officer, Michelle Romero, an ‘allhands-on-deck approach’ is needed to solve the world’s biggest sustainability challenges: “This means tapping into the deep talent pools and genius that exist in Black and Brown communities. It means partnering with Black innovators and entrepreneurs.”

As one of the world’s largest information technology companies, IBM leads the way in improving ethnic diversity in the supply chain. By building alliances with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), IBM creates opportunities for marginalised groups in the sustainability and technology sectors.

Discussing the success of public supply chain organisations in DE&I representation, Hinish added: “Access and conduits into the workplace remain an opportunity. If you’re looking for a recipe, diversity is the first step, but you must create equitable spaces to get the employee experience right. Trust,

fostering belonging, and embracing the very thing that makes us human – our differences and emotional connection – through purpose and values. This is the future of work across global supply chains.”

Why

DE&I needs to start at the top When board appointments are made, decision-makers usually gravitate towards people already in their network. This means there’s an assumption that C-suite executives have the most appropriate experience, expertise and skills to perform the role of a board member. However, C-level leaders are often white males, resulting in an ongoing cycle of non-diverse, non-inclusive boardrooms.

THIS MEANS TAPPING INTO THE DEEP TALENT POOLS AND GENIUS THAT EXIST IN BLACK AND BROWN COMMUNITIES”

MICHELLE ROMERO CHIEF PROGRAMS OFFICER, DREAM CORPS

“We are living in a time of significant disruption and change – socially, economically, and technologically. Board members have an important role to play in guiding transformation, challenging the basic assumptions of organisations, and helping to foster a positive and dynamic culture of exploration and experimentation,” said Renjen.

“As the world and the workplace become more diverse, everyone has a role to play in building organisational cultures that facilitate high performance and trust. But it has to start at the top.”

Finding solutions to the world’s current sustainability issues demands that DE&I becomes a normal part of day-to-day work, including collaboration with colleagues, partners and the community. It’s not just for senior leadership and HR to sort out; building an inclusive culture based on diversity is everyone’s responsibility, both in and out of the boardroom.

“

The accidental supply chain

DIVERSITY CHAMPION

PRODUCED BY: MIKE SADR WRITTEN BY: SEAN ASHCROFT

As an organisation, Accenture seeks to help build supply chains that are more inclusive and sustainable. It does so by encouraging a mindset of responsible buying, with the ultimate goal being to generate long-term value for its clients, supplier partners and communities.

Both within and outside of Accenture, one person above all others has taken on the mantle of driving performance and values around a diverse and inclusive supply chain.

She is Nedra Dickson. A Managing Director at Accenture, Dickson leads its global supplier inclusion and sustainability programmes across 22 countries. Her deep expertise in procurement transformation and supplier relationship management has seen her manage an estimated US$2bn in contingent labour spend.

Under her leadership, and with the help of her amazing team, Dickson has elevated Accenture’s supplier diversity spend to approximately $1bn globally, and she is also credited with expanding Accenture’s awardwinning Diverse Supplier Development Program (DSDP).

The programme is currently running in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, South Africa, India and Australia, and there are plans to further expand its reach.

Dickson says: “Responsible buying allows us to work within our ecosystem to identify, develop and work with smaller, more diverse suppliers with increased agility.

Since falling into a procurement career via technical support, Nedra Dickson has gone on to become a world figure in promoting supply chain diversity

“DSDP reaches 7 countries, allowing us to drive a more-inclusive marketplace in our supply chain, and we also gain access to innovative, responsive and cost-competitive solutions for our clients.”

Under the programme, Accenture also requests that select suppliers provide information and data on how they are reducing their environmental impact “which in turn helps us improve our performance”, as Dickson explains, who has a strong pedigree in procurement transformation and supplier relationship management.

Supplier diversity programme reflects Accenture’s values “The programme is designed to grow and develop diverse businesses, and to support their integration into Accenture’s global supply chain. It’s very difficult for such businesses to navigate large, complex organisations like Accenture.

“So, if you partner a diverse business with an Accenture executive then you can help them peel back the layers of the business and facilitate collaboration.

“This way, a small business can come in and develop a piece of software or advance a platform, and can do so collaboratively so that we’re working together to innovate.”

Dickson adds: “By innovating with this diverse supplier, you're helping them grow their business, which means they begin to employ more people in their community. Then you're seeing an economic impact.

“It's a bit like a tech incubator. We look for diverse technology providers we can partner with, or even go to market with, and help the supplier build upon that technology. But it also includes non-tech businesses that we want to help grow.”

In her 21 years with Accenture, Dickson has acquired a deep level of experience of

NEDRA DICKSON MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACCENTURE

working with Fortune 500 companies across multiple industries and a range of disciplines, including: technology consulting, operations management, procurement and sourcing and category management.

And, yet, procurement was never on the radar of this engineering and computer science graduate, who began her Accenture career in tech support.

“I made sure everyone had a laptop, and I helped write some of the software we were using back then,” she says, recalling that time.

Dickson moved on to providing help desk support for clients and, in 2006, was tasked with moving the function to Bangalore, India. “That translated into doing tech work for some of our clients, and that’s when I realised I wanted to be client-facing.

“I didn’t plan to go into procurement,” she admits. “It’s something that happened organically. I was told there was an opening in that area – I knew nothing about

“Many small and diverse businesses looking to engage vast and complex Fortune 500 companies need help from non-profit organisations”

EXECUTIVE BIO

NEDRA DICKSON

TITLE: MANAGING DIRECTOR

INDUSTRY: IT SERVICES AND IT CONSULTING

LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Nedra Dickson is a Managing Director at Accenture, where she leads its global supplier inclusion and sustainability programmes across 21 countries.

Dickson has strong expertise in procurement transformation and supplier relationship management, having managed over US$2bn in contingent labour spend. She also oversees Accenture’s procurement and client opportunities with diverseowned businesses globally.

A key undertaking for Dickson is expanding Accenture’s dedicated global Diverse Supplier Mentoring Program in seven countries. The programme is designed to grow and develop diverse businesses, and to support their integration into Accenture’s global supply chain.

VDart: Teamwork to make the sustainability dream work

VDart reveals how its Accenture partnership helped align its sustainability vision with a roadmap featuring gender parity and sustainable office design

No matter where you go or what you do, it’s impossible to escape the term ‘sustainability’. With climate change advancing at a rate more rapid than had been anticipated, ensuring that we work together to restrict and reduce the planet’s warming is paramount.

Helping organisations to digitally transform in the face of such drastic circumstances is VDart. Based out of Atlanta, Georgia in the US, VDart is, in the words of its Executive Vice President Rohit Bardaiyar, a “leader in digital transformation and technology talent management services”.

“VDart group as a whole is a 3,700-employee company, and we’ve been in business for about 14 years, specialising in talent

management and enterprise modernization services,” establishes Bardaiyar.

Being a company focused on digital transformation, possessing a clear and actionable sustainability framework is essential. Luckily, 2021 was the year that, under Bardaiyar’s leadership, VDart successfully graduated from Accenture’s Diverse Supplier Development Program on Sustainability. A five-year pilot programme, it focused on the adoption of “five major United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”. Following this programme, VDart was in a position to develop its sustainability roadmap and form a framework for ESG adoption.

“Accenture played a pivotal role in not just helping us establish our sustainability vision, but also in creating a strategic roadmap for the next five years,” Bardaiyar says. “They

were instrumental in helping us adopt the UN SDGs, even helping us design our newest green offices in India, per Accenture sustainability standards.”

The partnership between VDart and Accenture has included an expansive remit, with focus also being placed on other elements of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations, of which diversity, inclusion and equity (DE&I) is a core part.

“Diversity and inclusion is in VDart’s DNA,” Bardaiyar states. “At the moment, I’m proud to say that VDart 52% of our workforce is made up of women, while 38% of workers in our company are first generation workers, and 32% of our spend is with small, diverse companies. That’s how we think.”. “To us ESG is not a nice to have feature, but a critical business imperative”, he quotes.

procurement, but I was excited to learn how to help clients procure the goods and services they need.”

Dickson’s role sits between strategy and consulting Decades on, Dickson has carved out a unique role for herself at Accenture. “My current role sits within our strategy and consulting practice and is aligned to our supply chain. I help clients build, design, develop and grow their own supplier inclusion and sustainability programmes. I also help them fill gaps in their supply chains using small, diverse businesses.”

Dickson observes that her role is one that is made for procurement “because, typically, it is through procurement that contact with small and diverse businesses is made”.

She adds: “You’re procuring their services

and some of their goods, so this is why so many of these kinds of businesses are aligned to procurement organisations. We work with them not only to procure their services, but to augment and leverage their talent.”

Such talent might be found upstream or downstream in the supply chain. “They might be providing raw materials, they could be procuring your coffee, or procuring people to augment your IT service. There are diverse suppliers in marketing, in HR and in legal. There's so many categories small and diverse businesses cross.”

Dickson says that, although the role is “immensely rewarding”, it also comes with serious challenges, chief among which are misconceptions within Accenture itself around the capacity of small, minorityowned businesses.

NEDRA DICKSON MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACCENTURE

“Awareness around why an organisation needs to embrace supplier inclusion and diversity is an ongoing problem,” she says. “The stereotype is that such businesses are too risky, or too small.

Stakeholder education key to building diverse supply chains “There aren’t enough conversations around the subject. We tend to write-off a business because they’re too small, mistakenly thinking that they're unable to scale up as fast. Then there is the size thing: many people look at small companies and see risk. They might doubt for example that the company has adequate insurance should there be any issues.”

Nevertheless, Dickson explains that one of the most important demands of her role is educating her own colleagues. “By educating internal stakeholders in Accenture, you also are educating your clients. Not everyone is aware of the value-add that small and diverse businesses can bring, and it’s my job to remedy that.”

She points out that part of the problem is how easy it is for people to forget that even large multinationals were once small businesses.

“Many of the large tech companies started life as a collection of small businesses that came together, and we want to continue to be at the forefront of this kind of thought leadership,” she says.

Sometimes, the educating Dickson undertakes might be as simple as providing clarity around what diversity and inclusion actually is.

“When you look at inclusion and diversity in the workforce, we’re talking about the volume of women and minorities,” she explains. “But ,with supplier inclusion and diversity, it’s about the number of

businesses that are 51% owned by a minority group. In both instances, the aim is to help underrepresented groups flourish.”

Leveraging small businesses in supply chain makes sense

What’s more, Dickson believes supply chain diversity is also about leveraging small businesses in your supply chain: “With so much disruption in the supply chain, small and diverse-owned businesses can help fill the many gaps.”

But there are far more substantive benefits of a diverse supply chain than plugging gaps, says Dickson, not least of which is innovation.

“Small and diverse businesses are nimble, able to do things faster than large corporations, where there are lots of processes and procedures. As a result, they are able to innovate at pace.”

NEDRA DICKSON MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACCENTURE

She also cites a University of Washington study showing that, for every $1mn that a diverse supplier is given, 10 jobs are created in the community. “So you're also looking at economic and social impact when it comes to such businesses.”

“My role is unique, as it sits within our strategy and consulting practice and is aligned to our supply chain”

Today’s supplier ecosystem is very different to that which Dickson first encountered at the start of her procurement journey, with one big change being around technology.

“Around diversity and inclusion, I'm seeing a lot of AI, augmented reality, data science, and sustainability,” says Dickson. “Small businesses have already begun to be very eco-friendly and are able to teach a lot of us large corporations where to begin.”

Dickson is unequivocal about the benefits smaller firms have to offer, but stresses that they need help when approaching large organisations with those benefits and expertise. “Many small and diverse businesses seeking to engage Fortune 500 companies will look for help from non-profit organisations, such as National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC), National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC),

DisabilityIN (US), Minorities in Supplier Diversity UK (MSDUK), The Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council (CAMSC) and WEConnect International. Bodies like these bring suppliers in, certify that they are minority-owned, and then help facilitate introductions with larger corporations.

Countries leading way on supplier diversity ‘having the right conversations’ The NMSDC is based in the US, a country Dickson says is leading the way on diversity and inclusion in the supply chain. Canada and the UK are also strong performers, while South Africa and Australia get a mention in dispatches.

“The South African government has decreed that corporations must work with Black-owned businesses, and it’s the same in Australia with Indigenous-owned businesses,” she says. “There are many countries that are

around why an organisation needs to embrace supplier inclusion and diversity is an ongoing problem”

NEDRA DICKSON MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACCENTURE

beginning to see the benefits of leveraging underrepresented communities.”

Dickson believes that the reason these countries are making progress on diverse supplies chains is because “they are bringing the issue to the forefront”. She adds: “They're going in and finding small businesses within underrepresented communities. Then they’re finding talent there and are providing training.

“It’s in any country’s interests to do the same. With all the disruption we’re seeing to workforces at the moment, around staff retention and attraction, it makes good business sense for larger businesses to go into underrepresented communities, for example, to provide training around technical skills.”

Dickson feels Accenture itself has realised that greater flexibility and inclusivity are needed around recruitment.

“A key change we’ve made is to leverage our apprentice programme so that we no longer require entrants to have a four-year university degree. This way, we can train more people and give them the technical skills that are needed to plug the workplace gaps we're seeing.”

“Awareness

THE SLOWSHIFT TO A SUSTAINABLE CIRCULAR

WRITTEN BY: CHARLIE STEER-STEPHENSON

The transition from an excessive, linear supply chain to a sustainable, circular model is certainly underway – but it’s not without huge challenges ahead

As supply chain disruptions continue to affect industries across the world, environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns remain a business priority. Producers and consumers alike are being urged to consider whether their actions align with the sustainable principles of a circular economy - a model of production and consumption based on sharing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials for as long as possible, in order to extend the life-cycle of products and minimise waste.

Currently, only 8.6% of the world’s economy is successfully circular and there are still 91 billion tonnes of materials being wasted each year. Research undertaken by SAP and the World Economic Forum

ECONOMY

-BUT-SURE SUSTAINABLE ECONOMY

revealed that 4.9 billion people (61% of the world’s population) lack access to waste management or recycling infrastructure. It’s therefore more critical than ever for businesses to put sustainability at the top of their agendas.

The operational significance of a circular supply chain

With sustainability a top priority, net-zero practices must become central to companies’ end-to-end operations. From design to consumption, companies should be striving for zero emissions, zero waste, and zero inequality ESG goals at every stage of the supply chain. Speaking at BizClik’s Sustainability LIVE event earlier this year, SAP’s Global Head of Circular Economy Solutions, Stephen

Jamieson, explained how the company has been helping businesses achieve their sustainability goals for the past 50 years. SAP believes in the importance of a circular model built on reusability and recyclability in the design, sourcing, marketing, production and delivery of goods, if the supply chain is to become truly sustainable.

“We’re using more resources than the planet can sustainably provide, and half of total global emissions come from the way we use materials,” Jamieson told his live and virtual audience. “Shifting to a circular economy means a change in how we design not only products and new materials to eliminate waste, but also new policies, infrastructure and business ecosystems.”

© 2022 EYGM Limited. All Rights Reserved. ED None.

What if resiliency isn’t about withstanding today but envisioning tomorrow?

Technological innovations are vital for a successful circular economy With globalisation, increased product complexity and heightened consumer demands, businesses continue to face barriers in the shift to a circular economy. Jamieson explained that the first step is to collect and use data to understand the environmental impact of decisions made along the supply chain. SAP focuses on three key areas for this:

• Eliminating waste to prevent environmental destruction.

• Circulating materials within the supply chain for as long as possible.

• Driving regenerative business via endto-end operational insight, interweaving consumer decisions throughout.

STEPHEN JAMIESON GLOBAL HEAD OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY SOLUTIONS, SAP

To achieve these goals, businesses must engage with technological innovations that provide a fuller picture of their impact along the supply chain.

Sensors and ever-improving internet connectivity allow companies to collect data at every checkpoint, from the status of raw materials to the location of finished goods. Similarly, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) allow companies to gather advanced data that promotes efficiency

“TO DELIVER A CIRCULAR ECONOMY, WE FIRST NEED TO MEASURE IT”

along the supply chain – whether that’s altering transportation routes to speed-up delivery or exchanging single-use materials in favour of reusable ones.

“To deliver a circular economy, we first need to measure it,” says Jamieson. “We need to understand the recycled content in materials and in products. We need to understand whether those things are reusable, compostable, whether they’re sourced from fossil-based sources, and what the CO2 content is.”

Design and packaging complexities continue to pose a problem

A study by Capgemini revealed that 41% of companies still have no plans to implement sustainable product design. Whereas many businesses have already taken strides in reducing their carbon emissions at all stages of the supply chain, many companies continue to ignore the early stages of product design and the later stages of endof-life management.

Although the sustainable design of products and packaging can be expensive at first, the transition is vital if companies are to reap the benefits of a circular economy. Once sustainable design had been fully implemented, 73% of companies experienced increased revenue growth alongside a 67% reduction in carbon emissions.

Jamieson also discussed the complexities underlying sustainable packaging, as well as the need for companies to collect and interpret data to fully understand their environmental impact.

“Take a chocolate box. You have the tray containing the chocolate that sits within the primary packaging and then the secondary packaging around that. Then there’s the tertiary packaging, used for transportation. Being able to understand what materials are used at what point in time in production is an unbelievably complicated task, and the reality is that the data needed is often in disparate systems,” he says.

JAMIESON GLOBAL HEAD OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY

“We want to solve the data problem to provide a view of the renewables in chocolate-box packaging. What’s its recyclability? How compostable is it? What’s the thickness? What’s the weight? Once we understand such things, we can then start to aggregate analytics at a global level and help sustainability managers understand how they’re performing against commitments.”

Circularity isn’t just a problem for big, international businesses; small to mediumsized businesses also have a part to play. While they might not have access to the same funding or technology as their larger rivals, Jamieson says it’s important that SMEs focus on scalable principles first: “It’s all about embedding sustainable practices that can be scaled as you grow.”

Facing the challenge of complex sustainability regulations

As regulations around sustainability continue to evolve, SAP is helping companies make the most of its network-based solutions, like SAP Ariba and SAP Business Network for Logistics. These technology-led strategies aim to help businesses address the key sustainability challenges – including the collection of data – and transition to sustainable design and packaging.

“As we move forward in 2023, it’s about innovating business-specific and industryspecific solutions that address the final mile, so we can help consumers play their role in delivering a waste-free future,” says Jamieson.

“We’re also being very selective in terms of the materials we are focusing on. At the moment, we have a real focus on plastics and packaging, but this will rapidly expand into textiles, batteries, food, building materials, and electronic components, as further regulations come online and existing regulations change.”

STEPHEN

AD FEATURE

WRITTEN BY: TOM SWALLOW PRODUCED BY: TOM VENTURO

Tosca’s solutions operational

sustainable solutions eliminate operational waste

It only takes one simple idea to generate positive change in the supply chain. Simplicity is key to ensuring an equitable, profitable progression of sustainability solutions.

Organisations may aim to improve upon their energy consumption, manage their assets to reduce the amount of time for product distribution, or reduce the emissions involved in getting the products to market. Tosca, by providing reusable plastic packaging and pallet solutions in an efficient pooling system, challenges many of the sustainability pain points supply chains face today.

And supply chains face sustainability challenges of all kinds. However, through the managing and pooling of better packaging assets, Tosca seeks to battle many types of waste such as material waste, food waste, labour waste, and transportation waste. As a pooling system provider, as well as the designer and manufacturer of reusable plastic pallets and crates, the company is wholly committed to eliminating waste by developing products that last longer and are more effective in the specific supply chains it serves.

The company quickly began to realise that its patented designs were pivotal in minimising waste across many aspects of the supply chain. Benefits include reducing the number of pallets broken in transit, and designing more durable crates that can stack higher to decrease the number of trips required and are more protective to limit the number of damaged goods in transit.

Developing reusable plastic packaging and pallet products is Tosca’s sustainable solution for reducing costs and minimising time wasted in the supply chain

WEINBERG

Tosca soon learned that its sustainabilitydriven products would open doors for technology integration to revolutionise the way customers use its reusable products.

Sustainable pooling solutions optimise the food supply chain

It’s important to note what pooling actually is and how it works. Luckily, the CIO himself tells us what this means and why it is such a critical process for the business.

Michael Weinberg describes pooling as the process of distributing a pool of reusable products across multiple customers, managing the distribution in a way that ensures each asset is cleaned and maintained to the highest standard in between uses.

MIKE

CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, TOSCA

“We’re seeing the importance of traceability, with the information detailing the status of assets becoming more and more critical”

“The idea is that the same asset can be used by various customers, so it's pooled. One day, this reusable plastic crate or a reusable pallet might be used by customer A; it comes back to us, we clean and sterilise it to foodgrade standards, then it might go to a different customer,” says Weinberg.

Throughout the pooling process, not only does the product service multiple customers, but it eliminates the need for single-use containers and pallets. To make the process feasible for this purpose, the pallets and crates must be carefully designed to be stacked using minimal space and incredibly durable to withstand intensive use. For the team at Tosca, this is an important function of its products and one of main focus points for the business.

MIKE WEINBERG

TITLE: CHIEF INFORMATION

COMPANY: TOSCA

INDUSTRY: SUPPLY CHAIN LOCATION: ATLANTA, US

OFFICER

EXECUTIVE BIO

Mike Weinberg joined Tosca as Chief Information Officer in May, 2019. In this role, he is responsible for leading technology solutions throughout the organsation. Mike has over 25 years of technology leadership experience within management consulting, retail, and hospitality industries. Over the past 10 years, Mike has served in a variety of leadership roles within InterContinental Hotels Group most recently as Vice President of Global Hospitality Solutions. Prior to IHG, Mike worked in management consulting with Deloitte and Answerthink as well as serving as CIO for RetailOne.

Mike has an undergraduate degree from Emory University and an MBA from Emory’s Goizueta School of Business in Atlanta. He is

PRODUCT DETAILS

Tosca's portfolio of IoTtraceable, reusable plastic assets is the most robust the market has to offer, including crates, pallets, bulk containers, dollies and more, design to:

Reduce shrink/product damage

High-strength plastic protects products better than corrugated, preventing waste and reducing shrink.

Save on labour Straight-to-shelf design simplifies restocking.

Save space Foldable and stackable to maximise truck and store space.

Food safe

With the highest food safety programme in the industry, containers protect products from harmful bacteria.

Support sustainability Prevents the waste of single-use containers with a reusable, recyclable alternative.

“With multiple customers leveraging the same pool of assets, we all win. It makes it more efficient when we're all using those same things. And, because we are in the sustainability space, we do take it very seriously,” Weinberg says.

Before allowing the inevitable question to be asked, Weinberg addresses the cleaning process and how this is not only a major step in reusing pallets and packages, but showcases the company’s environmental commitment through water reclamation.

When it comes to the end-of-life stage for pooling products, the materials are reintroduced into the manufacturing process by regrinding the plastics into a form that allows the material to be remade into new assets. The pooling products achieve a lifespan of around 10 to 15 years, as they “sometimes get damaged to a point where they can't be reused for their intended purpose”, according to Weinberg. “Then we recycle that as well. We work with firms that will carry out what they call regrinding—turning our crates into other things.”

Tackling supply chain disruptions and improving

efficiencies

When it comes to environmental commitments, Tosca seems to be ticking all the right boxes—which is what the company set out to achieve when it ventured into the realm of reusable products. But this has also paved the way for something much bigger: a solution that has the ability to provide its customers with more efficient ways of working and better use of data to overcome supply chain challenges.

This is where the organisation incorporates technology into the mix, creating a more advanced supply chain service that tracks product locations,

MIKE WEINBERG CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, TOSCA

conditions, and, ultimately, reduces waste in other areas of its customers’ supply chains.

The first challenge Tosca’s reusable assets help alleviate is product defects. The ability to assess the conditions of food provided in transport gives Tosca clients access to realtime data that measures collisions between crates in transit and ensures that goods are kept at the right temperature while on the road, all with the aim of supplying each unit intact and on time.

“I love to use our egg channel as an example, as it’s the one that most people resonate with,” says Weinberg. “Most egg farmers would take their eggs, put them in cartons, and pack those cartons into cardboard boxes. Those cardboard boxes would go to distribution centres, then to retailers that would put the cartons on the shelf.”

He explains that the Tosca solution uses plastic containers that have ventilation and are stackable to minimise damage of fragile goods such as eggs.

“1) You don’t have to worry about crushing, which is a problem with corrugated boxes; and 2) Because they’re ventilated, you don’t have to use as much energy to maintain optimal temperature on the truck, achieving better efficiency.”

With such examples, there’s a reduction in potential damaged goods received by the retailer, but also less time spent stacking goods on shelves. This is thanks to a minimalist design

“With multiple customers leveraging the same pool of assets, we all win”

Tosca

pioneers sustainable solutions for supply chain waste

work with firms that will carry out what they call regrinding— recycling our crates to create other products”

MIKE WEINBERG CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, TOSCA

with a drop down wall, which enables the eggs to be displayed in stores directly in the RPCs.

“Once that crate is empty, the retailers just collapse those crates—and again, there's a reverse supply chain process. They come back to us, where they’re cleaned and reused,” Weinberg says.

This process describes just how seamlessly companies are able to interact with Tosca’s products, reducing unnecessary time spent handling goods and managing defects. It’s a solution that can benefit many areas of supply, but the focus for Tosca is the food supply chain and translating the same process across many other products.

On the subject of efficiency, one major disruption or incident that takes place in supply chains is missing consignments. Tosca aims to minimise the number of reusable assets that are left behind at specific intervals of the supply chain, using internet of things (IoT) technology for that very purpose.

“We

Introducing IoT to its clients has provided them with further time and cost savings as they gain the ability to track and manage the movement of their goods. Incorporating functions like GPS, bluetooth and cellular networks, clients are able to visualise the realtime location of each crate or pallet to assess any product delays.

The latest technologies used in this offering supersede foundational technologies, such as barcodes and RFID, that were previously used to check goods in and out of depots as points of reference on their journey to the customer. The IoT-driven system allows for more discreet information tracking as well as measurement of trailer temperature, humidity, and shock.

This system is particularly useful to track the location of pallets and crates, but also to track the temperature of fresh meat and poultry, frozen goods, and other products that require more tailored transit methods, such as refrigerated or freezer trailers.

Growth catalyses digital transformation at Tosca

As a global company— headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia—Tosca has seen great adoption of its products and services across the states. It has also seen further interest from other countries in Europe, as well as Israel and others, thanks to some major acquisitions by the company.

To achieve its success, the company formed valuable partnerships with some critical organisations in technology, including Sycor for Microsoft Dynamics 365 support, SAP for implementing its HR systems, Data MTX for supporting most of its offshore labour requirements, and Sensolus for the presentation aspect of its global IoT solutions.

Another critical partner in Tosca’s success is Neway Technologies, which was the key

MIKE WEINBERG CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, TOSCA

enabler of cloud migration and creating an almost-cloud-native workplace. The company works with Neway as its primary infrastructure partners, while also providing security solutions for its cloud-based business processes.

Weinberg believes that these relationships formed from the digital transformation of Tosca’s products, services and organisational processes will drive further integration of digital into the company and the optimisation of business-critical functions.

“I think we’re seeing the importance of traceability, with the information detailing the status of assets becoming more and more critical,” says Weinberg. “I think sustainability is a big part of it.”

“People partner with us because high quality reusables are one of the intersections

where commerce and sustainability meet. Having said that, I think there’s more need to recognise that sustainability is important and we’re getting more people across the globe saying, ‘we really want to invest in sustainable solutions, we don’t want to invest in one-way solutions’.”

In collaboration with its partners, Tosca continues to manage all forms of waste to enable seamless, cost-effective supply chain operations.

While Tosca is an organisation built on reusable packaging and palletisation, the company is much more than just a sustainability advocate— it’s a sustainability pioneer.

IMPACT INVESTMENT MANAGERS MAKING SUSTAINABLE CHANGE

We explore the top 10 impact investment managers helping companies achieve positive social and environmental benefits alongside a sustainable financial return

WRITTEN BY: CHARLIE STEER-STEPHENSON

In a world where environmental, social and governance (ESG) concerns are climbing higher up businesses’ priority lists, impact investing offers a way to generate financial return while having a positive social or environmental impact.

Just as customers show a growing interest in companies with positive ESG values, stakeholders are demanding the option of making sustainable and responsible investments. These investments provide capital that’s used to address the world’s most pressing issues, from sustainable agriculture and renewable energy to basic services like housing, healthcare, and education.

Thanks to rising interest from individuals, institutions, and governments, the impact investing market is growing quickly. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s 2020 report, a total of US$2.3tn was invested for impact in that year alone – no doubt partly resulting from the general increased awareness of climate change and social issues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here, we consider which impact investment management companies are actually making the biggest sustainable changes on a global scale, one investment at a time.

Actis

Since its inception in 2004, leading global investor in sustainable infrastructure Actis has raised US$24bn to help accelerate the transition to a netzero future.

With decades of operational experience and 19 offices from Mexico City to Seoul, Actis actively searches for opportunities to create longterm, sustainable value – all while building competitive returns along the way. One impressive example is Actis’ acquisition of Atlas Renewable Energy, which develops, finances and operates clean energy projects that offer economic and community benefits as well as clean power capacity across Latin America.

Tikehau Capital 09

Tikehau Capital prides itself on offering ‘alternative’ asset management to its clients. From private debt and private equity to real assets and capital market strategies, the company uses its specialist expertise to balance risk and return over long-term investments.

Tikenhau’s founders believe that sustainability and profitability go hand-in-hand. With an emphasis on economic vitality and ESG priorities, Tikenhau uses its US$37.5bn assets to have a positive impact on climate change, healthcare, innovation, and social inclusion.

Generation Investment Management

Generation Investment Management has been an important player in the development of sustainable and ESG-focused investing since its founding in 2004.

A mission-led firm, Generation strives to make transformational change to bring about a prosperous net-zero, society that’s also equitable, healthy and safe. Not only does the company’s investment framework use a ‘systems view’ based on sustainability and ESG factors, but it’s also an active member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM) and Powering Past Coal Alliance Finance Principles.

Meridiam

Infrastructure

Transformational infrastructure specialist Meridiam Infrastructure is centred on the belief that responsible investing has the power to build economic growth and dramatically improve people’s lives. Since its 2005 founding in Paris, Meridiam has remained dedicated to making the UN Sustainable Development Goals a reality in developed and emerging markets across Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Primarily focused on critical public services, sustainable mobility, and innovative low-carbon solutions, Meridiam’s long-term approach to investment ensures economical, environmental and social benefit in every project.

TPG

Since 1992, TPG has offered an innovative and collaborative approach to private equity. With the belief that private enterprise has a critical role to play in addressing global societal challenges, TPG’s Impact platform is committed to driving competitive financial returns alongside measurable societal benefits. In 2016, the launch of The Rise Fund consolidated the company’s commitment to building profitable businesses that deliver positive, sustainable impact – including in areas such as climate and conservation, education, financial inclusion, food and agriculture, and healthcare.

Bain Capital

Bain Capital was established in 1984 as a private equity team providing strategic resources to help companies grow and thrive. With its deep-rooted industry experience and value-added approach to impact investing, Bain Capital supports partners in the health and wellness, education and workforce development, and sustainability sectors.

AqueoUS Vets, for example, recently announced that Bain Capital’s growth investment will help it pursue its mission of expanding AqueoUS Vets water treatment systems and reducing contaminants in the US water infrastructure.

04

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR)

As investors with an industrialist vision, KKR’s mission is to invest in scalable solutions for critical global challenges. By helping companies that deliver impact through their products or services and actively manage ESG risks, KKR provides longer-term outperformance. Since 2010, KKR has invested over US$25bn in climate and environmental sustainability. The company actively supports the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and, in 2022, joined the Initiative Climate International (iCl) to develop best practice in climate risk-mapping and target-setting in sustainable private equity.

With over 20 years’ experience, a global reach of over 255 million people, and the largest commercial microfinance fund in the world, BlueOrchard is an impact investment pioneer. BlueOrchard aims to create lasting positive impact for underserved communities and the environment, all while providing attractive returns for investors. One way the company does this is by investing in areas like sustainable infrastructure and climate adaptation, aiming to protect the most vulnerable communities while meeting global climate goals.

BlueOrchard Finance

Hamilton Lane

Hamilton Lane is a leading global investment manager with an emphasis on ESG and responsible investing. Fulfilling their promise to ‘enrich lives and safeguard futures’, Hamilton Lane only invests in partners who share its commitment to thoughtful, sustainable and responsible actions.

Through data-backed approaches, technology solutions, and strategic planning, Hamilton Lane has proven that responsible investing can reduce risk and create better outcomes for impact-driven businesses. The company ensures that all investments meet ESG requirements while actively educating all employees on ESG matters and evolving best practices.

In March 2022, Hamilton Lane released its Climate Policy Statement, showcasing the company’s dedication to the global search for climate-change solutions. As well as pledging to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, Hamilton Lane is an active supporter of the TCFD and iCl. This involves actively investing in climate solutions that promise to drive significant decarbonisation, such as renewable energy, infrastructure, and electrification.

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The History of T. Rowe Price

T.Rowe Price

With over 80 years of investment experience and US$1.32tn assets under management, investment management company T.Rowe Price comes out in the top spot.

Recognising the current potential of environmental and societal change, T.Rowe Price believes it has a unique opportunity to play a key role in helping deliver the positive outcomes that the world is seeking, partnering with clients, investors and businesses equally devoted to sustainability and fairness.

In alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, T.Rowe Price’s Global Impact Equity Strategy directs capital towards specific impact outcomes. Each investment decision is centred on ESG factors, whether that’s expanding economic and employment opportunities in undeserving areas or helping in the fight against climate change.

T.Rowe Price prides itself on partnering with businesses that don’t just promise financial performance, but also deliver technological innovation and business models focused on energy efficiency and decarbonisation.