Sustainable policies that stick

Bridget Williams outlines how to structure and create sustainable policies within your organisation and, most importantly, how to make these policies stick to avoid greenwashing (and the bin altogether).

The term ‘sustainability’ has evolved and developed throughout the years. With the publication of The Limits to Growth and the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, both occurring in 1972, the term ‘sustainability’ had a strong connection to the environment and finite supply of resources. Fast forward 45 years, and it has been recognised that, because many of these environmental issues are human-made, it will take our intervention to make changes. Therefore, the concept of ‘sustainability’ has grown beyond the natural environment and now focuses on three areas: economic, social and environmental.

The five P’s

These three areas are a great starting point for any organisation developing its sustainable policy, and they parallel three areas of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a framework I have referenced in the past two issues. Speaking of the SDGs, the official agenda, Transforming Our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, refers to what are known as ‘the five P’s’:

• peace

• people

• planet

• prosperity

• partnerships.

These are the five sustainable focuses within the agenda and are a helpful reference for any organisation’s sustainable policy. The five P’s go into further detail than just economic, social and environmental factors and can be linked to an existing environmental, social and governance policy and measured by the SDGs.

Creating sustainable policies

Before your organisation starts creating its sustainable policy, it needs to consider the objectives of this policy. Just as the SDGs are the roadmap for ensuring we meet the requirements of Agenda 2030, so too are your policies for ensuring your organisation satisfies its sustainable intentions. Policy is about creating a structured and accountable programme for the areas of sustainability you want to affect. If we consider the five P’s, the sustainable intentions for each could be as follows.

• Peace:

– Building a trusted and reliable brand through transparency and delivering a quality service or product.

– Creating an accountable, transparent and effective governance structure.

• People

– Growing and celebrating a diverse and inclusive company culture that provides opportunities for all its employees.

– Promoting the importance of wellbeing and a healthy lifestyle throughout our team.

• Planet

– Reduce waste regeneration through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.

– Reduce carbon emissions to become carbon neutral.

• Prosperity

– Become more competitive in the marketplace.

– Attract and retain the best staff.

– Be fair and reasonable with your customers and suppliers.

– Financially strengthen our business and improve our reputation with stakeholders.

• Partnerships

– Uphold the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

– Partner with sustainable organisations and suppliers to action and promote sustainable procurement practices.

When it comes to creating sustainable policy, it’s important to outline how your organisation will address these impacts and how they will be measured. These targets could be both internal or external, and could link to the SDGs, because there are several specific targets underneath each goal; altogether there are 169.

As referenced in my earlier articles, it’s a missed opportunity if you’re not linking your organisation’s sustainable policies back to the SDGs. Not only is the SDG framework visually appealing and serves as an effective communication tool, it also speaks an international language, allowing your policy to contribute to global goals. Finally, because the sustainable world is

forever changing, so too should your sustainable policy. Ensure your organisation refers to continuous growth and reflection, challenging itself to do and be better and acknowledging that making a sustainable impact is a journey.

For your team to authentically champion these intentions, policy needs to feel part of the culture rather than a set of rules to adhere to.

Making sustainable policy stick

Sustainable policy is both an internal tool and can serve as an external statement, but to make change outwardly, we must first work inwardly. For your team to authentically champion these intentions, policy needs to feel part of the culture rather than a set of rules to adhere to.

Making policy part of the ethos instead of edicts comes down to involving staff and empowering them to action policy because they genuinely believe in it and it aligns with their values. This starts by taking time while crafting the policy to understand what staff value, involving them in determining where they believe sustainable impact should be made within the organisation. This theme parallels the spirit of the SDGs, which is “to leave no one behind”. Because the goals are also known as the ‘People Goals’, we all have a responsibility to action them.

Further, allowing staff to help create the organisation’s policy gives the team a sense of ownership over the policy, making them feel connected to it and accountable for making it happen. While it’s tempting to keep the creation of your sustainable policy with just the sustainability team or management, the reality is creating a sustainable impact requires the action of everyone, so it’s imperative to take everyone on the journey from the start.

Bridget Williams is the founder of the social enterprise, Bead & Proceed, which exists to educate people about the 17 UN SDGs and inspire action towards them. Her passion for sustainability and using creativity as a tool for innovation has made her a recognised SDGs expert, helping organisations with sustainable strategy and SDG reporting. Bridget is a selected World Economic Forum Global Shaper and member of the Asia New Zealand Foundation Leadership Network, which has led her to become a creditable global change maker. Her efforts have been recognised and endorsed by the Rt Hon Helen Clark and the JCI Osaka Outstanding Young Person’s Programme.