Sustainability needs a mental shift

Sustainability is high on the agenda for most businesses. And if it’s not, it soon will be, thanks to impending EU legislation. The European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) will require the larger companies to report on sustainability from 2025. Up until now, companies have interpreted the term “sustainability” in many different ways. And although ESG reporting (environmental, social, and governance) does indeed consist of three components, most attention is usually paid to the environmental aspect. Governance and corporate social responsibility deserve more attention. By all means, ESG is becoming a clear competitive differentiator.

The debate

A recent debate, expertly organised and moderated by CIONET in collaboration with LCL, brought together a select group of CIOs to delve into the complexities of sustainability in the digital age.

It is striking to see how quickly ESG is gaining momentum. When CIONET organised a similar debate about a year and a half ago, it was clear that the topic was still fairly new territory for many companies. The participants understood that their sustainability programme could only be successful if they aligned it with their business strategy. They specifically pointed out the role of IT as an enabler of their sustainability programme, but at the same time also admitted that it wasn’t always easy to get a concrete view of the real (business) gains sustainability can bring. It’s true to say that — especially in the field of emissions — IT remains not only an enabler for achieving results but IT also remains an important contributor to emissions. This makes calculating the total impact score of IT a difficult exercise. Especially as there is no consensus on standards for ESG reporting.