Uplift CEO Corinne Graper Gives Sustainability Advice to SMBs @ Lenovo 360 Circle Community Forum
Below is a summary of Corinne’s remarks to small- and mid-size business leaders who are early in their sustainability journey at Lenovo’s 360 Circle Community Forum.
Q: What are Low-Cost, Practical Steps for Small and Mid-Size Businesses to Assess and Reduce Environmental Impact?
Appoint a Sustainability Lead
Identify one or two people to drive sustainability efforts. Ideally, they have ESG expertise, but in smaller businesses, this may fall to an existing employee. Look for someone who is curious, proactive, adaptable, and skilled at building relationships. Provide them with time, resources, or external guidance to develop expertise.Conduct a Double Materiality Assessment (DMA)
A DMA evaluates both how ESG factors impact your business and how your business affects ESG issues. This helps prioritize efforts and align with stakeholder expectations. If compliance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) is required or you need to develop an air-tight ESG strategy, hire a consultant for this complex process. Otherwise, a simplified assessment using free online resources can still offer valuable insights for businesses that are resource constrained.Measure Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions
Conduct an inventory of Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. Large corporations increasingly require emissions data from suppliers, and setting Science-Based Targets (SBTs) will necessitate these calculations. This is a “decision of no regret,” as it prepares your business for future expectations.
Q: What are Some Common Mistakes that Businesses Make When Starting Their Sustainability Journey
Not Building the Business Case & Setting Leader Expectations
Without a business case that clearly articulates what sustainable actions you’re taking and why it matters to the business, it can be very difficult to secure the resources needed to make year-over-year progress on your ESG goals. I’ve seen teams secure funding for an initial GHG inventory, but not the ongoing resources to build the infrastructure and tools to continue to measure emissions yearly.Copying Competitors Without Assessing Relevance
Benchmarking competitors is useful, but blindly replicating their strategies can lead to gaps and missed opportunities. Instead, a double materiality assessment tailored to your business will highlight key impacts, risks, opportunities, regulations, and stakeholder expectations.Getting Your Story Ahead of Your Strategy
Excitement around sustainability can lead companies to announce ambitious goals without having clarity on what it takes to accomplish those goals. In addition, it’s not uncommon that businesses underestimate the rigorous data that needs to be behind sustainability claims. However, when companies first do their homework to set realistic strategies and action plans, then align internal infrastructure and resources, they can communicate about ESG with confidence and accuracy.
The Uplift Agency
Uplift builds strategies, programs, and communication campaigns that advance ESG in workplaces, supply chains and communities.
We know how to navigate the road ahead because we’ve already been down it – 90 percent of our team has led environmental or social programs in corporations or nonprofits. Because ESG is all we do, our services are more comprehensive and integrated than most firms.
