The term sustainability refers to the judicious use of resources to fulfill present needs while being conscious of the future, by ensuring a balance between the environment and human actions. Today, sustainability is an area of focus for all organizations.

Why? Thanks to large-scale environmental degradation and natural resource depletion, organizations are now compelled to take action to alleviate the effect their activities have on the environment, not to mention complying with legal guidelines.

It’s also important to add that organizations must put their best foot forward to meet the expectations of socially aware and responsible investors and customers.

The core challenge lies in incorporating sustainable practices into company operations, which is where sustainable consulting can play a key role, both in terms of crafting sustainability goals and coming up with innovative solutions. Let us explore the concept in a bit more detail.

Sustainability Consulting: What Does it Entail?

A subset of management consulting, sustainability consulting involves consultants who perform the following activities:

• Analyze the performance of organizations’ environmental, social, and governance activities (ESG)
• Create action plans that align with sustainable goals
• Put into practice measures that create value in the long run

Sustainability consultants' versatility spreads across a gamut of functions including mitigation of carbon footprint, ethical supply chain management, circular economy activities, and ESG reporting, to name a few.

These activities share impactful findings and data-driven recommendations that help companies traverse the sustainability terrain.

Interestingly, sustainability consulting integrates elements of science, policy, and business.

In other words, apart from an understanding of business and economic factors, one also needs to be well-versed in environmental and social sciences, including science and engineering.

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Sustainability Consulting: Significance

Sustainability consulting focuses on the preservation and protection of our planet and therein lies its significance. Using the measures consultants recommend, organizations can contribute to the Earth’s cleanliness and safety.

Additionally, it advocates equitable representation because it ensures that the implemented practices benefit all.

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Advantages of Sustainability Consulting

Sustainability consulting has its share of advantages, some of which are as follows:

• Lowers waste and pollution levels
• Reduces energy-related expenses, helping organizations save money
• Enhances the reputation of an organization
• Augments the customer base as customers prefer to do business with environmentally-conscious companies

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Relevant Instances of Sustainability Consulting

Socially responsible organizations have already started implementing smarter and greener choices within their organizations. Let us explore a few relevant examples.

• IKEA’s move to a circular economy: The Swedish global retail furniture giant is making great strides in the area of sustainability through its shift to a circular economy. Through renewable and recycled materials, the company intends to attain climate-positivity by 2030.
• Starbucks’ step forward toward greener stores: Starbucks, the US-based chain of coffee houses, is heading the sustainability way as well. How? By collaborating with sustainability consultants to create and put into action its Greener Stores Initiative.
• Adidas’ innovative effort toward sustainable products: Adidas is on the right track to sustainability after having collaborated with sustainability consultants to create environmentally sustainable products. One such example includes a joint effort between Adidas and Parley for the Oceans, a non-profit dedicated to safeguarding oceans, to manufacture sneakers made from ocean plastic.
• Unilever’s framework for sustainable living: The London-based consumer packaged goods company is doing its bit as far as sustainable practices are concerned. By partnering with sustainability consultants, it has created USLP, or Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan, which is working toward lowering the adverse impact on the environment and enhancing positive social contributions.

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What Exactly Does a Sustainability Consultant Do?

Recognizing and incorporating sustainability practices comprise the core responsibility of a sustainability consultant. Here are four functions that are interwoven into their responsibilities:

• Examination of an organization’s business practices: One of the first tasks of a sustainability consultant is to perform a comprehensive assessment of an organization’s business practices, including its value chain; the idea is to gauge the impact its activities have on the environment and humankind in general.
• Putting together an action plan: Using the findings derived from the assessment, the consultant spends time crafting solutions suitable for the organization to resolve sustainability-related issues and point out improvement areas. Specific goals and metrics highlighting ways to enhance the organization’s sustainability performance form part of the action plan.
• Putting the strategy into action: Once the action plan is ready, the logical course of action is to put it into practice. Sustainable consultants do the following things:
• Incorporate practices aligned to sustainability into varied business verticals
• Make sure the required resources are available
• Provide training for employees

Incorporating sustainable processes will help the organization flourish in the long run.

• Tracking and recording progress: Here, the role of the consultant is to track and record the progress of the implemented sustainable processes in black and white. The consultants use their expertise to draft sustainability reports, making sure that the data incorporated into them is authentic and clear.

Sustainable Consultant: Skill Sets

To be a competent sustainability consultant, it’s critical to possess a specific set of skills. To familiarize you with those very skills, we have created the following list:

• Expertise in Environmental Science: Having a background in environmental science helps one comprehend the rationale behind carbon emissions and a host of other green practices; these consultants possess a wide range of knowledge in techniques to preserve and protect the planet.
• Ability to solve challenging problems: The environment is plagued by a plethora of issues that need to be addressed, many caused by the activities of organizations. These consultants address the issues caused by companies and share appropriate solutions. Hypothetically, they might share ways to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Therein lies the importance of problem-solving skills.
• Proficient in communication: A key skill requirement is to be able to communicate your ideas with clarity and using language easy to follow. The in-depth explanation of theories requires excellent communication skills.
• Expertise in project management: Each project involving the assessment of an environmental issue and finding solutions, comprises multiple phases, activities, and timelines; this necessitates being knowledgeable about project management principles.
• Ability to think analytically: Analytical thinking skills are critical to the role of a sustainability consultant because they seek the help of data analytics to examine the level of progress achieved due to the implementation of sustainable solutions. The data also identifies areas to work on, so the importance of such skills cannot be overlooked.
• Inclination toward sustainability: Any field you’re in requires you to continually upskill yourself through consistent learning and being open and curious about any new development in the field; in this case, it is sustainability. Knowledge is a life-long process and anyone who wants to be a part of the field must exhibit hunger for it.

Sustainability Consulting: How Does it Benefit a Business?

Needless to say, sustainability consulting benefits businesses in several ways. Let us delve into some of them:

• Environmental benefits: By using less energy, organizations end up burning less fossil fuels, which eventually leads to lower levels of pollution. Additionally, as a result of more recycling, there’s a lot less garbage occupying landfills. As a result, the environment around us remains clean and healthy.
• Social benefits: In terms of social benefits, employees get a sense of pride and fulfillment when they’re associated with a green company. Likewise, customers, existing and potential, feel inclined to buy products from organizations that indulge in green practices. If being sustainable can draw more prospective customers, organizations can achieve more.
• Economic benefits: When we refer to economic benefits, we’re referring to money saving. Once again, using less energy means you end up spending fewer dollars on gas and electricity. Similarly, recycling can help organizations remove a ton of garbage without having to spend too much money. Organizations may also have the fortune of getting tax exemptions for going green.
• Enhanced reputation: It’s a given that environmentally conscious companies and their green practices are proof of what they believe in. It’s their actions, not just beliefs, that help them become more well-known. And with an enhanced reputation, you’re likely to draw more customers and build a bigger client base. To ensure a bigger reach, organizations can also make the most of advertisements by sharing their endeavors in sustainability.
• Higher levels of innovation: Sustainability efforts result in higher levels of innovation and creativity. For instance, using newer and more environmentally-friendly materials for products can lead to more idea generation. In other words, being more creative and innovative can help you surge past your competitors.

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Specializations: Sustainability Consultants

While possessing a certain set of skills is important to be a competent sustainability consultant, there are times when consultants want to expand their horizons by specializing in other areas.

Let us explore what some of those areas could be:

• Corporate sustainability: Organizations that aim to incorporate sustainability into their business plans should hire a corporate sustainability consultant.
• Energy efficiency: If organizations need to maximize their use of energy, hiring an energy efficiency consultant seems the right solution. Their specialty would be to guide you in terms of technology implementation concerning carbon emission reduction and augmenting energy performance.
• Environmental: If what you need is an analysis of environmental impacts and ways to manage them, an environmental sustainability consultant is the way to go. They are proficient in crafting strategies in areas such as the reduction of pollution and optimal resource utilization.
• Social responsibility: Sustainability is a broad concept that just doesn’t include the environment. Sustainability also covers the social aspect, which refers to the level of respect organizations give their employees. This is where social responsibility consultants step in and assist organizations in comprehending and adding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) frameworks into their procedures.
• Sustainability communication: Companies that incorporate sustainable practices into their business must let the world know about it. The work of a sustainability communication consultant is relevant here. Their expertise lies in drafting impactful messages that reveal their sustainability measures. Besides letting everyone know about your initiatives, stakeholders gain clarity about the kind of practices organizations are implementing. In the end, brands get a boost.
• Regulatory compliance: Whether organizations like it or not, it’s critical to comply with legal requirements and guidelines. To that end, regulatory compliance consultants play a pivotal role in helping them traverse the sustainability regulations terrain, which keeps changing now and then.

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Selecting the Right Sustainability Consultants

While there may be a multitude of sustainability consultants out there, not all of them will have the same level of expertise and experience. Therefore, to make an informed decision in terms of selecting the right consultant, one must refer to the following criteria:

• Seek experienced professionals: Seek a consultant with several years of experience because it indicates that they have ample practice from helping multiple organizations in the past.
• Verify their expertise: Verify their expertise by ensuring that they’re familiar with Earth-conscious measures such as energy efficiency and waste reduction.
• Go through customer reviews: Hiring any third-party service provider necessitates a thorough checking of their reviews by customers. If they’re satisfied with the services of the consultant, you’re sure you can trust them because many other companies do.
• Factor in their communication skills: It’s critical to be a good communicator for a consultant because part of their job is to elucidate concepts to you in a way you can comprehend. So, good written and verbal communication skills are essential. Another crucial skill of a communicator is listening so that they can understand your exact requirements.
• Seek their method of operating: Your chosen consultant needs to share their roadmap of how they wish to proceed with you so that you can rest assured that they have an action plan in place and know what they’re doing.
• Perform a comparative price analysis: While you may not want to compromise on the quality of services provided by your consultant, you don’t want to spend more than necessary. A comparative analysis of the prices of different consultants will tell you who can give you value for your money.

The Bottom Line

Just as combating climate change and lowering carbon emissions is essential today to make the world a safer and healthier place to live in, sustainability consulting’s significance also cannot be overstated.

By exploiting the potential of sustainability consultants, organizations can tackle complicated sustainability challenges, thereby augmenting their performance in ESG, not to mention discovering a whole new world of lucrative developmental opportunities.

With increasing compliance-related concerns and expectations from customers, the field of sustainability consulting looks promising and we can expect to see more sustainability consultants in the market in the days to come.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why is sustainability consulting important?

The importance of sustainability consulting lies in its ability to help organizations adopt environmentally and socially responsible measures to make sure of the following:

• Reinforce regulatory compliance
• Enhance efficiency
• Augment brand reputation: And also find profitable opportunities for the long run and a positive impact on the society.

What qualifications do you need to be a sustainability consultant?

It's important to have a degree in environmental science, sustainability, business, or a related subject. Specific certifications like ISSP, LEED, or GRI, combined with corporate sustainability experience, ESG reporting, or regulatory compliance, help to build your expertise.

What is the difference between ESG and sustainability consulting?

ESG considers Environmental, Social, and Governance elements, which benefit investors and corporate governance. On the other hand, sustainability consulting has a wider scope because it deals with environmental and social impact in the long run that go beyond financial markets.

What is the demand for sustainability consulting?

Organizations today are being pressurized by stakeholders, investors, and regulators to implement sustainable practices, adhere to ESG reporting guidelines, and fulfill net-zero goals. Thus, the demand for sustainability consulting is increasing every day.