Driving Change: The Power of Sustainability Consulting

In today's world, the importance of sustainability cannot be emphasized enough. From businesses to non-profits, organizations are increasingly recognizing the need to incorporate sustainability practices into their operations. In Asia, which is driven to a significant extent by Government-owned entities and Small-Medium Enterprises, most companies are struggling to find and build capacity to match the pace of change in sustainability regulations and market demands.

For example, with the deployment of the International Sustainability Standards Board's (ISSB) S1 and S2 standards, the bar, while remaining a soft target for many companies and with a lack of enforcement levers, has been raised. The new standards are asking for more sophistication around reporting boundaries, use of financial incentives, scenario analysis and financial impact assessments aligned with financial statements, on top of impending Scope 3 data requirements. Alongside these, nature-related disclosures and the development of carbon markets are also looming on the horizon.

And this ramp-up is not ending. When the Science-Based Targets for Nature (SBTN) released its framework for setting targets, I hesitated and took a deep breath. Burnout is indeed a reality for many sustainability professionals, as they try to navigate the short-term changes from policy being pasted on and then torn off, to sustainable financing taking a roller coaster ride. Many watching probably think sustainability deserves it, but the reality is that the world still needs things to happen.

At The Sustainability Service, a non-profit, we think we can help make that difference. A typical 3-month consulting project costs about SGD 30,000 to 60,000 depending on the manhours involved. Some of that quantum can be offset by grants, but that is still a cost to society in the form of public tax. As a non-profit, and one that is AI-enabled, we believe we can disrupt the market by reducing cost and improving deliverables and providing an independent voice of reason without brand or profit agendas. The catch is that we have to make our energies, time and effort count, otherwise we are not going to shift the needle. The focus on consulting, as a force-of-change, has to be on building ROI concepts that business can readily implement and drive the transition towards greener or more circular models. It has to be on chasing real environmental performance, rather than simply a "say-it-big, done-it-small" sustainability report. We have to be focused on scalable, workable solutions that drive real emissions reductions, resource efficiency or spur cultural change towards the future we want our children to live in.

Success for us is a shared success. If there is a successful case study of implementation, sharing it would benefit the world. If there is an idea, it can be used to pollinate and inspire other ideas. By working alongside you, you share our success, and we share yours. If we succeed in our generation, we have provided a path for our future generations to follow. If we don't, the next generation will have a harder path to carve out for themselves. We can do better, and the Sustainability Service epitomizes that vision, and lives it out as a service.

The reality is no single consultant will be able to serve the world, but we want to help bring as many of them together, to try making it work.