SUSTAINABILITY
Finally, the SBRT has been instrumental in driving the transformation of our business school. With increasing pressure from rankings, such as the Financial Times now evaluating business schools’ carbon footprint – along with rising expectations from students and regulators – we recognised the need to embed environmental considerations into every facet of our operations. Our commitment has extended from business initiatives through education to governance and internal practices, promoting a culture of sustainability both within and beyond our campus. While there is still more to accomplish, the SBRT has enabled us to make significant progress. As we prepare for CSRD (the EU’s corporate sustainability reporting directive), the SBRT sessions on sustainability reporting provided valuable learning opportunities for our department leaders to learn and engage, while also helping us identify the best reporting software during the event. This has left us feeling much more prepared for the challenges to come. Looking ahead to our next SBRT, we are excited to focus on accelerating our net-zero transition, with 2030 targets set for Scope 1 (direct emissions) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions). The upcoming session of the roundtable will be dedicated to this critical topic. What the roundtable’s future holds The SBRT plans to continue expanding its network, bringing in new voices and perspectives to ensure that the roundtable remains at the forefront of the sustainability conversation. A primary focus for the future will be integrating more start-ups and innovative enterprises into the network. Such forward-thinking organisations bring fresh energy and new approaches to sustainability and by engaging with a broader range of corporations, they can help drive transformation in the field. The SBRT also aims to strengthen its engagement with policymakers and regulators, recognising that businesses alone cannot achieve sustainability. Government and regulatory frameworks will play a critical role in shaping the future of sustainability; the SBRT, therefore, hopes to facilitate more dialogue between the private sector and policymakers to foster an environment that supports sustainable business practices. Finally, as we face our own sustainability challenges, we aim to continue learning from businesses and accelerate our own transformation as well.
Joanna Radeke is director of the ESMT Institute for Sustainable Transformation at ESMT Berlin. She manages the Sustainable Business Roundtable, a peer-to-peer learning network of international companies that are interested in advancing sustainability strategies and practices Keerthana Shekhar is a project assistant involved with the ESMT Institute for Sustainable Transformation and a sustainability-reporting assistant at ESMT Berlin. She supports in the development of sustainability executive education and upskilling programmes, research projects and collaboration initiatives
“The primary aim of the SBRT is to help businesses integrate sustainability into their DNA”
to net-zero operations. For example, our work with ESMT professor of management science Catalina Stefanescu-Cuntze and Vlada Pleshcheva, a lecturer in management science, analytics and operations, identified a knowledge gap between sustainability data and sustainability action. Subsequent collaboration with Darmstadt-based science and technology company Merck KGaA has since helped bridge this gap through sustainable modelling. A predictive model for greenhouse gas emissions was developed, which allowed the company to project outcomes over a 10-year horizon under various scenarios. This range of predictive outcomes enabled Merck to better calibrate its corporate decisions with a fuller understanding of the potential sustainability impacts.
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Business Impact • ISSUE 4 • 2024
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