Articles
Independent Advisor
With new standards, regulations, frameworks flooding the sustainability discourse everyday, it can get noisy, fast. Companies struggle to keep up and end up pursuing expansive, all-encompassing strategies to cover their bases. But does tackling everything lead to real impact? Some of the most successful sustainability leaders are telling us that sometimes, less is more.
DHL’s materiality analysis prioritises just six key topics and performance indicators associated with each—GHG emissions, employee engagement, occupational health and safety, diversity and inclusion, compliance, and cybersecurity. The company is set to refine this focus even further in its fiscal year 2024 report, ensuring its sustainability efforts remain strategic and impactful.
This approach aligns with the evolving concept of double materiality, which emphasizes identifying the most critical sustainability issues based on both a company’s specific context and stakeholder concerns. Rather than addressing every possible ESG topic, companies are encouraged to concentrate on areas where they can drive the most significant impact.
Notably, in its closely watched “Omnibus” package, the European Commission has opted to retain the double materiality reporting approach, with further plans to revise the ESRS with the aim of substantially reducing the number of data points required by the sustainability reporting standards.
Univers embraces this mindset in its own double materiality assessment for the 2024 reporting year, identifying four key focus areas: climate change mitigation, energy, corruption and bribery, and information-related impacts for consumers and end users. By sharpening its priorities, Univers maximizes its impact where it matters most—through its AI business solutions, playing a critical role in global decarbonization, enabling customers to abate over 400 million tonnes of emissions—an impact nearly 40,000 times greater than its own operational footprint.
Similarly, Unilever recently streamlined its sustainability strategy, reducing its Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from over 50 to a more focused set. Critics worried this might oversimplify complex issues or leave out key areas of impact. However, Unilever maintains that a sharper focus enables more effective action.
This shift toward a more focused sustainability strategy isn’t just about simplifying for the sake of it—it has tangible benefits. A targeted approach helps companies in several key ways:
Unilever’s outgoing CEO, Hein Schumacher, was unequivocal about how the new plan was “unashamedly realistic”, having “learnt a lot about what works and what doesn’t (over the years)”, and “plans to use that experience…to focus our efforts where we can have the most positive impact”. Given its long history and early adoption of sustainable strategies, who can be said to be better qualified than Unilever to draw this conclusion?
In a world of ever-expanding ESG expectations, companies risk spreading themselves too thin. Management striving to lead in sustainability can draw lessons from these examples: instead of trying to do everything, identify what truly matters. By narrowing focus and simplifying metrics, organizations not only enhance their sustainability impact but also strengthen their ability to drive meaningful change in the long term.
Focus on less but more impactful sustainability initiatives. Sometimes less really is more.
