ESG Strategy - How to start

ESG STRATEGY – CREATION

1. WHERE WE ARE - Start by defining baseline
2. WHERE WE NEED TO GO – Identify requirements (regulatory and Industrial)
3. WHERE ARE WE GOING – Define ambition

• Start with looking at the current Strategy and ESG factors it includes
• Identify what departments are dealing with environmental, social and governance factors and in what way
• Identify the contact point people who have the best overview within the function
• Identify what policies, frameworks and guidance documents linked to environmental, social and governance factors are already in place, what is in progress and in planning
• Identify what committees and initiatives are already in place (e.g. compliance, DE&I, sustainability, SBTs, LGBTQI+, Health & Safety)
• Identify what KPIs are in place at the moment and how often are they tracked – what is already being measured (e.g. CO2, Water, Energy, Sick days, D&EI, Remuneration) what is regularly reported and to whom (e.g. overall strategy, sustainability report, CDP, EcoVadis, GRI, Sustainalytics, requests from customers and investors)
• Identify whether ESG assessment of customers and suppliers is already in place 
• Create an overview of what is currently done within the E, S and G pillars

• Identify what are the regulatory ESG reporting requirements for your industry and companies of your size/revenue
• Identify what is the industry standard and who are the leaders in terms of ESG within your industry and outside
• Identify what do the customers and investors require 
• Identify the gaps between what is required, what the best in class do and where you are (e.g. what is missing, what will need to be created as soon as possible, what data sources and data are available, what data will need to be added)
• Identify ESG capabilities within the organization and gaps to be filled in

• Set an ambition where you would like to go in terms of ESG, identify what areas would you like to improve (together with the leadership and leads of different functions) 
• Create initial roadmap of how the ambition will be achieve and what is needed to get there
• Communicate clearly the ambition and next steps, co-create with the functions clear overview of what does it mean to them
• Get approval from the leadership and buy in from the key decision makers within the functions
• Adjust the overall Corporate Strategy with ESG input

Once the ESG Strategy is put in place, it’s time to start integrating it fully within the organization.

• Create core team with key people from the functions, agree action plan following the roadmap and key dates, identify programs and projects that need to be put in place
• Create group of ambassadors among the functions and countries where you operate and schedule sessions to prioritize documents and changes needed, confirm ownership 
• Identify what help would you need from external parties (e.g. data providers, integration solutions, trainings, consultancy, platforms, tools)
• Organize regular alignment sessions with the core team and identified ambassadors, organize/provide relevant training on the topic
• See what platform could be used to share information
• Regularly see what else could be done to improve the ESG performance
• Start collaborating with industry peers and other companies busy with the topic (e.g. round tables, exchanging experience, events, joint activities)
• Track progress, share lessons learnt and success stories
• Keep on continuously improving (in many cases this will require change of the business model, rethinking the suppliers and customers)