Corporate legacy has created much of the climate issues we are facing today. For far too long, companies have been able to operate without levels of accountability. This has brought about the devastating social and environmental damages we are seeing more than ever before.

It is now more necessary than ever for corporations to be held accountable for more than mere financial performance. Consumers are increasingly no longer interested in supporting companies that are only out for their own profit margins.

Companies are also already coming up against regulatory changes, externality taxes and higher demands on corporate responsibility and transparency. As such stakeholders and investors are looking for the same level of sustainable alignment.

Why is sustainability reporting important?

• It helps to track environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance which gives businesses a better understanding of where they need to improve
• It promotes transparency and accountability with customer bases and stakeholders, which can also assist in building trust in the brand in question
• It opens doorways for optimization in sustainable development, in turn changing companies and businesses into tools to positively impact our world
• It communicates to stakeholders and investors that a corporation has intentions for long term sustainable progress
• It ensures that the environmental, social and governance (ESG) gains are strengthened and intentionally pursued
• It incentivises better practices by rewarding the companies that are performing strongly on corporate sustainability inclusion
• By making sustainability a priority, companies can actually avert potential financial risk. According to the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report released in 2018, almost half of all significant business risks are environmental.
  

As a society we cannot improve, prevent and successfully manage that which we do not completely understand. Just like a neighborhood can’t accurately curb and assist with crime prevention if the crimes aren’t reported, so too businesses can not improve themselves if they don’t attempt participation in the conversation towards sustainable transparency.

Companies that wish to make a genuine impact and experience a truer definition of value contribution need to utilize the various sustainability reporting frameworks currently available to their advantage.

Understanding the different frameworks

According to Greenbiz, a media and events company that advances the opportunities at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability, there are five main reporting frameworks to consider:

• CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project)
• DJSI (Dow Jones Sustainability indexes
• GRI (Global reporting initiative)
• GRESB (Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark)
• SASB (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board)

Greenbiz also put together this useful graphic on the comparisons between these different frameworks.

Still, in order for a business to provide the most efficient feedback, they need to focus on giving material clarity on aspects relevant to them.

For this the Reporting Exchange is a valuable tool.

The Reporting Exchange is a global knowledge platform and resource for corporate sustainability reporting. It was established by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) in conjunction with the Climate Disclosure Standards Board and Ecodesk.

Its primary goal is to bring “coherence and clarity to the global reporting landscape” in what is still currently an emerging and multi-faceted field of complex requirements.

It levels the playing field by:

• introducing common language and definitions
• identifies relationships between requirements and reporting resources
• highlights what is relevant to the specific business model

By understanding that the many frameworks available aren’t mutually exclusive but rather support each other, companies who focus on the reporting frameworks that offer material clarity to their unique operations will provide the most valuable picture of transparency.

The clearer businesses are able to communicate their sustainability impact in formats relevant to their interested parties the sooner they will be able to meet business objectives and grow as truly sustainable companies, and the sooner the collective landscape can benefit, learn and share on the exchange of experience and amassed knowledge.

“The hotel industry must reduce its carbon emissions by 66% by 2030 and 90% by 2050.” This was the finding of a study commissioned by the International Tourism Partnership in 2017.

The study highlights the urgent need for the hotel industry to drastically reduce carbon emissions in order to align with science-based targets to keep global heating below the 2 ̊C threshold and avoid run-away climate change.

Historically, the hospitality sector has had a substantial environmental footprint not only through its energy and carbon impact but also through water consumption, as well as the use of consumable and durable goods and hazardous waste creation.

According to Dana Communications “Hotels consume energy for HVAC operations, lighting, fuel and other power needs. Water is used for bathrooms, F&B [food and beverage], and laundry, as well as other general operations (irrigation, cleaning and maintenance). Waste is generated by the disposal of paper, batteries, bulbs, furniture, equipment, appliances and more.”

As such, there is an evident and increasingly urgent need for sustainable hospitality practices.

What is Sustainable Hospitality?

According to André Harms, sustainability consultant, founder of Ecolution Consulting and recent SUMAS guest lecturer: “Sustainable hospitality means rethinking hospitality as a sustainable practice. It means that every aspect of the hospitality industry is considered through the lens of sustainability. From design to construction/refurbishment to operation both internally in terms of consumption and behavior as well as externally in terms of procurement communications and commitments, etc.”

Harms were the lead sustainability consultant for one of the greenest hotels in the world: Hotel Verde based in Cape Town, South Africa. The hotel is the first hotel in the world to have been certified by the United States Green Building Council with a Double LEED platinum certification for both design + construction and operation.

“Hotel Verde has a vast array of passive, technical and operational interventions which make it more sustainable,” says Harms. These include:

• Energy efficient design
• 220 Solar panels
• 3 vertical axis wind turbines
• A highly efficient HVAC coupled to a geothermal loop system which draws energy from the ground
• Regenerative drive elevators and
• Grey water recycling system
• Low-flow tap fittings and showerheads
• Waterwise landscaping and drip irrigation
• An operational materials management plan (for more sustainable procurement and waste reduction) coupled to strict waste separation and upcycling, donation, composting and recycling practices. The hotel diverts over 5% of waste from landfill on average
• Sustainability interwoven into all hotel standard operating practices/procedures
• Biodiversity management and eco pool
• Employee engagement programmes
• A carbon neutral hotel experience to guests by offsetting the remaining impact on behalf of the guest.

“Hotel Verde really is a prime example of what can be achieved when it comes to Sustainable Hospitality” says Harms, who lectured as part of the SUMAS Sustainable Hospitality Management programs. “As the need for more urgent sustainable action becomes increasingly prevalent, it is my hope that the best practices that have been achieved with Hotel Verde will soon become standard practice for hotels all around the world.”

Sustainable Hospitality at SUMAS

If you are interested in a career in sustainable hospitality, SUMAS offers a variety of programmes. Browse the programmes below or contact us today for more information.

• BBA in Sustainable Hospitality Management
• MBA in Sustainable Hospitality
• MAM in Sustainable Hospitality

SUMAS' aim is to educate socially responsible global decision makers of the future who will make a real difference in the world. Its purpose is to deliver an innovative academic mix of sound business knowledge and a deep understanding of sustainable development.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres is convening a summit to commence on the 21st of September 2019 in order to hold world leaders accountable to the goals set out in the Paris agreement and to raise collective ambition by increasing climate action goals. Guterres is calling on attending leaders to demonstrate climate action leadership by only giving leaders a platform to speak if they presented plans in line with the IPCC 1.5 °C report. 

Meanwhile 16-year old climate activist Greta Thurnberg, who is also attending the summit, arrived in New York on the 28th of August, after a two-week journey on a carbon-free sailing boat. Adamant that she would not make the journey via jet fuel guzzling plane, Greta used the opportunity to display a different, but perhaps far more effective take on sustainable leadership. One that shows action speaking louder than speaking platforms.

The true definition of Sustainability leadership

Mary A. Ferdig offers a widely recognised description of sustainability leadership, often cited in scholarly works.

“Anyone who takes responsibility for understanding and acting upon complex sustainability challenges qualifies as a ‘sustainability leader’ whether or not they hold a formal leadership position or acknowledged political and social-economic influence.”

Greta Thurnberg, and many other youths, who aren’t yet old enough to own cars let alone businesses, are already displaying this understanding of sustainability leadership in the actions they’re taking toward speaking up for climate change.

The youth and sustainable leadership

The latter half of Mary A. Ferdig’s definition speaks to why the youth are so effective in their actions and also speaks to what effective world leaders will incorporate should they wish to be effective sustainable leaders. Namely that; ”rather than providing all of the answers, sustainability leaders create opportunities for people to come together and generate their own answers – to explore, learn, and devise a realistic course of action to address sustainability challenges.”

Many youths are already holding our leaders accountable to their plans and actions thus far. Take the group of youths who sued the American government for failing to protect them from the onset of climate change or the Parkland School shooting survivors in Florida, who in a matter of days, mobilised millions of supporters, thanks to Twitter, to march in protest of urgent need for gun control policies. Their action saw the first real gun legislation implemented in years.

Their drawing mass attention to the unsolved problems seems to be what sets change in motion, rather than arriving on a podium, answers in hand.  By showing acknowledgement of value shifts with the vulnerability of not having all the answers inspires communities to connect and manifest change, which is by all accounts far more successful than playing the fear based denial card favoured by some world leaders.

Greta Thurnberg didn’t stand up at the World Economic Forum and tell business leaders the globe over how to optimise their actions to solve the entire climate crisis. She stood up and spoke openly about the fearful reality of not attempting to solve the crisis. She shared her fears. Fears that echoed collective truth and inspired the desire to be part of alleviating that fear. 

What is needed from a sustainable leader?

Successful sustainability leadership can be carried out with the following approaches:

• Leading with society and the environment in mind
• Being driven by a keenness to learn, challenge and improve current situations
• Inspiring cooperation between sectors and cultures
• Setting the self aside and instead focusing on forging connections within communities to enhance their co-creation and co-production
• Casting light on as yet unanswered, but vitally important questions.
• Open-mindedness and integrity

How businesses and communities will benefit from sustainable leaders

Leaders who have faced and overcome adversity, or who, at the very least have experienced living in parts of the world where differing economic backgrounds are driving factors, are far more likely to develop socially and environmentally inclusive practices. This type of leadership paves the way for the upliftment and integration of communities. According to Global Citizen, a movement of engaged citizens who are using their collective voice to end extreme poverty, leaders with emotional ties and ethical responsibility are a high contributing factor to ending poverty by 2030.

The sustainable leadership displayed by the youths taking action, whether they hold political or social influence or not, didn’t necessarily come about because of sustainability leadership or environmental education.

Being inhabitants of this planet facing the climate threat is qualification enough to fight, what is at the heart of all things, a human rights threat.

But integrating their calls for collective social, business and political change is a complex issue. Individuals who hold a strong education in business sustainability management will be key assets in all future businesses.

Education in sustainability management is highly beneficial in preparing an individual emotionally in taking on the responsibility of navigating corporate and social change. In order to affect any meaningful change, leaders will need to view the systems of business and society as interlocking ecosystems within our environment. 

The SUMAS Sustainability Management Business School of Switzerland aims at empowering students with the confidence to carry out this responsibility and make the decisions required to right the collective course. The programs focus on delivering sound business knowledge and an intrinsic understanding of sustainable development in an innovative way.

Why we need sustainable leadership

If the leadership of the world’s governments and organization thus far has shown us anything, it is that the advancement of a singular agenda without consideration of the environment that it transpires in is in and of itself an unsustainable pursuit. 

We cannot be extricated from the societies we cohabit with or the environments we depend on. Therefor no achievement that comes about at the demise of any civilisation, culture or habitat can truly be considered an achievement.

The climate crisis no longer allows for leeway in this or any disregard of the acceptance of total interconnectedness. 

Given this context, leaders of businesses, organisations or governments can no longer be considered leaders if they operate outside of the framework of sustainability. 

Leadership without a focus on sustainability is not leadership at all.

If you are interested in using education to further your agenda of becoming a sustainability leader, take a look at the various programs that we offer.

Anyone who takes responsibility for understanding and acting upon complex sustainability challenges qualifies as a ‘sustainability leader’ whether or not they hold a formal leadership position or acknowledged political and social-economic influence. The SUMAS Sustainability Management Business School of Switzerland aims at empowering students with the confidence to carry out this responsibility and make the decisions required to right the collective course.