Sustainability implies a new performance culture, in which a sustainable business model and financial profitability are of equal importance. To achieve this, financial planning will integrate sustainability information into all its processes.
In this section, you will see how to set ambitions, effectively measure progress and ensure accountability across the business through internal and external communications.
Integrating sustainability considerations into your financial planning processes starts with setting goals:
- Baseline - You need a starting point for comparisons. Sometimes it is difficult to go back in time to gather historical data, and the baseline will be the year you start measuring. It is recommended to choose from the last 2 years or the current year.
- Setting targets - Once you have a good understanding of your environmental performance, you should consider your business objectives such as growth plans, expansion and other strategic decisions that will impact on your sustainability goals when setting targets.
It is also important that the targets are science-based and ambitious enough to meet external expectations. Science Based Targets is the go-to source for insights on how to set climate-related targets. For smaller companies at the beginning of their sustainability journey, a logical approach to selecting achievable milestones is a good start.
Taking into account the business outlook as well as the scientific guidelines and milestones, you will have ambitious but realistic goals. To be credible, targets should include both long-term and interim goals. Overly ambitious long-term commitments based on techniques that are at an early stage of development will not be well received.
- Scenario building - With the selected materiality topics and targets in place, your organisation is in a position to apply scenarios that may impact your results.
Mandatory sustainability reporting standards such as IFRS S2 and ESRS 2, require listed companies to disclose climate-related scenario analysis. There are many external factors outside the company’s control that can affect your P&L, and management needs to be aware of them. If you have already carried out a Risk & Opportunity Assessment, the analysis should be linked to your business objectives to gain insight into their financial impact and the potential cost of inaction. (see the section "strategic analysis" for the mandatory requirements and the Risk & Opportunity Assessment)
Create business scenarios based on increased water, waste and electricity costs and potential taxes as well as opportunities such as market access, branding, grants, and green loans.
20%
of the companies who report their carbon targets do not disclose any link to an external target (such as a 1.5˚C scenario)
(KPMG)
SBTi: Why set a science-based net-zero target?
Net-zero Tracker: Explore the companies who set net-zero targets
At Tulyā, we are accredited sustainability consultants holding certifications in GRI, SASB and TCFD (now IFRS-ISSB), and ISO 14064 GHG Lead Verifiers, alongside being Singapore Certified Management Consultants. We are dedicated to driving sustainable business development across industries through Sustainable Management Accounting.
We help MNCs with:
We help SMEs with:
Sustainao supports companies in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
Our sustainability consulting services are designed in a continuous improvement process:
SustainableSG was started in September 2018 to accompany companies, non-profit entities and government agencies to review and implement effective and sustainable corporate strategies. Our services include:
Walk The Talk is a boutique consultancy working with businesses, financial institutions (agnostic of sector and size) and multi-stakeholder organisations to deploy circular business models, create and manage impact and contribute to a regenerative economy.
We support organisations across the sustainability, impact and climate action lifecycle from ideation to execution and offer services related to: ESG & Financial Advisory, Impact and Value Creation, Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting, and Systems Convening.
Operates in: deliver projects across geographies, based out of Singapore
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ACTIVATE - DESIGN - ACCELERATE. Our expert consulting services and trainings help business leaders understand the complexities of sustainability, consider climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities to make informed decisions and alleviate the administrative burdens of:
We work directly with SMEs or collaborate with other sustainability consulting companies on specific projects. We are actively involved in networks of sustainability professionals who share knowledge with public and educate other professionals to bring awareness and accelerate the transition in Singapore and worldwide (incl. The Matcha Initiative, Climate Fresk, etc.).
Our unique strength stems from understanding sustainability from the risk management perspective, creating a business case and using financial reasoning to adopt sustainable business practices and decarbonize.Operates in: Singapore
Zuno is a pioneer in decarbonisation, carbon & ESG management. Our tech platform helps leading organization measure, reduce and report their carbon emissions and ESG performance. Powering you towards your sustainability goals, one step at a time.
To get the most out of measuring and reporting on material topics and to ensure effective integration of the sustainability strategy, the metrics should be integrated into the internal decision-making process:
This will enable management to keep track of their priorities and sustainability performance and embed a continuous improvement and iterative system towards a more sustainable business model. This is preferable to a more tactical approach with ad hoc decisions or philanthropic activities to keep employees engaged.
Targets and scenarios require regular monitoring and reassessment. As the business forecast and overall strategy change over time, the defined sustainability KPIs will be affected and should be reassessed.
44 trillion USD
of global economic value generation depends on nature and its services
(World Economic Forum)
63% of CEO
shifted corporate sustainability goals to the top of their agenda in 2021
Sustainao supports companies in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
Our sustainability consulting services are designed in a continuous improvement process:
SustainableSG was started in September 2018 to accompany companies, non-profit entities and government agencies to review and implement effective and sustainable corporate strategies. Our services include:
At Tulyā, we are accredited sustainability consultants holding certifications in GRI, SASB and TCFD (now IFRS-ISSB), and ISO 14064 GHG Lead Verifiers, alongside being Singapore Certified Management Consultants. We are dedicated to driving sustainable business development across industries through Sustainable Management Accounting.
We help MNCs with:
We help SMEs with:
ACTIVATE - DESIGN - ACCELERATE. Our expert consulting services and trainings help business leaders understand the complexities of sustainability, consider climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities to make informed decisions and alleviate the administrative burdens of:
We work directly with SMEs or collaborate with other sustainability consulting companies on specific projects. We are actively involved in networks of sustainability professionals who share knowledge with public and educate other professionals to bring awareness and accelerate the transition in Singapore and worldwide (incl. The Matcha Initiative, Climate Fresk, etc.).
Our unique strength stems from understanding sustainability from the risk management perspective, creating a business case and using financial reasoning to adopt sustainable business practices and decarbonize.Operates in: Singapore
Givvable is an automated data platform that helps organisations understand the sustainability profile of their suppliers and supply chain. It captures, tracks and reports on the credentials of suppliers, that are the strongest indicators of whether a supplier is taking action on sustainability.
Givvable covers local to global and SME to MNC suppliers, ensuring it has the widest coverage of supplier sustainability data globally.Givvable will help you:screen your existing suppliers and identify gaps for improvementvet new suppliers at RFP, onboarding or renewalfind new suppliers via the givvable search platformbuild capability in your suppliers through learning tools, modules and badges
Walk The Talk is a boutique consultancy working with businesses, financial institutions (agnostic of sector and size) and multi-stakeholder organisations to deploy circular business models, create and manage impact and contribute to a regenerative economy.
We support organisations across the sustainability, impact and climate action lifecycle from ideation to execution and offer services related to: ESG & Financial Advisory, Impact and Value Creation, Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting, and Systems Convening.Operates in: deliver projects across geographies, based out of Singapore
Stakeholder engagement requires identifying who needs what type of sustainability information. An ESG report can be as simple as interpreting the materiality data so that the reader can understand the scope, the business context, why an issue is considered material, performance over time, reasons for good or poor performance and planned actions.
It is important to use neutral language to build trust. Do not overstate achievements and only highlight positive aspects. The report should be balanced and accurate.
It is good practice to include:
- An introductory statement from the CEO setting out the overall content
- Stakeholder engagement
- Materiality matrix
- Outcome of each topic over time and normalised values in graph format
- Comments on each topic – actions taken, next steps, etc.
- References to the framework used in an index format
- Examples of employee engagement
- Overall narrative on impact created
The ideal outcome is to present the sustainability report as an integrated part of the annual report.
Between 2020 and 2021
Companies have appointed almost as many CSOs as in the previous 8 years.
(Strategy-business)
- Read our article on sustainability reporting
- Read more details on the TCFD recommendations
- The GRI template will help you create your own GRI content index
SustainableSG was started in September 2018 to accompany companies, non-profit entities and government agencies to review and implement effective and sustainable corporate strategies. Our services include:
ACTIVATE - DESIGN - ACCELERATE. Our expert consulting services and trainings help business leaders understand the complexities of sustainability, consider climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities to make informed decisions and alleviate the administrative burdens of:
We work directly with SMEs or collaborate with other sustainability consulting companies on specific projects. We are actively involved in networks of sustainability professionals who share knowledge with public and educate other professionals to bring awareness and accelerate the transition in Singapore and worldwide (incl. The Matcha Initiative, Climate Fresk, etc.).
Our unique strength stems from understanding sustainability from the risk management perspective, creating a business case and using financial reasoning to adopt sustainable business practices and decarbonize.Operates in: Singapore
At Tulyā, we are accredited sustainability consultants holding certifications in GRI, SASB and TCFD (now IFRS-ISSB), and ISO 14064 GHG Lead Verifiers, alongside being Singapore Certified Management Consultants. We are dedicated to driving sustainable business development across industries through Sustainable Management Accounting.
We help MNCs with:
We help SMEs with:
Sustainao supports companies in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
Our sustainability consulting services are designed in a continuous improvement process:
Walk The Talk is a boutique consultancy working with businesses, financial institutions (agnostic of sector and size) and multi-stakeholder organisations to deploy circular business models, create and manage impact and contribute to a regenerative economy.
We support organisations across the sustainability, impact and climate action lifecycle from ideation to execution and offer services related to: ESG & Financial Advisory, Impact and Value Creation, Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting, and Systems Convening.
Operates in: deliver projects across geographies, based out of Singapore
Zuno is a pioneer in decarbonisation, carbon & ESG management. Our tech platform helps leading organization measure, reduce and report their carbon emissions and ESG performance. Powering you towards your sustainability goals, one step at a time.
Sustainability communication is much more than an ESG report. It should engage all stakeholders - customers, employees and the wider community - to build awareness and support for the company's sustainability efforts, and be delivered in a transparent and tailored way. Not only external, but also internal communication, sharing concrete initiatives and progress on the sustainability roadmap, is under increasing scrutiny.
Create the narrative:
Develop a clear, concise, and consistent message about the company's sustainability efforts that can be used in all communications, reports, and marketing materials. Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the company's sustainability communications and marketing efforts and make changes as needed to improve impact.
Communicate transparently:
Greenwashing can be defined as creating a false impression or providing misleading information to show that an organisation's products or services are good for the environment, or at least better than competitors. In essence, it is when a company or organisation spends more time and money marketing itself as sustainable than actually minimising its environmental impact. Companies sometimes engage in greenwashing because it helps them to be seen as ethical, which in turn helps their profitability, or they simply don't know they're doing it. Greenwashing is a threat to business because of the reputational risk it can cause, but even more so now that regulation is increasing, with the EU voting to "ban greenwashing and improve consumer information on product durability".
Transparency plays a key role in avoiding misleading advertising and/or ignorance. To minimise the risk of greenwashing, it can be helpful to identify the green credentials of products and create a process to regularly identify, monitor and manage them. If you have communicated incorrectly (e.g. in the facts and figures of the sustainability report), it's a good idea to make corrections.
Industry guidelines for sustainable communications can be found on the PRCA APAC Sustainability Working Group website.
Internal communications:
An effective internal communication strategy is essential to strengthen the culture of sustainability among employees and build morale and trust. Employee understanding of the sustainability strategy is a prerequisite for employee engagement and the integration of sustainable practices into day-to-day operations.
up to 100 000$
fine or up to 2 years prison for companies charged for making false or deceptive environmental claims under the CPFTA
(SEC)
51%
of online environment-friendly product claims are vague or give insufficient details, according to a 2022 survey ordered by the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore
(CCCS)
- guide on greenwashing and how to spot it
- communication guide to get internal buy-in of the sustainability strategy
Third-party verification / qualification tools:
- The Singapore Environment Council
- Singapore Green Building Product (SGBP) scheme
- Integrated Assessment Services
- Other ecolabels… (SEC Green Label, FSC, Fairtrade, MSC for seafood, EcoVadis for supply chain)
Strategic sustainability messaging to engage stakeholders and communicate your ESG commitments authentically and in alignment with prevailing guidelines.
Operates in: Singapore
Anewkind is a planet centric design and strategy studio delivering workshops and advisory services to adapt brands, business models and systems with regenerative principles.
Operates in: Singapore, Montreal, Paris
Zuno is a pioneer in decarbonisation, carbon & ESG management. Our tech platform helps leading organization measure, reduce and report their carbon emissions and ESG performance. Powering you towards your sustainability goals, one step at a time.
South Pole has been at the forefront of decarbonization since 2006, developing and implementing comprehensive strategies that turn climate action into long-term business opportunities for Fortune 500 companies, governments and organizations around the world.
South Pole is more than a consultancy, its team of 1,200+ experts have developed projects, as well as designed innovative tools across finance, climate neutral APIs, and carbon offset solutions to help clients reach their carbon mitigation and Net Zero goals.
To date South Pole has worked with over 1,000 clients, and will soon have developed 800 offset projects across 30 offices globally. Our solutions have created tens of thousands of jobs in developing countries, hundreds of millions of dollars for business, improved brand value and better living and working conditions for countless people in vulnerable communities around the world.
To enable a targeted action plan, the externalities, that have been previously valued (see Environmental and Social Impact Identification), should be analytically accounted for in the accounts.
Incorporating the externalities derived from valuation tools such as the internal carbon price or the living wage into the accounts allows the real cost of an activity, process or product to the company and its environment to be reflected in the company's reports, and progress on these externalities to be measured and disclosed over time.
This is an essential step in the decision-making process to avoid making decisions based only on apparent costs, which can encourage the depletion of natural resources or the exploitation of resource-poor countries. It should lead to more sustainable business practices.
The following cost allocation methods are examples of how externalities can be incorporated into accounting:
Activity Based Costing (ABC) - based on the activities that generate the costs, ABC allocates internal expenses to cost centres and cost drivers. For example, for the carbon emissions, ABC identifies potential activities that will generate carbon emissions and calculates their emissions data.
Material Flow Cost Accounting (MFCA) - is mainly used for manufacturing processes and focuses on identifying which processes can improve the use of raw materials, energy, water and waste. ISO 14051 outlines the requirements for an MFCA analysis, which is a useful tool for companies seeking a circular business model.
The suitability of the tool depends on the type of business (products or services) and the area of impact (energy, water, waste) you are dealing with.
38% decline in EPS (earnings per share)
for Danone in 2019 when using carbon-adjusted performance measures
(BwB)
At Tulyā, we are accredited sustainability consultants holding certifications in GRI, SASB and TCFD (now IFRS-ISSB), and ISO 14064 GHG Lead Verifiers, alongside being Singapore Certified Management Consultants. We are dedicated to driving sustainable business development across industries through Sustainable Management Accounting.
We help MNCs with:
We help SMEs with:
Sustainao supports companies in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
Our sustainability consulting services are designed in a continuous improvement process:
SustainableSG was started in September 2018 to accompany companies, non-profit entities and government agencies to review and implement effective and sustainable corporate strategies. Our services include:
ACTIVATE - DESIGN - ACCELERATE. Our expert consulting services and trainings help business leaders understand the complexities of sustainability, consider climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities to make informed decisions and alleviate the administrative burdens of:
We work directly with SMEs or collaborate with other sustainability consulting companies on specific projects. We are actively involved in networks of sustainability professionals who share knowledge with public and educate other professionals to bring awareness and accelerate the transition in Singapore and worldwide (incl. The Matcha Initiative, Climate Fresk, etc.).
Our unique strength stems from understanding sustainability from the risk management perspective, creating a business case and using financial reasoning to adopt sustainable business practices and decarbonize.Operates in: Singapore
South Pole has been at the forefront of decarbonization since 2006, developing and implementing comprehensive strategies that turn climate action into long-term business opportunities for Fortune 500 companies, governments and organizations around the world.
South Pole is more than a consultancy, its team of 1,200+ experts have developed projects, as well as designed innovative tools across finance, climate neutral APIs, and carbon offset solutions to help clients reach their carbon mitigation and Net Zero goals.To date South Pole has worked with over 1,000 clients, and will soon have developed 800 offset projects across 30 offices globally.
Our solutions have created tens of thousands of jobs in developing countries, hundreds of millions of dollars for business, improved brand value and better living and working conditions for countless people in vulnerable communities around the world.
Sustainability is not a cost, it is an investment to future-proof your business. Today's business leaders must be prepared to answer questions from stakeholders about their sustainability strategy and priorities. Implementing sustainable initiatives creates opportunities: attracting new customers who demand more responsible brands; meeting the increasing demand from listed companies for insight into their suppliers' sustainability strategy; attracting and retaining talent who seek purpose-driven employers; reducing operating costs through, for example, energy efficiency or reduced packaging.
To ensure that the strategy is sustainable, it is important to drive initiatives with a long-term vision. Redirecting all or part of the cost savings or additional revenue generated by successful initiatives into a dedicated budget will allow other sustainable initiatives to be funded at no additional cost. This will create a ripple effect and accelerate your transition to a more sustainable business model.
Hundreds of millions of USD
in savings and growth can be uncovered through non-financial metrics such as carbon emissions.
(Harvard business review)
395 million jobs globally by 2030
could be created from 15 systemic changes in Food, land and ocean use, infrastructure and built environment, and energy and extractives
(World Economic Forum)
We are a decarbonization software focussing on automating the emission measurement of Scope3 emissions, specialising in Asia Pacific supply chains.
Operates in: APAC
ACTIVATE - DESIGN - ACCELERATE. Our expert consulting services and trainings help business leaders understand the complexities of sustainability, consider climate- and nature-related risks and opportunities to make informed decisions and alleviate the administrative burdens of:
We work directly with SMEs or collaborate with other sustainability consulting companies on specific projects. We are actively involved in networks of sustainability professionals who share knowledge with public and educate other professionals to bring awareness and accelerate the transition in Singapore and worldwide (incl. The Matcha Initiative, Climate Fresk, etc.).
Our unique strength stems from understanding sustainability from the risk management perspective, creating a business case and using financial reasoning to adopt sustainable business practices and decarbonize.Operates in: Singapore
South Pole has been at the forefront of decarbonization since 2006, developing and implementing comprehensive strategies that turn climate action into long-term business opportunities for Fortune 500 companies, governments and organizations around the world.
South Pole is more than a consultancy, its team of 1,200+ experts have developed projects, as well as designed innovative tools across finance, climate neutral APIs, and carbon offset solutions to help clients reach their carbon mitigation and Net Zero goals.
To date South Pole has worked with over 1,000 clients, and will soon have developed 800 offset projects across 30 offices globally. Our solutions have created tens of thousands of jobs in developing countries, hundreds of millions of dollars for business, improved brand value and better living and working conditions for countless people in vulnerable communities around the world.
The « green journey » may feel overwhelming sometimes, but you are not alone.
Our Buddies have tried, succeeded, failed to implement change in their companies. They share their experience so you can learn, take shortcuts, get inspired and ask questions.
Everybody can become a Buddy and give back to the community; if you are keen, get in touch with us.
Radhika is the Co-founder of Tulyā, A Sustainability Management Accounting (SMA) Services company. Her work includes measurement and understanding of the impact environmental and social factors will have on the value creation for SMEs. She develops tailored tools and practices that integrate material topics (ESG & Business) with accounting statements line items to demonstrate financial impact of action vs inaction.
She has worked with Lehman Brothers, Barclays and IT services companies before starting her entrepreneurial journey in sustainability.
She is a graduate in Chemical Engineering and has been certified in SASB , PMP, CSM & Design Thinking-MIT.
I enjoy improving processes and creating data-driven insights. My background is in process development and operations as Quality Manager and COO. A few years back, I decided to re-purpose my career and have since then studied different aspects of Sustainable Business Development at the University in Sweden as well as the Sustainability Reporting Standards (GRI, SASB, TCFD and ISSB work in progress).
Now, I am here to help SMEs integrate sustainability into their business strategy and operations, focusing on the impact that environmental and social aspects will have on the organisation's ability to create value. By reducing the scope to the most relevant materiality topics, even SMEs with limited resources have a chance to start their transition to more sustainable practices.
I work at Terrascope, which offers an end-to-end decarbonisation SaaS platform that enables enterprises to measure and manage their Scope-1, Scope-2 and Scope-3 emissions across operations, supply chains, and portfolios. As Climate Regulations Specialist, I help ensure that our product stays ahead of the regulatory curve and advise clients to navigate the dynamic and complex climate regulatory landscape.
Prior to joining Terrascope, I worked at EcoVadis - a global ESG ratings company - where I launched its Singapore office which served more than 800 companies within its first year of operations. The ratings include environmental, social, ethics and sustainable procurement metrics.
I started my career with the Singapore Government, spanning portfolios including manpower, education, transport and decarbonisation. I also helped spearhead the government's measures to fight Covid-19.
I graduated from the London School of Economics, SciencesPo Paris, and Oxford University. As an undergraduate at Oxford, I helped launch the inaugural Oxford Climate Forum - the UK's largest student-run climate change event.
Li Seng is the founder of Green Nudge, a social enterprise that supports businesses and communities to achieve positive environmental impact through activities such as coastal cleanups and workshops, outreach talks and sustainability consulting. By raising awareness and co-creating call-to-actions with various stakeholders on sustainability efforts, Green Nudge aims to create a normative shift in the way we create and deal with waste to achieve a low carbon, zero waste future for Singapore.
Li Seng’s previous experience in the public sector in the central bank of Singapore dealing with financial regulations, combined with his current roles in the community and social enterprise sector reinforced his belief that effective public policies need to be supported by ground-up actions and engagement. Playing an interfacing role within the tri-sector, Li Seng is able to provide sectoral knowledge through a system thinking lens to make informed decisions and strategies. He is happy to discuss disposables, sustainability of events, public education, and is familiar with corporate social responsibility and community / youth engagement.
With a background in sustainability consulting and audit, Ivona supports businesses in their sustainability journey by building an impactful strategy, embedding sustainable practices across operations, and reporting performance to stakeholders.
She is the founder of Sustainao, a Singapore-based company specialized in sustainability consulting. Previously, Ivona worked as a sustainability auditor at KPMG France. She holds an MBA in CSR & Sustainability and a Master’s degree in Environmental Management.
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At South Pole, Chris supports Asian clients in their climate leadership and circular economy journey. The scope of services includes both carbon credits & sustainability consultancy. Chris currently manages clients from more than 10 Asian countries in categories such as conglomerate, agriculture, property development, asset management, retailing, information technology, and energy.
Mun Wei is the founder and principal consultant of SustainableSG, which provides advisory and training services in sustainability, strategy, risk and entrepreneurship.
He has worked with corporate, government and non-profit clients on strategy and implementation, reviewing organizational programmes and targets related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, benchmarking and communicating sustainability and other corporate programmes and achievements, promoting inclusive hiring, developing compliance policies and reports, and formulating innovative business models.
He is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.
As a sustainability communicator and content writer, I believe in the power of words to drive real change. With my background in corporate operations, I understand how to optimize from the inside out. Since pivoting to sustainability, I've become versed in ESG standards such as the PRCA and GRI to cut through greenwashing and foster transparency.
Now I apply my technical knowledge and passion for authentic messaging to help companies communicate their sustainability efforts in a strategic, materiality-focused way, both internally and externally. I help organizations to begin their sustainability transition and communicate this to their various stakeholders. I aim to prove that incremental changes, paired with purposeful communications, can transform businesses and communities.
Wearing the double hat of finance and sustainability, I support finance departments in their transformation towards sustainability. With a management degree from a top business school in France, I have a multi-faceted experience from complementary positions I have held in business finance: from auditor to consolidation accountant, project manager, management controller and finance director.
In addition to my background in financial business partnering, I am passionate about enabling change in companies, always looking after my teams and colleagues to create the conditions for collective success.
I am Naomi, currently co-founder & director of givvable. I started my career as an Australian diplomat with postings in East Timor, Thailand and Switzerland then moved into private banking where my interest in ESG and sustainability was seeded.
Today my company helps businesses screen and track the sustainability profile of their suppliers to help them achieve their goals and targets.
Passionate about sustainability and technology, I have spent the last 10 years working in the energy, tech and sustainability sectors. I am VP of Sales at Zuno Carbon, a climate-tech providing end to end carbon management and ESG reporting solutions.
