Global leaders in sustainability measure much more than impact, they are focused on measuring all up and downstream inputs and outputs to really find ways to improve performance on social and environmental metrics, and to translate those improvements into a common denominator that everyone understands: currency.
Tracking performance this way is often called natural capital accounting.
Many organizations that delve this deeply into the cost, benefit, risk, and impact of the “use of nature” in performing business tasks use a host of methodologies to fully analyze all of the different datasets and translate them into a coherent report.
For example, Kering, the parent company of the clothing and footware manufacturer, Puma, published its methodology as an open-source tool for others to use.
Recently, a non-profit organization called The Earth Genome, launched a software tool that may help standardize and simplify the process of natural capital accounting. Currently, the chemical giant Dow is testing the software, and eventually the organization plans to make the tool more widely available.
Accurate and trusted industry-wide tools, like CDP and GRI, help better benchmark and assess sustainability progress, so we can’t help but be a bit optimistic about The Earth Genome project. We look forward to the wider launch to see how this tool compares in its ability to collect data and generate accurate results.
If your company is ready to develop its sustainability action plan, and fully understand its impact, risk and opportunities, contact us.