{"id":21944,"date":"2022-05-31T10:21:30","date_gmt":"2022-05-31T10:21:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/?p=21944"},"modified":"2022-05-31T10:26:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-31T10:26:31","slug":"launch-your-environmental-initiative-in-a-few-steps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/articles\/launch-your-environmental-initiative-in-a-few-steps\/","title":{"rendered":"Launch your Environmental initiative in a few steps"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>As part of your ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) commitments and as World Environmental Day is approaching, it\u2019s a good time to launch your community initiative<\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" itemprop=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/esg.jpg\" width=\"720\" height=\"405\" alt=\"ESG\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-21946\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Article summary <\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All businesses need to support the environment and our planet <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stakeholder engagement through a digital platform would allow impact measurement <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Align your environment initiative with the UN SDGs for ease of communication <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Businesses are being asked by their clients and governments to take more responsibility for protecting our environment. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We can see on a daily basis how the changing climate is causing havoc around the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is pressure on agricultural produce due to the loss of fertile soil causing food prices to go up globally. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Extreme weather events are displacing people and causing destruction. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s time for action to prepare for a better future. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don\u2019t you think so? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, I\u2019m going to take you through a step-by-step guide to rollout your environment program or initiative. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But first, let\u2019s explore why every organization should plan to launch an ESG initiative or program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>ESG should be a strategic priority for all businesses<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the past, companies used to see their Corporate Social Responsibility (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/articles\/corporate-social-responsibility-elements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CSR<\/a>) department as a nice to have or as a cost center. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But that shouldn\u2019t be the case.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Doing good for the planet or those around you doesn\u2019t need to come at the expense of business profits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies can do good for their communities and business simultaneously.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clients have become more aware and responsible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They are willing to pay a premium for products and services that are produced and recycled in a responsible way that doesn\u2019t harm the environment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They also assign more brand value to companies that are tackling sustainability issues head-on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if clients are rewarding good environmental practices, that should be enough. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But it doesn\u2019t stop there. The incentives are even bigger. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Banks are providing better financing options for sustainable businesses. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Investors are looking at investing in business that have good Environment, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) metrics. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Bloomberg \u2013 ESG assets are expected to hit $53 trillion by 2025 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/professional\/blog\/esg-assets-may-hit-53-trillion-by-2025-a-third-of-global-aum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">source<\/a>). <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, if your business can get more and better-paying customers, while also getting attractive financing and investment opportunities, why wouldn\u2019t you focus on sustainable business practices? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Every business should strengthen its ESG initiatives. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Additional resources: <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelearning.potential.com\/esg\/?coupon=esg100&amp;utm_source=blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Free course to develop your ESG, CSR and Sustainability action plan<\/a>.<\/h2>\n<hr \/>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4560705956205775\" data-ad-slot=\"9135581814\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Environment protecting initiatives should create tangible business and social impact<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, it\u2019s clear from our points above that, many companies are under pressure to show their clients and stakeholders \u2013 that include their investors, partners, suppliers, and government \u2013 that they are addressing social impact issues. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unfortunately, many of these firms address this requirement in a tactical approach instead of a strategic one. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They do activities just to benefit from the media exposure. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can see this practiced by companies in the form of \u201cgreenwashing\u201d, limited volunteering, or charity work. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given the extent of the global environmental challenges we face, these limited sustainability initiatives are not enough! <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We all need to do more. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the past, it was hard to do more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There weren\u2019t well defined challenge areas, nor clear reporting standards.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It was also hard for a business to manage large scale sustainability programs manually.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With the development of online innovation and empowerment platforms \u2013 such as the potential.com platform \u2013 it has become much easier to roll out and manage ESG initiatives and to create tangible positive impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another great development has been the wide adoption of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (<a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">UN SDGs<\/a>).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These goals have become widely used and can be a great starting point for your CSR and ESG initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All government bodies and most organizations know about these goals and have focused on some of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By aligning your efforts to the UN SDGs you can communicate more easily with your stakeholders to engage them and thus create more impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So, let\u2019s move on to how you can launch your Environment and Sustainability initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Empowerment and Innovation are the foundation of sustainability<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we want to create long lasting <a href=\"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/articles\/launch-your-sustainability-initiative\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sustainability <\/a>and create real impact, we should focus empowering our communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We do so by working with them to innovate solutions to our environment and sustainability challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/articles\/empowerment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Empowerment <\/a>is the essential component here.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If we can empower our stakeholders \u2013 be it clients, suppliers, partners, and everyone we engage with \u2013 to work together toward sustainable solutions, we can create more impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By harnessing the creative talent of our stakeholders, we can innovate better.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The innovation can benefit our business if we align it to our strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A digital empowerment and innovation platform can engage our stakeholders and allow us to track and report on important metrics. We can also use it to empower those around us to come up with sustainable innovations.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4560705956205775\" data-ad-slot=\"9135581814\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>4 Steps to launch your Environmental Initiative<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By following the below 4 steps you can create a positive social impact at scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And you can do so efficiently and effectively.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><em>Step 1- Identify your business and impact priorities so it aligns with your <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>ESG<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> work<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first place to start is from your strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is your vision and mission? How can you align your environment protection initiative to that mission?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What kind of sustainable innovations can benefit your business?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are some examples:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you find a way to save energy in your manufacturing, you can save on product development costs<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you find ways to recycle your products, it could help you in your production costs<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also, if you transport your products more efficiently, you can save costs and improve service<\/span>s<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All the above examples have positive business and sustainability impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you can tap into the talent of your community, you can empower them to innovate and at the same time benefit your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><em>Step 2- Identify the target audience that can benefit the most from your <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>ESG<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> initiative<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to determine who from your community should you target in your communication and engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They should have the most to gain from your environment and sustainability initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Your target audience should be able to also contribute to your ESG and CSR priority areas and innovate with you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They may be youth \/ students, entrepreneurs, suppliers, underserved communities, job seekers?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Think about where you can have the most impact and whom you can empower the most.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Also think about which community can provide you the most return on that impact and return on investment by possibly creating innovative solutions for your business.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong><em>Step 3- How can you reward the most active community?<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So you have identified the business and impact priorities of your environmental initiative and identified who are the beneficiaries that can benefit and engage with you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to think about how you can attract these community members.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How can you incentivize them to participate in your program?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our limited attention spans are in high demand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Social media, streaming services, and the countless distractions we get on our phones mean that it\u2019s hard to make one of your target audiences stop and check your program.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For that reason, you need to think about what you can offer the community as a reward for engaging with you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Depending on your CSR program, you might be able to offer the opportunity to invest or incubate some innovations that come out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Or you might use it as an opportunity to identify top talent that can apply for internship positions or full-time jobs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternately, you might just decide to offer prizes or recognition to the best talent or the best ideas that come out of the program<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-4560705956205775\" data-ad-slot=\"9135581814\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n<\/script><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong><em>\u00a0Step 4- Which UN SDGs are aligned with your <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>environment<\/em><\/strong><strong><em> initiative?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finally, in order to communicate with your public and stakeholders in a clear and effective way, choose which of the 17 UN SDGs can be aligned to your initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might find that you want to focus on 1 specific SDG or rather find that your initiative can address several of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each goal has a set of targets that has been identified and which you can align with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This would help you in measuring and reporting on the impact of your social initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are also many impact reporting tools and models that you can use which are also aligned to the SDGs<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Taking action \u2013 your <\/strong><strong>environmental<\/strong><strong> initiative<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Given that you have identified the 4 previous steps, you are ready now to launch your environment and sustainability initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And we are ready to support you in that journey!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can start small and have a pre-populated ready-to-go platform that aligns with your initiative and your focus UN SDG.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such a platform can be up and running in minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alternatively, you can take a platform template from our library and customize it with your content, process and branding.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cBy using an online platform that is designed for community empowerment and innovation, your sustainability initiative can have a large-scale impact without needing large-scale budgets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you are interested in learning more and engaging with an expert to work with you on your environment initiative, you can\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/request-demo\/?utm_source=blog\">request a free consulting session here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We wish you all the best in your sustainability journey and hope that we can be of support to you in it by making it efficient, and highly impactful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We all need to work together to create a better future for the next generations and for our planet.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As part of your ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) commitments and as World Environmental Day is approaching, it\u2019s a good time to launch your community initiative Article summary All businesses need to support the environment and our planet Stakeholder engagement through a digital platform would allow impact measurement Align your environment initiative with the UN SDGs [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":21946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21944"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21950,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21944\/revisions\/21950"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.potential.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}