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The Strength of the Few: Small teams with big remits
The Strength of the Few: Small teams with big remits
Our Business Tracker Survey points to a divide between sustainability professionals who feel able to deliver on their core remit, with budget constraints and small teams creating resource pressures for the sustainability department.
Recent analysis found that environmental, social and governance (ESG) regulations globally have increased by 155% in the past decade, with 1,255 ESG regulations introduced worldwide since 2011.
While a lot of these regulations and frameworks will be region and/or sector-specific specific it does build to a mounting challenge that many sustainability professionals are struggling to deal with. Recent research found that sustainability professionals find reporting requirements too complex, resource-intensive, and time-consuming. Add to that the constant changes – such as the new consultation on the Net-Zero Standard – and amendments - such as the simplification package for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) or the ongoing delays to the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) - and it’s a wonder that sustainability teams can get anything done aside from revisiting the data.
A previous edie Business Tracker survey found that around 40% of sustainability professionals allocate 25-50% of their time annually solely to reporting and disclosure. There’s even a selection of firms (6%) dedicating more than 75% of their time to this activity year-round.
Many sustainability professionals believe that increasing their team would help keep on top of regulation and reporting, but currently, only 37% are planning on doing so, with many struggling to get the board to back them with extra resources. Indeed, 44% of businesses spend less than £1,000 on reporting matters annually.
Outside of the reporting sphere, a key question is emerging: should a business expand its sustainability team to provide more expertise, or embed it, giving more agency to other departments to help achieve ESG goals? For most sustainability professionals, the answer is a resounding “both”.
The latest Sustainable Business Tracker survey found that sustainability teams remain small despite their large, long-term remit.
Almost four in 10 businesses have an in-house sustainability team of 1-4 people, and a further third (32%) have just one person heading up the department.
“There is still hope to turn things around, to make a difference and there are only few of us to do it.”
As covered earlier in this report, the biggest challenges facing sustainability teams are a combination of short-term profitability mindset (cited by 24% of sustainability practitioners) and lack of funding (32%). Small teams, small budgets, but the to-do list grows every year.
With the previous section of this report highlighting that both supplier engagement and reporting and disclosure are the biggest priority areas for business right now, the sustainability team has the chance to use data and insight to build the business case for action, while also empowering others to help deliver on their remit.
Regardless, there is a divide between those who feel empowered to deliver their organisation’s sustainability strategy and those who are struggling.
We asked respondents, “Do you believe your sustainability team is adequately resourced to deliver on its core remit?”
The answers are mixed; 50% do not believe they are adequately resourced compared to just 57% who feel they are. A further 13% remained unsure.
At the very least, sustainability practitioners remain somewhat optimistic about reaching long-term goals. When asked, 46% of respondents claimed they were confident that they would achieve the organisation’s ESG targets, compared to just 21% who believe they are not in a position to achieve them. A further 33% remain unsure.
“Me and my team care deeply about the impact of our roles, seeing the passion keeps me driven.”
So, smaller teams are being stretched, having to spend the bulk of their time on reports, and are increasingly focusing on behaviour change internally (44% of respondents listed staff behaviour change as either a “high” or “business critical” priority right now).
Previously, the role of the sustainability team had been to build the business case – setting up strategies, getting sign-off on targets, and exploring solutions that could help improve circularity or reduce emissions. Now they are actively having to influence and change day-to-day mindsets and operations, while keeping on top of the fast-paced changes to the ESG movement.
All of this led edie to ask, “Do you think the title of 'sustainability practitioner' has lost its meaning?”
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