As conversations around environmental governance and sustainability have become more commonplace – particularly in legislatures across Canada, the USA, and the EU – so have ways to manage the ever-expanding rules and regulations, and corresponding data.
For many regions, jurisdictional rules and regulations between federal, international, and regional laws can overlap and cause a lot of confusion.
Of course, with these regulations comes corporate responsibility. Organizations are required to track their sustainability data, prepare reports, and take action. But how can all of this be done?
That’s where performance sustainability management software can help.
In this article, we’ll cover what sustainability means, why it’s important, and how sustainability management software can help you achieve your goals. We’ll also go over how to find the right sustainability management software for your organization so you can move your company in the right direction.
Let’s get started.
what is sustainability?
When we talk about sustainability management software, we need to define what sustainability actually is.
The United Nations defines sustainability as, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
There have been many iterations over the past few years, and as policy-makers, organizations, and governments have expanded requirements and regulations around sustainability, the concept of sustainability and what it encompasses has evolved.
Naturally, how sustainability measurements are collected by businesses needs to reflect what it is that is being collected. And again, this is continually changing.
For our purposes, we’re referring to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which provide a list of 17 goals to be achieved by 2030. These goals are:
- No Poverty
- Zero Hunger
- Good Health and Well-being
- Quality Education
- Gender Equality
- Clean Water and Sanitation
- Affordable and Clean Energy
- Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Reduced Inequalities
- Sustainable Cities and Communities
- Responsible Consumption and Production
- Climate Action
- Life Below Water
- Life on Land
- Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
- Partnerships For the Goals
While not all of these apply to all organizations, they are necessarily interconnected, as many regular business activities – such as manufacturing, shipping, community care, and labor responsibilities – directly impact what and how activities are reported.
But many organizations can get hung up on what data to collect, and then what to do with it. That’s where sustainability management software can help, and what we’ll go over next.
what is sustainability management software?
Not to be confused with environmental, social and governance reporting software, sustainability management software is a bit different in that it collects sustainability data, organizes it, and provides reporting capabilities. Both types of software allow users to manage, monitor, and analyze various aspects of their operations.
For in-depth analysis of what sustainability management software is, and what vendors are noteworthy, head over to Forrester’s report on sustainability management software.
Sustainability management software is more comprehensive than ESG reporting software in that it covers many more aspects of sustainability as iterated by the United Nations Sustainable Development goals (listed above).
Sustainability management software allows users to get a view of their sustainability goals, including:
- Resources
- Diversity
- Community
- Finances
Just like any other software, sustainability management software isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. We’ll dig a little deeper in just a moment. But first, who uses this software?
who uses sustainability reporting software?
There are a lot of organizations – across multiple sectors and industries – that use sustainability management software, including yours.
A few of those organizations include:
- Consumer goods
- NPOs
- Automotive
- Technology sectors
- Research and design sectors
- Pharmaceuticals and healthcare
- Government
- Hospitality
- Oil, gas, and other energy
- Retail
- Logistics and transportation
- Engineering and construction
- Financial services
When deciding what sustainability management software you need, first look at your organization’s needs.
what are your organization’s needs?
When it comes to sustainability management software – and what software vendor will work best for your organization – you have to look at how your organization works, and therefore, what impact does your organization have on overall sustainability.
Things to assess can be:
- How wide-spread is your organization (regional, national, global)? Each region will have slightly different rules and regulations, and it’s important to not only know and understand these, but to have software that is customizable to meet these regulatory requirements.
- How complex is your carbon footprint? There may be a few factors that play into your carbon footprint, or there may be a myriad of complex ways your carbon footprint could be crucial to your overall sustainability efforts. Taking a good look at this will help you determine what you need from your software solution.
- What efforts have you made (or intend to make) towards bettering your local environment? This could include community outreach, donations and investments in local organizations and NPOs, and partnerships with local businesses and organizations. Efforts can also include investments in things like rewilding, reforestation, sanctuary establishments, community clean-ups, and so forth. All of this should be tracked with sustainability management software.
- How complex is your supply chain? Transporting materials and products has a huge impact on the environment – including local communities. Given that supply chain logistics can be cross-regional, cross-national, and even international, all rules and regulations need to be accounted for. This can be extremely difficult and complex.
- Look to your team, first. First question should be “how diverse is my team?” Does your organization offer equal opportunities? Do you have appropriate training and evaluation programs? Do you offer continuing education opportunities? No matter the undertaking – whether it’s onboarding new software, new initiatives, or expansion – getting buy-in from your team is always critical.
- What is your pay structure like? Pay structure doesn’t mean simply take-home pay. It is the entire compensation package, including PTO, healthcare benefits, bonuses, investment opportunities, and so forth. Total compensation helps all aspects of business sustainability efforts, the health of our economy, and your local community.
While these are just a few of the factors to consider when facing sustainability goals, you need a way to track all of this data in a central repository, where it’s kept organized and ready for analysis.
what are the key features of sustainability management software?
Again, sustainability management software isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Each vendor offers slightly different iterations of the software. This is why understanding your needs, first and foremost, is crucial.
But good sustainability management software will always have a few key features. These are:
1. comprehensive data management
Sustainability management software is, first and foremost, a data management system. If it’s not comprehensive, it won’t do the job.
Unlike old legacy systems of spreadsheets, manual data entry and organization systems, and disparate sources of information (sometimes even across facilities, regions, and even countries), a good sustainability management software system will act as not just a repository, but an aggregate system. It will help you collect, disseminate, and analyze data easier, more accurately, and ultimately, more efficiently.
From this, you can then turn your data into actionable insights.
Some key features to look for are:
- Built-in data collection systems that are specifically designed for your industry and regional, local and national regulation requirements.
- User-friendly dashboard with easy onboarding, that allows you to customize your workflows.
- Method of tracking the impact of your environmental and other sustainability efforts, and highlighting areas for improvement.
2. scalable and integrated software
What do we mean when we say software is “scalable”?
Scalability in software is freedom of flexibility. This means increasing usage or complexity as your organization shifts and grows. This could also mean contraction if a facility is moving locations or closing down altogether.
Scalable software will make these shifts with you. The ability to purchase extra licenses or cancel those you may have will help your organization shift and grow as needed, without any interruption of workflows.
Scalable software will also offer a variety of tools that are customizable and integrate into your regular workflow systems.
3. stakeholder access and collaboration
Every organization needs buy-in from its key stakeholders. No matter what endeavor you’re embarking on, buy-in is necessary and in order to do so, stakeholders need to have access to data.
Stakeholders will, no doubt, require access to crucial information. With sustainability management software, stakeholders can access reports, insights, and facilitate internal communication efforts and knowledge sharing. Additionally, stakeholders can participate in surveys, feedback, and sustainability certifications.
Collaboration is underscored with sustainability management software, and many stakeholders will want the ability to engage, enhance transparency, and ultimately, accountability across the board.
Features that you should look for when considering a sustainability management platform can include:
- Automated reminders and communication tools
- Assessment tracking, across all stakeholders
- Industry overview, including competitors and other industry trends
These features will help create a more holistic approach to sustainability management, and thus, the entirety of your organization can benefit.
4. regulatory compliance
One of the fundamental tenets of sustainability management is rules and regulations, whether they are regional, federal, or international (or all 3 in many cases).
As we’ve mentioned previously, these rules and regulations are becoming increasingly complex, although there is a global concerted effort to unify various iterations into one guiding principle.
But ultimately, sustainability management software needs to be customizable to reflect all rules and regulations that are applicable to your organization's needs and activities. This means collecting and disseminating data on a granular level.
As a general rule, find software that is in compliance with:
- Science-based targets (SBTi)
- GHG Scope 3 Protocol
- Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB)
- Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)
There are more regulations to pay attention to, and this is something that your ESG and Sustainability team can undertake. Additionally, your onboarding team will help you navigate this.
how can sustainability management software benefit your business?
At the end of the day, you want your software to work for you, no matter the type of software. Sustainability management software can do a lot for your business, not just be a repository for your sustainability data.
It can:
Streamline and simplify your data: Sustainability management software should manage your complex data, across departments and facilities, and organize it into actionable reports that are transparent and readily available to all stakeholders.
Action-driven for long-term sustainability goals: Your software should work for you. This means that the insights you are able to extract are actionable and help your organization reach its targets. This also means identifying areas of improvement.
Stay on top of multiple rules and regulations: As you’re most likely well aware, there are many rules and regulations that could apply to your organization. These are ever shifting, and your sustainability management software should be capable of keeping up with these shifts. Old legacy and manual methods of data collection and dissemination simply can’t do this.
While these are just a few of the benefits that good sustainability management software can provide for your organization, overall, inculcating this tool in your organization workflows will help you achieve your targets quicker, more accurately, and more efficiently.
looking to a sustainable future with the right software
Our collective future is embedded in the definition of sustainability. Together, we are looking for better ways to better our economies, our environments, our communities, and our future.
The AMCS Sustainability Platform is the only sustainability management software you need to tackle today’s environmental, social, and governance challenges.
Contact an expert on our team together to find out how AMCS Sustainability Platform can help your business thrive, now and in the future.