Designing the integrated path - the next stage of corporate delivery and accountability

Over the last few years, I’ve had the privilege to serve as a board member of the research program Fairtrans. The overall purpose of Fairtrans is to facilitate and accelerate a fundamental transformation to a fair, fossil-free future. Besides being an honour and bringing great opportunity for learning, this is also a program close to my heart. In this time of political backlash where science is so often challenged and put on par with unsubstantiated opinions, Fairtrans goes beyond the immediate reactions to policies and explore under what circumstances people are ready to accept policies that gain society’s long term ability to prosper over short term economic gains. It turns out that negative reactions to new policies can be mitigated if they are perceived fair and reasonable – negative reactions to climate policies are not necessarily due to their objectives but their design. The program is also investigating how knowledge-building helps people of different political views to agree on solutions in citizen assemblies, and executives in different parts of society to integrate transition with their roles. Working closely with civil society partners, the researchers have shown how civil society organisations from all walks of society, including e.g. unions and organisations for rural development, consumers, tenants, indigenous people and nature conversation, can unite around proposals for people-centred climate policy.

While WBA’s focus is a different one – to hold the world’s most influential companies accountable for sustainable development – the objective is broadly the same: To facilitate and accelerate the fundamental transition to a fair future within planetary boundaries. In other words, the science-based need for society to transition and take a new course that makes us function without placing unsustainable pressure on the planet. And the necessity to make this transition people-centric as a moral obligation – but also since this is the only way a transition would be feasible and could sustain. This is also the starting point for our new white paper which make the case for an integrated corporate transition. And through stakeholder consultation, research and learning, WBA is ensuring that the path to that objective is clear and agreed.

The next step for standards

An important vehicle to establish what good looks like is standards. Our white paper shows there is already a growing body of standards within the climate, nature and social dimensions, though the integrated perspective remains in its infancy. Sometimes lack of standards is used as an excuse for inaction. After many years in international standardisation, I firmly believe in the role of standards in establishing best practices, whether in performance, management, assessment methods or disclosures. However, while standardisation, as all democratic processes, takes time the direction is already clear: Companies need to decarbonise and preserve nature to stay within planetary boundaries while making sure workers and others impacted are not to pay the price of that process. Although the detailed guidance may be lacking in some cases, the direction and need for speed is clear enough to act – and to act rapidly. With our new Integrated Transition Assessment we will also support companies and their stakeholders by providing a knowledge base that help them see what is expected and how they are doing. This is true already for the methodology that will be presented in the coming months, but even more when assessments results are available early 2028.

In our white paper we have gathered the foundations of an integrated transition and the current development and thinking around it from the perspective of global agendas and standards. We also show that integrated transition is the latest step in the evolution of corporate sustainability approaches which brings learning from all previous steps. The white paper shows how WBA’s integrated transition strategy builds on our previous transformations approach, while expanding the scope across dimensions to a full set of 2000 of the world’s most influential companies and how that list has been revisited from an integrated transitions perspective. Finally, it offers a sneak peak of the full Integrated Transition Methodology to be published in November so stay tuned.

A new model for resilient business

The call for an integrated transition is a quest for a better corporate model for sustainable development. While some companies are ambitious in their sustainability work across climate, nature and social dimensions, the majority is still lagging far behind what is needed for the resilience of society and their own long-term ability to thrive. Our data shows that only a very low percentage of companies put an equal weight to addressing climate, nature and social impacts which compounds their impacts and risks.

The call for an integrated transition has a strong foundation in global norms and goals. Already the 2030 Agenda with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) that spans the climate, nature and social dimensions, has the interdependence between goals at its core. However, delivery is failing. With less than 5 years remaining, only 36% of measured SDG targets are on track to be met or are making moderate progress, while many others are stagnating or even regressing. The need for the business sector to contribute further is undeniable. Although those paying the price is in the end people and the planet itself, the current lack of progress is a risk to companies, already here and now, but in particular in the longer perspective. The integrated transition is not only a moral obligation but a business imperative. Even more so, as where you find risks, you also find opportunities for those that can read the future.

From ambition to delivery

An important change that we need to see in the business sector is a strengthened focus on planning, implementation, and performance development. Until now targets and commitments, their uptake and quality, have gained a lot of attention, but as we move closer to 2030 it becomes clear that those have often not been translated to plans, implementation and performance improvements. This is why all stakeholders now need to shift to a broader transition focus with a laser focus on delivery. This is a broader and more challenging objective than the current one, but also one that is necessary and deeply meaningful.

Towards deeper integration

The call for delivery is indeed a call for deeper integration of topics. It’s only when focus shifts to implementation that the trade-offs and synergies between dimensions become visible and can be addressed. This is the horizontal integration. However, delivery also demands a deeper integration into the company organisations as ultimately this concerns, strategies, business model alignment, product portfolios and investment decisions. This is vertical integration. During many years of corporate sustainability work, I have seen sustainability departments pushing boundaries one step at a time, achieving far beyond what anyone would have expected based on the limited resources available to them. However, while their expertise remains a basis for understanding what needs to be done, an integrated transition must be the responsibility of all corporate functions and all members of the executive teams.

Accounting for AI

Importantly, an integration transition cannot happen in a bubble but needs to be contextual and consider other societal developments and shifts. A prominent shift is the expansion of AI and the further development of digital technologies, described as mankind’s best opportunity or worst threat depending on who you speak to. As such, this is an important aspect to consider in the Integrated Transition Assessment Without a doubt, the continued advancements of AI will come with huge and hard to predict impacts across all sustainability dimensions, enlarging all types of societal developments whether positive or negative. In that sense, AI is no different from other digital and general-purpose technologies whose opportunities and adverse impacts have been extensively discussed for over 20 years in terms of both direct and indirect impacts – a body of research and experiences to build on when addressing AI.

Our white paper brings together current and previous integrated transition developments and opportunities. As we proceed our journey towards the publication of the Integrated Transition Assessment methodology and the start of assessment, we continue to keep in touch with allies, companies and other stakeholders. We know that collaborative approaches give the best outcomes, and we are always happy to hear from you/learn from others.

We firmly believe that the next step in corporate sustainability must be about planning, implementation and enhancing performance in line with science and global norms and goals. Across climate, nature and social dimensions impacts, risks and opportunities need to be identified and addressed – and as nothing exist in an ivory tower an integrated approach is the only way forward.