Transforming from a profitable business into a profitable and sustainable business is HARD. Enterprises are under pressure to be transparent with their data, and change processes to drive impact at scale. SAP Sustainability solutions helps address both, so they can record, report, and act on sustainability goals. Our belief is simple. We can create a sustainable world, addressing emissions, waste, and inequality. Together.
Watch the following video to get an overview of how SAP Sustainability solutions can support customers in recording, reporting, and acting on their sustainability goals.
Businesses are constantly transforming and adapting to evolving industry and macro-economic pressures. To survive, they must develop resilience (externally, from transition risks, or internally, from outdated processes) or risk becoming obsolete. In the context of change, sustainability is not only crucial for creating a liveable planet for future generations, but also offers a competitive advantage - for businesses who leverage it - for new benefits and profits.
Research from the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Rockefeller Asset Management shows that sustainability initiatives can drive better financial performance through improved risk management and innovation. However, many businesses still see sustainability as a cost center rather than a source of innovation and profit.
Firstly, this perception is likely due to the poor quality and granularity of current ESG data, which is essential for integrating business and sustainability data. Two-thirds of companies report difficulty proving a positive ROI for sustainability, which is a significant barrier for further investments in it. As the need to balance transition risks, energy security, supply chain resilience, and costs grows, it is crucial to incorporate sustainability data into every business decision (even micro-decisions) and business users.
Viewing sustainability as a profit center is essential. It should be a core part of every business transformation, evolution and expansion. Ignoring it will result in missing out on business value and falling behind competitors.
Furthermore, sustainability value practically means creating new value through ERP-centric sustainability. The benefits of sustainability are new innovation and are untapped, enabled by linking ESG, ERP, and financial data and cost structures. Sustainable activities and business processes can create new profit centers and enhance existing ones with previously non extractable value. ESG data which was not monitored or kept in master data will enable companies to realize these benefits, whereas those focusing purely on compliance will not.
The cost of inaction on sustainability is significant: new, untapped value can present itself across the entire business. For example, hidden costs such future carbon liabilities and taxes, or explicit added value like efficiency, accuracy, and compliance.
The sustainability business flywheel effect means that integrating ESG information into sustainability and business processes leads to more sustainable practices, better decisions, and improved overall sustainability. This creates more ESG data to analyze, infuse and leverage, perpetuating the cycle.
Lastly, when considering the value dimension, we focus on four key areas: top line (increasing revenue), bottom line (reducing costs), strategic benefits (achieving business strategy), and risk and compliance benefits (mitigation). Each area has specific value drivers and outcomes, as can be seen in the slides