Most consumers and organizations view sustainability as an environmental goal of going green, reducing emissions, or minimizing one’s overall impact on the environment. While they are not entirely wrong, sustainability is much more encompassing than just the carbon footprint and considers aspects of social and organizational accountability as well. The stakeholders for sustainability are not just limited to the local governments and regulatory bodies, but also includes the customers, employees, and the societies and communities within which these businesses operate.

83 percent of C-suite leaders and investment professionals say they expect that ESG programs will contribute more shareholder value in 
2025 than today and would be willing to pay a ten per cent premium to acquire a company with a positive ESG record. 
– McKinsey, The ESG premium: New perspectives on value and performance

Data is the key to changing the narrative for not just profits, but also the people and the planet. Data driven insights can not just help travel managers negotiate better with air, hotel and other travel providers, but also cut down energy consumption, manage waste better, enabling travelers to make greener choices, bring more transparency to policy making and more. Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concerns are a C-suite priority now, that aims at creating a holistic sustainable environment within the organization.

Environmental – Go beyond CO2 emissions

This is usually the most focused upon aspect of ESG as “Global Climate Change” being a credible threat to the planet gets most attention from governments and media outlets globally. The environmental impact of human enterprise on our surroundings is clear and present and can be objectively measured using the “Carbon Footprint” metric.  

Some of the key dimensions in this area are “Sustainable Consumption” which could be energy, water, and other resources. The emissions caused by these consumptions, both direct and indirect provide an objective metric of your sustainability alignment towards your environmental goals. Usage analytics combined with the data from smart devices that create an IoT environment can help streamline process in travel and stays to save water, reduce energy consumption and optimize the utilization of other resources. 

Another dimension is around “Sustainable Waste Management” which dictates your ability to manage, minimize, and eliminate the generation of solid, liquid, and recyclable waste. The third dimension within this area is around “Sustainable Sourcing” which dictates the sustainability alignment towards your supply chain. Organizations supply chain can be a significant contributor towards environmental emissions and therefore be detrimental towards your overall carbon footprint. Using procurement data to pick products with lowest carbon emission can get organizations one step closer to being carbon neutral.

Social – Cater to customers, colleagues and community (3CX) 

This aspect of ESG is mostly focused on the leadership structure and employee dynamics within the organization. The ability of an organization to drive equitable and inclusive growth for its employees and leadership indicates a level of maturity that contributes to the workforce development dimensions within this key ESG area. Additionally, employee, leadership, and board diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is also another important dimension within this ESG area. Finally, the organizations policies and contributions around “Corporate Social Responsibility” and employee volunteering is also a particularly good indicator of the organizations maturity around this dimension of ESG. 

The foundation of the technology we build at Tech4TH is creating seamless experience for customers, colleagues and community(3CX). Which means that we not only help organizations create great memories for travellers and guests, but also ensure the entire ecosystem is optimized for the staff and the community around it. 

Governance – Clear reporting for risk free compliance

This aspect of ESG is usually focused on organizational accountability and considers the aspects of tying leadership and board compensation to organizational ESG goals. Identifying risks emerging from the various ESG dimensions and including them within its enterprise risk management strategy is also a good indicator of organizational maturity around this ESG dimension. This dimension also ensures that adequate board oversight is placed on key ESG dimensions to ensure periodic tracking and reporting of the same within the organization and to external stakeholders. 

Reliable reporting is a foundational element in demonstrating the progress towards achieving ESG goals. Transparent and reliable reporting of well-defined KPIs help businesses showcase impact to customers, board members and investors. It also provides the necessary information to show governing bodies compliance to regulations, environmental standards, and diversity requirements. 

For every organization to systematically drive and adhere to ESG compliance reporting, there are some key enablers that are essential. This includes ESG platforms, system and data integration technologies, data persistence and the corresponding infrastructure to ensure reliable data driven compliance reporting.

We at Tech4TH can assist you in making the fit-to-purpose choices around strategizing and implementing the right technologies to ensure your journey towards ESG compliance and reporting is a smooth one. Drop us a note on reimagine@tech4th.com know more.