TGP unveils roadmap for sustainability adoption

• Published On: 22 June 2024 at 15:04

The Governance Platform has released a roadmap to help organisations integrate sustainability into their operations in line with the results of COP28.

The roadmap is based on the book "Sustainability and COP28: What It Means for Boards," co-authored by Professor Fabian Ajogwu, SAN, and Dr Onajite Newton.

The blueprint was disclosed at a recent executive breakfast event in Lagos, when the book was released.

C-level executives from various multinational and local organisations attended the event, interacting with the co-authors to gather useful insights on how to raise sustainability consciousness inside their organisations.

The co-authors underlined the importance of tailored approaches to sustainability, balancing the three Ps: people, profit, and performance, and defining success measures.

They also addressed concerns about the apparent cost of implementing environmentally friendly business processes, emphasising the long-term benefits and investor preference for sustainable enterprises.

Mallam M.K. Ahmad, President of the Society of Corporate Governance, delivered the book, highlighting the need of directors internalising the notion of sustainability and implementing it in their organisations.

According to Ajogwu, incorporating sustainability into business operations demands tailored approaches, as there is no general solution for organisations.

He stated: "For a company to be sustainable, close attention must be paid to the industry in which it operates, how it must survive in the environment, and the changes that must be made.

Boards must be more aggressive in taking its agenda and tailoring it to the areas in which they work, as well as in maintaining the reason for which the body was established."

Newton mentioned that she was driven to write the book in order to shift people's perspectives about sustainability.

He claimed that educating boards' mindsets by forcing them to review their current situations and plan a clear route to achieve sustainability in their company operations was critical to the book's development.

Newton stressed the significance of assisting boards in developing success measures as a critical part of the book.

"Materiality evaluation is critical when migrating to a sustainability-focused organisation because there is no one-size-fits-all solution. As the first phase, materiality assessment engages all stakeholders within an organisation to better understand where they perceive the firm and identify the important steps that must be addressed," Newton noted.