Sustainability Consulting
Today I had a brilliant set of questions about sustainability consulting.
In your own words, what does a Sustainability Consultant do? Is this different to a Sustainability Analyst and, if so, how?*
A sustainability consultant is a general term born from "management consultant". So yes, a sustainability consultant can be an analyst, project manager, data analyst, programme manager or transformation specialist who focus on sustainability. Furthermore, when you think "consultant" you should think "delivery". For that to happen you must be very strong in delivery frameworks such as MSP, PMP, Prince2 and so on. On the other hand, when you think about Sustainability Advisor, then this is someone who can advise a CxO team on the delivery pathway, but also advise on nuanced requirements that enable decision making. Advisor will usually come with a specialism so, for example, you won't call a sustainable finance expert to necessarily advise on the sustainability efficacy of a supply chain. Furthermore, for sustainability to be authentic and true to its intention, advisors should generally be geared towards expertise in the environment. On the contrary, whilst someone like me may also offer advisory services they would generally feed into a pathway for deliver or a review of governance protocols in sustainability.
What are some examples of individual pieces of work or projects that a Sustainability Consultant would produce and/or contribute to?
Depends on sector/industry. I would advise every new entrant to know the regulation and legislation as a starting point because this skill can become industry agnostic. Pick 3-5 key legislative requirements and achieve mastery in these areas. The current key pieces of work generally stem from legislation and are very broad from say, TCFD compliance, climate scenario modelling, transition/physical risk quantification, nature related data and tooling, planetary threshold data and so much more. However, the business priority is always going to be 1. compliance risk and 2. fin/non-fin enterprise risks and then 3. thresholds management. In an ideal world, businesses would prioritise gaining knowledge on thresholds first.
What are the key skills/training/accreditation that a Sustainability Consultant needs in order to be successful in their role?
It's important to understand that Sustainability is a very complex science first. It's the nexus of where the earth, all its resources and services meet industry and consumption. To be a genuine expert in sustainability you should pursue a pathway for becoming a chartered environmentalist or hold a Masters Degree in an Environmental themed subject. Such an individual should sit at the top of a chain in knowledge (for business sustainability) hence I feel there is scope for a Chief Environmental Officer to complement the role of a CSO. Now, that doesn't mean for a moment that you cannot be of impact in the field of sustainability with a 6-8 week sustainability certification. Of course you can because strategy can have $bn+ budgets allocated to transformation delivery and whilst the CxO holds accountability, they do not hold responsibility for delivery. That's where someone with a strong consultancy (delivery) expertise can come in and do the job - I find these roles are more readily available when compared to advisory roles. Furthermore, the higher frequency of roles means that with rates ranging from £600 to £1300 per day, they become more lucrative than the sporadic £2000-3000 a day advisory role. Therefore, ESG certifications that offer a general overview of the subject should suffice to be of some value in transition management. Read my ESG Certification Review here https://www.sustainablefactors.com/insights/Cfa