Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of WERC.
In 1994, renowned author John Elkington coined the term “triple bottom line,” a framework for measuring an organization's impact in three areas: social, environmental, and economic. It is otherwise known as the “three Ps”: profit, people, and planet. This framework became the underpinning of what we know today as ESG, or environmental, social, and governance.
When we apply these foundational theories to our mobility industry, we must then ask ourselves, “Is environmental sustainability within global mobility a viable endeavor for industry organizations to prioritize?” Over the last two years, this question was one I sought to address in my doctoral dissertation.
Is Mobility Moving Fast Enough on Environmental Adoption?
One of the most notable topics I came across in my research was a dissection of academic literature on expatriate management and ESG. In prior analysis, it was noted that out of 238 expatriate management articles identified that could be classified into one of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the content has been dominated by social issues (nearly 80%), followed by economic literature (up to 19%), leaving environment/biosphere issues at a minuscule amount (1%).
Does this suggest mobility doesn’t value the E in ESG? Not necessarily. However, it does reinforce that education and promotion of environmental sustainability within our industry is something that all of us could do a better job of. Whether you’re on the client side or supporting from a supply chain vertical, we all have a role to play in promoting environmental sustainability initiatives in the industry.
In my research, it was also clear through a series of surveys conducted with corporate clients, supply chain partners, and a mixed-population cohort that most companies in the industry do have some ESG goals. They may not be primarily focusing on environmental sustainability adoption; however, they may be incorporating a component of environmental sustainability in addition to continuing to prioritize the social and governance aspects.
For example, a majority of multinational corporate global mobility practitioners surveyed do believe that ESG is impacting or will impact their program now or in the future; however, on a sliding scale of 0-100 for each categorical variable of E, S, or G, the determination was evident for each variable’s contribution in factoring the overall perceived impact of ESG program components. The results: 47.38% impact for E, 49.95% impact for S, and 52.09% for G.
In layman’s terms, this means that E may still be an important factor to corporate mobility ESG targets, but when compared to S and G, it’s not considered the most important.
If you’re like me, you may be asking yourself: “What will it take for the industry to prioritize environmental sustainability?” The answer, in my perspective and through research, is fourfold.
4 Practical Tips to Prioritize Environmental Sustainability in Mobility
1. Create an Internal Culture of Sustainability
An integral part of starting the focus on environmental adoption is creating a culture of sustainability within our organizations. By identifying and promoting the criticality of sustainability initiatives, employees will start to see a mindset shift in the way the company’s leadership puts forth the vision of sustainability.
Internal stakeholders can conduct an audit on their current philosophy for sustainability to identify where on the spectrum of sustainable development they are excelling or need improvement. When this is done through the lens of the triple bottom line approach, it empowers organizational decision-making with consideration for the financial, social, and environmental risks, obligations, and opportunities. This is key to building a viable, well-connected, and economically value-driven enterprise. Research has shown that these types of enterprises tend to thrive in perpetuity due to their intimate connection to healthy economic, social, and environmental systems.
2. Stay Ahead of the Curve on Legislation
Not sure where to start on getting caught up? Here’s a primer.
The framework by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has continued to evolve from 2021 through 2024. On 6 March 2024, the SEC adopted a landmark climate-related disclosure rules (“Final Rules”), which significantly expand the climate-related information that U.S. public companies and most foreign private issuers will be required to disclose in their periodic reports and registration statements.
Further, back on January 2024, the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) was enacted to expand the scope of mandatory ESG reporting requirements for large public companies in the EU. The goal is to improve transparency and accountability around companies’ sustainability impacts to support the EU’s climate and environmental objectives under the European Green Deal.
Despite pushback from some states in the U.S. and abroad through “anti-ESG” legislation that has made its way through local governments, large countries such as Brazil, the United States, and member states of the EU have still adopted ESG legislation. More countries are following suit. In fact, global ESG legislation is up 155% and is starting to reshape corporate strategy for public and private companies.
As ESG legislation starts to hit a critical mass of adoption globally, the advent of investing in ESG strategies may be seen as a daunting, expensive task. However, research has shown that companies that have embarked on an ESG path and embraced the identification, collection, reporting, and mitigation of their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have already started to see favorable financial results.
3. Adopt ESG Reporting With Technology
There is an old adage that states: “The best time to start a goal was yesterday, the second-best time is today.” I think this holds true for our industry when we talk about sustainability reporting. In order for any organization to create net-zero targets, the company must first start measuring and reporting their current GHG emissions to understand their baseline. There are many platforms out there that can support mobility professionals as they navigate the data collection and reporting of scopes 1, 2, and 3 emissions. For example, the CDP and EcoVadis are two leaders with platforms for collating data that can be easily tracked and shared with stakeholders.
Additionally, a forward-thinking model that industry professionals can start to explore is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for ESG programs. As the quantity of available data keeps growing in our digital age, it has become increasingly challenging for investors and company stakeholders to make informed decisions about addressing ESG issues. This challenge is well-suited for AI algorithms, which can help transform quantifiable data into qualitative insights for organizations to pursue further strategies. In the case of global mobility, if industry participants are linked to the United Nations SDGs, AI could theoretically identify where a company is meeting the mark or needs to optimize change.
In a 2023 study, a team focused on querying AI tools to demonstrate the validity of information available for firms to focus on. The results demonstrated that AI could generate information on relevant SDGs. The AI also showed practical examples of ESG adoption and a case study to closely analyze and illustrate technology capabilities.
4. Create and Promote Greener Relocation Solutions
In a consumer-based paper published in Sustainability, researchers posited that protecting the environment has become a tantamount issue during recent decades and that firms need to adhere to certain environmental regulations if they want to operate and remain active players in the market. Through their research, which was based on a conceptual framework of the theory of planned behavior—a theory that considers human beings as rational and postulates that attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control determine intentions—it was concluded that if consumers have a baseline understanding of sustainability initiatives, it can drive the connection between consumers’ sense of social responsibility and attitude toward renewable offerings.
If this example holds true in our industry, then a “green consumerism” mindset should be considered for our relocating customers. When ESG adoption within the industry occurs first through the corporate client as the “buyer” of relocation services and secondarily through the relocating customer who may see these greener initiatives within the mobility program, they may be more apt to opt in to greener mobility options through their relocation policy, if options are available and presented with enthusiasm.
In turn, this could spur a heightened demand for sustainable options through corporate mobility programs and become a focal point for global mobility teams to strategically link these initiatives into the broader strategy for reducing their carbon footprint.
As all organizations are tasked with creating shareholder value, creating ESG programs with a heightened intentionality on environmental sustainability makes good business sense, good climate sense, and good people sense. If we continue to raise awareness and promote action within our own organizations and through industry initiatives such as the Coalition for Greener Mobility, we can be sure that we are doing our part in this fight against man-made climate change. This will be something to be proud of now and serve as a legacy-builder to support the prosperity of future generations.