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Top 10 Sustainability Case Studies & Success Stories in 2024

Cem is the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per Similarweb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Environmental and social practices have a significant impact on the long-term success of businesses. Some businesses outperform others in this area, giving them a competitive advantage. We will present ten sustainability success stories to executives searching for methods to close the sustainability gap between themselves and outperformers. 

We take a holistic approach to sustainability when presenting these case studies, seeing environmental and social challenges as a part of maintaining a sustainable business (see Figure 1). We also recognize that, while technology can aid in the improvement of corporate sustainability, changing business processes can be just as successful. As a result, we will provide a variety of scenarios that fully demonstrate the ESG framework .

1. UPS ORION: Improve transportation efficiency

Transportation activities accounted for almost 30% of US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. (See Figure 2). For a company like UPS, which distributes goods across regions, transportation activities make up the bulk of GHG emissions. As a result, enhancing transportation efficiency is crucial for organizations like UPS to remain sustainable.

As a solution, UPS adopted an AI system called ORION which is a route optimizer that aims to minimize the number of turns during the delivery. Initiation began in 2012 and up today UPS has been working on developing it.

ORION saves UPS 10 million gallons of fuel per year, which means that in addition to the financial benefits, it decreases UPS’s carbon footprint by 100,000 metric tonnes per year, or the equivalent to removing more than 20,000 cars from the roads.

There are public cloud route optimizer systems which businesses can deploy without building hardware. These tools help firms to use their software as a service by paying a subscription cost.

To learn more about ensuring supply chain sustainability with technology you can read our Top 5 Technologies Improving Supply Chain Sustainability article.

Figure 2: US GHG emissions.

2. IKEA IWAY: Make business with ESG oriented corporations

Supplier code of conducts are established guidelines that require other businesses to demonstrate their operations’ social and environmental impacts. The objective is to reward companies that meet strong ESG standards. It is also one of the positive governance indications for organizations, as we highlighted in our ESG metrics article .

IWAY is the supplier code of conduct of IKEA forcing suppliers to meet certain environmental and humanitarian qualities to work with. The initiative has been in place for over 20 years, and over that time, IKEA has refined it based on their prior experiences. IWAY six is the most recent version of IKEA’s supplier code of conduct, which evaluates:

• Core worker rights.
• Safety of the working place.
• Life-work balance of employees.
• Water and waste management of potential suppliers.
• Prevention of child labour. 

3. General Electric digital wind farm: Produce green energy efficiently

Wind turbine productivity varies greatly depending on the design, weather conditions, and geography of the location it is deployed. Using IoT and digital twins to collect data on each wind turbine and simulate possible modifications such as adjusting the direction of the wind turbine can assist corporations in locating their wind turbines in a wind farm more effectively (see Figure 3).

Furthermore, the performance of wind turbines declines with time and may require maintenance; employing sensors and digital twins can assist in determining the appropriate time for repair.

Figure 3: How digital twins can optimize wind turbine productivity.

The General Electric’s (GE) digital wind farms are based on these two elements. GE optimized over 15,000 turbines using sensors and digital twins technologies. Each wind farm can create up to 10% more green energy as a result of the digital wind farm initiative, which helps to enhance our worldwide green energy mix.

4. Swire Properties green building: Minimize GHG emissions

Swire Properties is a construction company that operates in China and especially in the Hong Kong area. In 2018, the company built One Taikoo Place which is a green building that aims to reduce GHG emissions of Swire Properties in order to align with sustainability goals of the company’s stakeholders.

Swire properties use 3D modeling techniques to optimize the building’s energy efficiency. Reduce electricity consumption by using smart lighting systems with sunshine and motion sensors. A biodiesel generation system has been installed in the building, which converts waste food oil into biodiesel. Swire Properties additionally uses low carbon embedded materials and a lot of recycled materials in their construction.

Swire Properties was able to cut GHG emissions intensity throughout their portfolio by nearly 20% because of the usage of digital technologies and low carbon integrated materials.

5. H&M Let’s Close the Gap: Deposit scheme for gathering raw material

In 2021, we consumed 1.7 times more resources than Earth generates annually because our economic outlook is based on production, use and disposal. Such an economy is not sustainable and that is the reason why the concept of circular economy (CE) is trending nowadays.

The most basic principles of CE is to use trash as a raw material for production through innovation, recycling, or repairing and reusing existing products.

H&M’s “Let’s Close the Gap” project began in 2013 as a CE best practice that collects and categorizes discarded clothing from customers. If the garment is in decent condition, they will restore it and find a new owner for it. If a garment reaches the end of its useful life, H&M will recycle it and reuse the material in new goods.

Customers who bring in their old clothes are rewarded with tokens that can be used to get a discount at H&M shops. Incentivizing customers creates a complete CE loop.

In 2019, 57% of H&M’s raw materials were sustainable, according to Forbes. By 2030, the company hopes to improve it 100 percent.

6. Gusto: Hiring female engineers to close gender inequality gap

Gender inequality remains a major social issue despite all the improvements. There are two common types of gender disparity in the workplace. The first is gender pay disparity, which occurs when companies pay male employees more and provide better working conditions than female employees in the same position. 

The second is occupational segregation, in which women are hired for non-technical jobs while men hold the majority of leadership roles. This was the situation at software firm Gusto, where female engineers made up slightly more than 5% of the engineering team at the beginning of 2015. 

Julia Lee , one of Gusto’s first female engineers, claimed that other engineers did not accept her ideas because she was a “female engineer.” Gusto initiated an HR drive to reduce gender inequality by prioritizing the recruitment of female engineers, prohibiting female workers from scrolling, and deleting masculine job ads like “ninja rockstar coder.”

Gusto was able to improve its female engineer ratio to roughly 20% by the end of 2015 thanks to the campaign. The average ratio among software businesses’ engineering teams was 12% in 2013, therefore this was a significant improvement in a short period of time.  

7. HSBC: ESG concerned green finance

Finance companies can help speed up the transition to sustainable business practices by supporting initiatives run by responsible businesses. By the end of 2025, HSBC has committed to investing $100 billion in sustainability projects. HSBC already has funded sustainability projects that require more than $50 billion in investment as of 2019, indicating that the corporation is on track to meet its objective.

HSBC created an ESG risk evaluation framework to assure funding for green projects in 2019. Since then, the framework has been improved. In 2021, HSBC’s ESG practices were rewarded with an AA rating by MSCI.

HSBC is also working toward a goal of using 100% renewable energy as their source of electricity by 2030. Company reduces its consumption of paper, and single used plastics for coffee and beverages.

For more information about best ESG practices you can read our Top 6 ESG Reporting Best Practices article.

8. Signify light-as-a-Service: Enhance production stewardship

The product-service system ( PSS ) is a business model in which producers acquire a product over its lifetime and rent or lease it to the users. PSS ensures product stewardship since the product always becomes the asset of the company. It encourages producers to provide high-quality, repairable items in order to extend the product’s useful life. As a result, it helps to close the circularity gap by ensuring better use of natural resources.

Signify, a luminaire producer, adopts such a business strategy where it demands a subscription fee according to usage period of their lightning systems. PSS allows Signify claims that PSS allows them to produce 0 luminaire waste and drops maintenance costs around 60%.

9. Airbus additive manufacturing: Manufacture lighter planes with 3D printing

AIMultiple expects that additive manufacturing will disruptive for the airplane manufacturing since:

• It speeds up the manufacturing of parts compared to traditional molding techniques.
• It is cheaper due to effective use of raw materials and time reduction of production.
• It enables the manufacturing of lighter parts by up to 45% , resulting in lighter planes that burn less fuel. According to Airbus, additive manufacturing technology can reduce an A320 plane’s annual GHG emissions by around 465,000 metric tons, which is roughly the same as eliminating 100,000 automobiles from the road for a year. (An average car emits 4.6 tonnes of GHG per year). 

To effectively use 3D printers Airbus partnered with Materialise , a Belgium-based technology company  that specialize in additive manufacturing.

For more information regarding improving corporate sustainability by digital transformation you can read our Top 4 Digital Technologies that Improve Corporate Sustainability article.

10. Tata Power: Solar plants on the roofs

Rooftops offer a lot of empty space that can be used to install solar panels. Such initiatives have been taken in various parts of the world. Tata Power does it in India and generates green electricity by using idle places of buildings.

In 2021, Tata Power was able to spread their program throughout 90 Indian cities, producing 421 million watts of electricity, which is equivalent to nearly 40 thousand homes’ yearly electricity use in the US. (The average annual power usage for a residential utility customer in the US was 10,715 kWh in 2020, according to the EIA .).

We expect that in the near future the cooperation between energy and construction companies will enhance the use of idle places in buildings in a more effective way. Such an industrial symbiosis reduces both sectors’ ESG risk.

For more information on the top carbon footprint calculators, check our article, Top 7 Carbon Footprint Calculator Software/Tools for Businesses .

To learn more about corporate sustainability you can contact with us:

This article was drafted by former AIMultiple industry analyst Görkem Gençer.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised enterprises on their technology decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

AIMultiple.com Traffic Analytics, Ranking & Audience , Similarweb. Why Microsoft, IBM, and Google Are Ramping up Efforts on AI Ethics , Business Insider. Microsoft invests $1 billion in OpenAI to pursue artificial intelligence that’s smarter than we are , Washington Post. Data management barriers to AI success , Deloitte. Empowering AI Leadership: AI C-Suite Toolkit , World Economic Forum. Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU , European Commission. Public-sector digitization: The trillion-dollar challenge , McKinsey & Company. Hypatos gets $11.8M for a deep learning approach to document processing , TechCrunch. We got an exclusive look at the pitch deck AI startup Hypatos used to raise $11 million , Business Insider.

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Top 6 esg & sustainability reporting best practices in 2024, 7 ways to improve your supply chain sustainability in 2024, 3 reasons to measure product carbon footprint in 2024.

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A wonderful collection of case studies on corporate sustainability. I enjoyed the read. I am convicted to delve into promoting sustainability in Africa.

Hello, James! Thank you for your feedback. Awesome! That’s a great cause to pursue.

Related research

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Why 2024 is the year sustainability develops a credible business case

Research shows a significant change in. the understanding of the business case for sustainability among top leaders globally Image:  Getty Images/iStockphoto

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Stay up to date:, climate and nature.

• The number of executives globally who understand the business case for sustainability tripled between 2022 and 2023.
• New research suggests that business leaders are clear on the return on investment (ROI), and a significant proportion of companies will increase sustainability investments in 2024.
• Organizations can make a substantial impact by progressing on reporting emissions, implementing circular economy practices and leveraging climate technology.

As we step into 2024 and the world grapples with an increasing number of climate disasters and their ever-growing cost, a paradigm shift is underway among global organizations.

In 2023, we saw a significant change in the understanding of the business case for sustainability among top leaders globally. The proportion of executives who thought it was clear tripled compared to 2022, as per the Capgemini Research Institute report.

Investments in sustainability initiatives remained flat between 2022 and 2023 and represented less than 1% of total revenue in 2023, while marketing budgets were equivalent to 9.1% of annual revenue on average.

Fast-forward to now, and sustainability is becoming a priority investment area , increasingly viewed as an opportunity to create value. At the end of 2022, only a third of organizations intended to increase their sustainability investments. Today, the proportion is over half.

It is good news that the private sector is fully grasping its responsibility to contribute to the transition towards a more sustainable economy and that it understands it is the only way to create sustainable value.

Have you read?

Companies must lay the foundations for sustainable transformation.

In the last year, we have seen a major surge in optimism among executives about the future of their organizations. Where business outlooks are positive, investments generally follow. But while over half say they’ll earmark more funds for sustainability in 2024, they must hone in on areas where they can make the most impact.

First, you can't manage what you can't measure, so companies' sustainability reporting capabilities need attention. While most organizations have a handle on their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, understanding and cutting Scope 3 emissions remains challenging: the proportion of companies that confidently measure Scope 3 emissions dropped in 2023 . It's understandable, as these emissions are not within the company's direct control, but they also tend to be far greater than the organization's own emissions. It is paramount to ensure the company has internal and/or external resources to track them and ensure they go down properly.

Organizations can reap major benefits by putting funds towards implementing circular economy principles and sustainable product design. They can also implement more sustainable products and services.

The World Economic Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Trade and Investment informs business and policy action on critical international trade and investment choices, driving inclusive growth and development by working with companies, governments, and civil society.

• The Global Alliance for Trade Facilitation is cutting trade costs by delivering trade facilitation projects in 30 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
• The Forum piloted sustainable investment facilitation in Cambodia, Ghana and Kenya to unlock foreign direct investment for development.
• The Forum’s Digital Trade work drives coherence and interoperability in TradeTech and Digital Economy Agreements .
• The Forum’s Green Trade and Supply Chain Sustainability community identified 25 technologies to cut global emissions .

Contact us for more information on how to get involved.

Expectations are high for climate technology

Climate technologies (renewables, batteries, low-carbon hydrogen, carbon capture, and alternative fuels, among others) are an essential complement to behaviour changes.

Three-quarters of business leaders see them as a key lever to decarbonize their value chains and create new industries and business models. We see a significant dynamic in this area, whether in terms of innovation or investment, supported by political momentum, particularly in the United States, China and the European Union. However, as of now, a key hurdle is the added cost of these technologies. Innovations, such as hydrogen and carbon capture, are still costly, which, in turn, increases product pricing. And, while organizations say they would be willing to pay a 'green premium' of around 9%, the expense of low-carbon cement produced using carbon capture is estimated to be 75% to 140% higher than conventional cement.

At the same time, there are industries and products – such as electric vehicles (EVs) – where green premiums have fallen drastically, inspiring climate tech adoption. Unsurprisingly, our research confirms that the climate techs that are scaling up , such as EVs, solar power, wind and batteries, are mature from a technology standpoint, supported by incentives and favourable policy and close to parity with traditional tech in terms of costs. But to be scaled, climate tech must be made commercially viable. We will need significant mobilization across industries and borders, starting with governments.

Besides climate tech, companies should also leverage digital technologies, such as AI, digital twins and additive manufacturing. When adopted at scale, they will be essential in reducing development costs, increasing efficiencies and speeding up innovation processes.

We are seeing the emergence of an eco-digital era

Over half of organizations believe in the transformative power of technology to accomplish sustainability objectives and digital investment is set to double as a proportion of revenue over the next five years. If properly targeted, this increased digital adoption could achieve considerably more reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption than it already has.

These evolutions will shape an eco-digital era TM : a new and emerging business landscape that is more interconnected, data-driven, accessible, and sustainable. With the integration of mainstream digital technologies – such as data, analytics and cloud – coupled with innovative advancements, such as generative AI, augmented reality and virtual reality, we will see reimagined business models contributing to a broader societal impact.

Navigating the opportunities presented by the eco-digital era TM requires a new, strategic approach. Organizations need to:

• Focus on identifying efficiencies to streamline processes and drive significant cost savings.

• Ensure a harmonious integration of immediate wins and long-term sustainability.

• Invest newly unlocked resources into digital and sustainable transformation initiatives.

• Make sustainability an intrinsic part of products and services.

• Forge partnerships that amplify sustainability efforts and contribute to the broader ecosystem of positive change.

Organizations have only scratched the surface of what can be achieved by harnessing digital technologies. One thing is for sure, the sum will be greater than the parts and will be key to unlocking a sustainable future.

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Making the Business Case for Sustainability

• 13 Apr 2021

Once thought to be opposing goals, sustainability and financial success now go hand-in-hand for many businesses. Some, however, may be skeptical of the claim that a business can do well by doing good. How can you make the business case for sustainable practices to skeptical decision-makers in your organization?

Here are key terms to use to frame your discussion, several ways sustainable business practices can pay off financially, and tools to leverage when pitching sustainability to stakeholders.

Access your free e-book today.

Corporate Social Responsibility and the Triple Bottom Line

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a business model in which for-profit companies seek to create social and environmental benefits while pursuing organizational goals. Whereas companies typically focus on the bottom line, or generating profit, socially responsible corporations focus on the triple bottom line.

The triple bottom line can be described as the “three Ps”: people, the planet, and profit. In other words, in addition to striving to succeed financially, socially responsible companies commit to measuring success through their impact on people—employees, customers, and society at large—and the environment.

It’s important to not think of sustainability initiatives as a financial trade-off, but rather, as a wise financial strategy.

“There’s good reason to believe that solving the world’s problems presents trillions of dollars’ worth of economic opportunity,” says Harvard Business School Professor Rebecca Henderson in the online course Sustainable Business Strategy .

Leading with purpose can positively impact both the planet and your business’s financials. Here are eight benefits of a sustainable business strategy you can use when making the case to your internal team.

8 Benefits of Sustainability in Business

1. drives internal innovation.

Making the switch to sustainable business practices provides an opportunity for new, innovative ideas to grow. Consider this your chance to question the way your organization operates. Are there inefficiencies in your production process? Are there alternatives to how you currently source production materials? What equipment or technology could make your internal processes and product delivery more energy efficient?

These types of questions reveal opportunities to save money on energy and reassess how ethically you source materials. They can also shake up your mindset of “this is how we’ve always done it” and prompt innovative ideas for new business opportunities.

Related: 23 Resources for Mobilizing Innovation in Your Organization

2. Improves Environmental and Supply Risk

Investing in more sustainable practices can pay off in the form of risk management. By using renewable resources—such as wind, water, and solar power—your company has greater security over its energy sources.

This can also offer financial benefits. For example, if your company switches from coal to clean energy, like ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s , you can avoid the hassle and cost when coal prices skyrocket.

3. Attracts and Retains Employees

Being a sustainable company can have a big impact on the talent you attract and retain. A recent survey conducted by clean energy company Swytch found that nearly 70 percent of employees report that their company’s strong sustainability program impacts their decision to stay with it long term.

The same survey reports that 75 percent of millennials—who will make up three-quarters of the workforce in five years—would take a decrease in salary if it meant working for an environmentally responsible company. Nearly 40 percent selected one job over another because of an organization’s sustainability practices.

Committing to sustainability puts your company’s values at the forefront, which can attract employees and job seekers who share those values. Hiring and retaining the right team can save your organization the time and money of having to rehire for multiple roles.

4. Expands Audience Reach and Builds Brand Loyalty

A focus on sustainability can not only help attract and keep the right employees, but build a broader, more loyal customer base.

Research in the Harvard Business Review shows that sustainable businesses see greater financial gains than their unsustainable counterparts. In addition, consumers’ motivation to buy from sustainable brands is on the rise. For instance, products with an on-package sustainability claim delivered nearly $114 billion in sales in 2019—a 29 percent increase from 2013—and products marketed as sustainable grew more than five times faster than those that weren’t.

Adopting sustainable practices and marketing appropriately can enable your business to reach new, sustainably-minded market segments while building brand loyalty among your customer base.

5. Reduces Production Costs

One of the simplest business cases for sustainability is that using fewer resources, or more sustainable ones, can decrease production costs.

Examining your supply chain, production process, and energy use at brick-and-mortar stores and office buildings can help identify places where cutting back on finite resources and switching to greener alternatives is a cheaper option.

“Some firms invest in sustainability because the business case is so glaringly obvious, they’d be foolish not to,” Henderson says in Sustainable Business Strategy.

6. Garners Positive Publicity

Another outcome of opting for sustainability is the positive publicity it can garner. Especially if it’s a divergence from your business’s previously established practices or industry standards, your switch to sustainability and investment in the environment can call for press releases and announcements.

Side effects of this positive publicity can be employee pride, sustainably-minded job applicants, and increased customer loyalty and referral rates.

7. Helps You Stand Out in a Competitive Market

In a competitive market, any way to differentiate your product and brand from your competitors is valuable. Sustainable business practices can be a positive way to stand out if your competitors haven’t adopted those practices themselves or match them if they’ve already made the switch to sustainability.

Calling back to research in the Harvard Business Review , consumers’ focus on brands’ sustainability practices is on the rise, and your business’s practices could be the sole reason consumers choose your product over your competitors’.

8. Sets the Industry Trend

Sustainability not only helps your company stand out against competitors but also influences their behaviors. If your organization is one of the first in its field to adopt sustainable practices, it could set your business apart as a trend-setting leader and prompt other companies to follow suit.

“The leaders, the firms who are driving real change and reaping the benefits of being first-movers are often as motivated by a driving desire to make a difference as they are by the wish to make money,” Henderson says in Sustainable Business Strategy.

If the sustainability trend continues, it could become the norm in your industry. When many corporations adopt sustainable practices, they have the potential to make a real impact on the world’s largest problems.

Tools for Pitching a Sustainable Business Strategy

When pitching sustainability to internal decision-makers, use the data, projections, and anecdotal evidence at your disposal. Here are a few tools to help you make your case.

1. Data Visualizations

Data visualizations are graphical representations of data. When making the case for sustainability, you may create a graph that shows the increasing prices of fossil fuels, a chart that shows consumer preferences for sustainable companies, or a visual forecast of what future revenue could look like if a piece of sustainable technology were purchased.

Some data visualization tools you can use are:

• Microsoft Excel & Power BI
• Google Charts
• Zoho Analytics
• Datawrapper

Visualizations are a clear, concise way to tell the story of why you should adopt a sustainable business strategy.

Related: Bad Data Visualization: 5 Examples of Misleading Data

2. Anticipated Return on Investment Formula

When advocating for specific sustainability projects or equipment purchases, it can be useful to calculate the anticipated return on investment (ROI) . Calculating the anticipated ROI shows internal stakeholders how much financial return the business can expect as a result of investing in the sustainable practices you’re proposing.

To calculate anticipated ROI, use the following formula:

ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100

In project management, the formula is written similarly but with slightly different terms:

ROI = [(Financial Value - Project Cost) / Project Cost] x 100

3. Case Studies of Businesses with Successful Sustainability Initiatives

Real-world examples can go a long way when proposing new ideas. There are plenty of businesses that have successfully executed sustainability initiatives and put the triple bottom line at the forefront of their business strategies. A few examples include:

• Bank of America
• AstraZeneca
• Ben & Jerry’s
• Levi Strauss

Dig deeper into what made these firms’ efforts successful, and use that as fuel for your company’s strategy.

Furthering Your Sustainable Business Education

If you and your colleagues want a strong foundation for making the shift to sustainable business, consider taking Sustainable Business Strategy . The online course presents groundbreaking concepts using the HBS case method and asserts that sustainable capitalism has the power to influence the world’s most pressing challenges.

By bolstering your knowledge of the space, your organization could become one of the many success stories of those that create shared value from sustainable business practices.

Are you interested in leading your business to a more sustainable future? Explore our three-week online course Sustainable Business Strategy to become a purpose-driven leader.

About the Author

Case Studies

Banking on innovation: How ING uses generative AI to put people first

From farm to tablet: Building a new business to solve an old challenge

Rewired in action

Partnering on America’s toughest challenges

Made in Africa: Catalyzing stronger, sustainable, and inclusive economies

How a government agency is preparing workers to thrive in the skills-based economy

How a global components manufacturer built an ambitious carbon reduction roadmap

How a major New Zealand retailer reinvented itself around customer satisfaction

Undaunted by global disruption, a logistics company embraces bold transformation

988: Three digits and the nationwide effort to help millions in crisis

An AI power play: Fueling the next wave of innovation in the energy sector

How a manufacturing moonshot was made

Protecting workers through award-winning design

How Telkomsel transformed to reach digital-first consumers

Flying across the sea, propelled by AI

How a steel plant in India tapped the value of data—and won global acclaim

Reimagining the real estate industry for the next normal

Inside a mining company’s AI transformation

New at mckinsey blog.

JobsOhio and the long-term, innovative revitalization of a state’s economy

McKinsey’s new Sustainability Academy helps clients upskill workers for the net-zero transition

Tearing the ‘paper ceiling’: McKinsey supports effort driving upward mobility for millions of workers

Finding value in global sustainability

Using technology and human ingenuity to meet environmental goals and drive a powerful, sustainable future

Call for change

Three factors—Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)—are central to measuring sustainability commitments within any organization. Accenture is taking a holistic, integrated approach to sustainability and our  ","analytics-link-type":"engagement","xdm:linkURL":"/us-en/services/about/geographic-services","analytics-engagement":"true"}}">  team plays a vital role as we focus on evolving and inspiring environmental sustainability outcomes, for ourselves and our clients.

Providing business infrastructure and support solutions to complement local cultural and market needs, Corporate Services & Sustainability teams are well placed to provide the rigor and powerful force of change needed to meet our science-based environmental targets. Accenture  puts sustainability at the heart of our business —building capabilities and integrating our sustainability targets into everything we do. Working with our  Global IT  colleagues, Corporate Services & Sustainability plays an important role in bring sustainable innovation to Accenture. We’ve set  three clear environmental sustainability goals —to achieve net-zero emissions, to move to zero waste and to plan for water risk.

"We have an opportunity to change the business of business by putting sustainability front and center of our innovation efforts."

MARGARET SMITH / Accenture

When tech meets human ingenuity

As a global company with 721,000 people, we recognize the scope and scale of our environmental impact. Powered by technology, Accenture is already making progress with a suite of solutions in three core areas:

We’re working to achieve net-zero emissions

We are committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2025. Corporate Services & Sustainability, responsible for all our locations across the world, is active in our plan to meet our office energy needs with 100% renewable electricity by 2023—at the end of fiscal year 2021, 53% of electricity purchased for our offices and centers is through renewable sources. We are actively sourcing renewable electricity as part of Accenture’s participation in the RE100, the global corporate renewable energy initiative bringing together hundreds of large and ambitious businesses committed to 100% renewable electricity.

We are also engaged in responsible buying practices, both inside and outside Accenture. To address remaining emissions, Accenture has announced investments in nature-based carbon removal projects which broadly align with our geographic footprint. Our projects will reforest land, rebuild biodiversity, make agriculture more sustainable, help to create green jobs and enable natural ecosystems to rebound and thrive—all while removing an estimated 13 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere.

We’re moving to zero waste

All aspects of how we run our locations matter, which is why Accenture has committed to reuse or recycle 100% ofour e-waste, as well as all our office furniture, by 2025. To address e-waste, we are working with our global IT assetdisposition partners to implement an asset reuse program and manage our ongoing box program to remotely dispose of personal computers globally.

Data from our enterprise asset management system helps us to further manage our e-waste by spotting trends on specific product lines or locations and determining the effectiveness of a particular local waste management policy. We are working with our offices to eliminate single-use plastics by shifting away from single-use items; using non-plastic items, such as bamboo, when disposable products are offered; and providing water refill stations.

We’re planning for water risk

Aware of the broader impact we have on the communities around us, we are particularly conscious of water-stressed locations and have committed to develop water resiliency plans for our facilities to reduce the impact of flooding, drought and water scarcity in high-risk areas by 2025. We use the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct tool to identify areas of water risk and impacts to local communities. In addition to developing water resiliency plans, we now measure and report the total percentage of water consumed in regions with high or extremely high baseline water stress.

Although Accenture is not a water-intensive company, we minimize our use of water wherever feasible, including responsible use, reuse, management and discharge across our office portfolio. In fiscal 2021, 37% of our company’s total water consumption occurred in high or extremely high baseline water-stressed regions.

A valuable difference

We continue to refine our technology solutions and work with our global locations with the guidance and support of our leadership.

Our progress through the end of fiscal year 2021:

Reduction in total emissions from our baseline.

Reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

Reduction in emissions per unit of revenue.

Of our key suppliers* disclosed targets and 60% have disclosed actions to reduce their emissions.

Metric tons of carbon removals expected as a result of investing in nature-based carbon removals over the next 20 years.

Of electricity purchased for our offices and centers around the world is through renewable sources.

* Key suppliers are defined as vendors that represent a significant portion of our 2019 Scope 3 emissions.

Examples of where specific sustainability initiatives are having an impact include:

Thoughtful travel.  To equip our people to make climate-smart travel decisions—we launched our beta release aviation carbon calculator which shows our people the different emissions for specific flight alternatives for business travel at the time of booking. To further reduce emissions from travel, we introduced a program to encourage high-speed train usage instead of airplane flights in five countries—Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the United Kingdom—and will expand it to other regions.

Green IT.  Our global IT organization is cloud platform-powered first—when we cannot consume a cloud platform and need to write custom code, we use microservice architectures. This helps further reduce the consumption of servers via a traditional infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) approach. For our existing high-end workloads, we constantly evaluate our consumption through deliberate analysis of usage patterns, performance data and new cloud offerings to drive further efficiency that leads to optimal utilization and reduced emissions.

As Accenture continues to build on the momentum that emerged from COP26, Corporate Services & Sustainability is at the heart of how Accenture operates—and will continue focusing on addressing climate change through our actions to help reduce net-zero emissions, waste and plan for water risk. These sustainability improvements will impact our business and bring our commitments to life.

MEET THE TEAM

Margaret Smith

Senior Managing Director and Executive Director – Corporate Services & Sustainability and Business Operations

Scott Wilson

Managing Director – Corporate Services & Sustainability, Director of Operations

Lisette Smyrnios

Managing Director – Global Workplace

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Aligning to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Sep 21, 2020

This year marks the start of the Decade of Action to deliver the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. It is a critical period to accelerate responses to the world’s greatest challenges – from ensuring food security to reversing climate change.

Despite the impacts of COVID-19, Dow is joining other companies that have aligned their sustainability commitments to the SDGs and are accelerating their actions to commit to climate action. Introduced in 2015, the 17 UN SDGs serve as a universal framework to foster collaboration to solve the world’s most challenging tasks in sustainability.

“We developed our 2025 Sustainability Goals in a parallel path with the development of the SDGs,” said Mary Draves, chief sustainability officer and vice president, Environment, Health & Safety. “Because 95% of the world’s manufactured goods are touched by chemistry, our industry is a critical enabler of technologies that can help make the SDGs a reality. Connecting our strategies with the global priorities of the SDGs have helped guide us to even greater innovation, efficiency, and scale of impact through collaboration.”

At several levels, our 2025 Sustainability Goals and new sustainability targets impact each of the 17 SDGs, but there are a few goals, in particular, where we have the ability to make a larger impact. Below is a look at some key areas where Dow is taking actions to help advance the SDGs:

Safe Materials for a Sustainable Planet

Delivering Breakthrough Innovations

We’re listening to our customers and the value chain to drive sustainable chemistry innovation and transform our portfolio to have more products with positive impact. We also are focused on increasing the positive net impact of our products, based upon knowledge of where our feedstocks and energy are from, our processes, how our products are used by customers, and how they are treated at end-of-life.

• The ratio of positive impact of products across all markets continue exceed burdens by three times. We also continue to improve our sustainable chemistry performance and report progress annually.
• Technologies such as Dow PRIMAL™ Bio-based Acrylic Emulsions are using renewable ingredients to replace petroleum-sourced material with plant-based carbon. In paints they deliver excellent properties, have ultra-low odor, low VOC, low emissions and help improve indoor air quality by capturing formaldehyde, a known air pollutant.

World-Leading Operations Performance

We’re contributing to advancing materials for renewable energy, including photovoltaics, while increasing the proportion of renewable energy used in our production.

• Dow is the leading customer of clean energy in our sector and amongst the leading 25 worldwide companies for renewable power use. Across the world, we have contracts for power procured by wind, solar, hydropower, biomass and landfill gas.
• The global photovoltaic (PV) industry continues to grow. And the industry needs modules with longer service life and better reliability. ENGAGE™ PV Polyolefin Elastomers (POE) contribute to clean energy by providing opportunities for exceptional long-term performance and reliability.

Leading the Blueprint

We contribute to the built environment and design advance materials and coatings that make structures more resilient, energy efficient and use less resources to build.

• We are developing an array of chemistries, formulations and materials that enhance performance, durability and sustainability across the entire built environment. Technologies include silicone structural glazing that enable durable and high-performing designs and polyurethane systems that deliver high-performance insulation solutions.
• Through our carbon partnership with the International Olympic Committee, we are collaborating across the value chain to accelerate the adoption of resource-efficient building options that contribute toward a lower carbon future.

Advancing a Circular Economy

Stop the Waste and Close the Loop sustainability targets

Throughout our operations, we are engaged in the transition from a linear economy to one that redesigns, recycles, reuses and remanufactures to keep materials at their highest value use for as long as possible.

• We are engaged in numerous initiatives to “close the loop ” and ensure that no plastic ends up in the environment or is lost to landfill. One such project is our partnership with Fuenix for the supply of a new feedstock made from recycled plastic waste, to produce new Dow polymers.
• We are working with industry peers, associations, governments, non-governmental organizations, brands, retailers and consumers to stop the waste and help stem the tide of plastic waste before it reaches our oceans. This includes are investments in Circulate Capital’s Ocean Fund – the first fund and incubator preventing ocean plastic – and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which has committed more than $1.5 billion to developing and scaling solutions for a world free of plastic waste.

Protect the Climate sustainability target

Material science will play a critical role in contributing to a lower-carbon future. We are actively addressing the issue of climate change through a variety of initiatives, including energy efficiency, reducing the footprint of our operations and products, and developing innovative solutions to avoid downstream emissions.

• We are maintaining our absolute GHG emissions at or below our 2006 baseline, though we have grown exponentially.
• We are actively investing in technologies to manufacture our products using less resources. For example, we recently announced the retrofitting of a mixed-feed cracker in Louisiana with proprietary technology to produce propylene. This will reduce energy use and GHG emissions by up to 20 percent versus conventional technology.

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British Council

Sustainable development goals (sdgs).

• What are the sustainable development goals?

SDG case studies

Following the SDGs exhibition of 2016, we commissioned an externally-led study to review evidence from a selection of programmes across the British Council's portfolio. This included three case studies to illustrate impact and lessons learned. As well as highlighting success and good practice, the case studies provide useful guidance for further development of programmes, in order to demonstrate contribution to the SDGs, as well as reinforcing the need for evidence of long-term impact.

The English for Education College Trainers (EfECT)

This project was initiated following a request from the Burmese government for support with its process of educational reform. The case study notes that the project was not designed using the SDG framework but Goal 4 underpins the British Council’s work in English and education in Burma.

This programme was started in Pakistan in 2013 and ran until April 2016. The name means ‘friendship’ in Urdu and Hindi but is also an acronym for Developing and Organising Social Transformation Initiatives. The project links football with personal and peace-building development training in which the lessons of the football pitch – teamwork, self-discipline, respect for others, tolerance – are inculcated, deepened and amplified. The case study notes that contribution to gender equality has been significant, breaking down traditional attitudes and empowering girls and young women.

Newton Fund

This case study looks at the way that the support of the Newton Fund – managed by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy – facilitated the creation of a network of researchers in Oxford and Mexico collaborating on a vaccine against Dengue Fever. Unlike the programmes featured in the other case studies, the SDGs were central to this programme, as the Newton Fund uses contributions to the SDGs as a criterion for assessing funding proposals. The case study notes that the requirement to demonstrate the relevance of their work to the SDGs was not seen as an imposition [by the team] but merely confirmed the implicit focus of their work.

British Council Worldwide

• Afghanistan
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Czech Republic
• Hong Kong, SAR of China
• Korea, Republic of
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• North Macedonia
• Northern Ireland
• Occupied Palestinian Territories
• Philippines
• Saudi Arabia
• Sierra Leone
• South Africa
• South Sudan
• Switzerland
• United Arab Emirates
• United States of America

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About the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Case Study: Scenario Planning for Sustainable Development in Peru's Amazon Forest

Madre de Dios, located in the foothills of Peru’s tropical Andes, is one of the most biodiverse places in the world. The region has renowned protected areas and initial land-use plans, which makes sustainable development a challenge. In 2014, a hydrocarbon company began gas exploration activities in Madre de Dios as part of the government’s economic development needs. The work overlapped a protected area, called the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, and included several Indigenous territories. 

There were concerns that energy exploration would open the area to illegal mining and deforestation. Local communities feared it would impact their forest and livelihoods. This case study explores how researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Sustainability used scenario planning to help the company and regional government minimize social and environmental impacts in Madre de Dios and create a strategy for sustainable development.

Madre de Dios is located within the Vilcabamba-Amboró conservation corridor, which connects about 74 million acres (30 million hectares) of wildlife habitat between Peru and Bolivia. The corridor is the most biologically diverse ecosystem in the world. Dividing Madre de Dios and the conservation corridor is the Interoceanic Highway, which connects ports on the Atlantic coast of Brazil to those on the Pacific coast of Peru.

The road, completed in 2010, sped the transition of the regional economy from forest-based extractive industries (logging, Brazil nut harvesting, ecotourism, etc.) to agriculture, cattle production and gold mining. These changes promoted population growth. Today, Madre de Dios is home to about 150,000 people, including 14 native cultures, migrants from neighboring Andean regions, and immigrants from Brazil, Bolivia, and other countries.  

Agriculture and gold mining are the main causes of deforestation in the area. The Amazon Forest covers more than 90% of Madre de Dios territory, of which about half is protected. The rest is divided into concessions for logging, hydrocarbon, mining, ecotourism and more.

Evaluation and Analysis  

The Center for Conservation and Sustainability suggested a scenario planning approach to minimize the possible impact of the gas development field in Madre de Dios. Scenario planning is a structured way to think about the future of a region and facilitate decision making by exploring a handful of plausible futures, called scenarios. For this purpose, the CCS team needed to compare the economic, social and environmental success of different development scenarios. With more than 30 years of experience in Peru, CCS scientists were able to work with local stakeholders and the government to define a path forward. 

When the exploratory drilling well produced no gas, the work ended. However, CCS continued to complete the scenario planning project for Madre de Dios to benefit sustainable development across the entire region (32,935 square miles or 85,301 square kilometers).  

Creating sustainable landscapes requires managing roads and cities (gray infrastructure) that provide economic services with rivers and forests (green Infrastructure) that support biodiversity. Recognizing this, CCS developed the Working Landscape Simulator. The simulator combined state-of-the-art modeling with community engagement. It included seven steps:

• Assess the critical goods and services that people get from ecosystems (called ecosystem services) in Madre de Dios  
• Develop qualitative scenarios about the future of the region with community participation   
• Collect and generate quantitative data (demographic, economic, etc.) 
• Model landscape changes, like deforestation and urbanization, for each scenario 
• Evaluate economic, environmental and social indicators of success 
• Develop lessons learned from the study 
• Share the results 

Models of land-use changes, such as trends in deforestation and urbanization, made the best use of the existing data. Engagement with local stakeholders ensured they were interested in the results and more likely to use them for decision making.

Milestone Solutions  

This study demonstrates that industrial operations, such as gas exploration, can contribute to sustainable development beyond traditional approaches and legal obligations. In scenario planning, CCS was able to provide: 

• Collective recommendations  that highlight the need for a land-use plan and provide a roadmap for planning regional land changes and sustainable development 
• Maps of critical conservation corridors  and other areas that are key to keeping habitats connected within Madre de Dios. 
• Essential and previously unavailable data  – such as historical land cover maps; ecosystem services; and economic, social, and environmental indicators – needed to guide sustainable development and land-use planning.

Recommendations 

The Center for Conservation and Sustainability’s study was key to understanding the conservation landscape of Madre de Dios and integrating that knowledge with the region's development needs. Best practices from this approach include: 

• Consider scenario planning for large-scale projects to build a shared conservation and development vision 
• Engage stakeholders early in the process 
• Use high-quality models that track socioeconomic and ecosystem changes 
• Develop various indicators of success in the three dimensions of sustainable development (economic prosperity, human wellbeing and environmental integrity) 
• Share information by making methods and results publicly available to all 

To learn more about the Madre de Dios scenario planning study download the  “Future of Madre de Dios: Smithsonian’s Working Landscape Simulator for Sustainable Development” book.

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How Companies Can Champion Sustainable Development

• Bhaskar Chakravorti

Focus on the problem you want to solve.

Given political climates around the world and a new wariness around international cooperation, the private sector could find itself in the hot seat: trying to pick up the slack on big issues from climate change to sustainable development. This demand for taking on a larger role may come not only from advocacy and watchdog groups but also from customers, investors, partners, and employees.

• Bhaskar Chakravorti is the Dean of Global Business at The Fletcher School at Tufts University and founding Executive Director of Fletcher’s Institute for Business in the Global Context . He is the author of The Slow Pace of Fast Change .

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Actis SDG case study

2020-07-27T07:07:00+01:00

Signatory type: Asset owner/Investment manager Operating region: Africa, Asia, Latin America Assets under management: US$12bn Practice area: Engagement

Why we target the SDGs

Actis is an investor in growth markets across Africa, Asia and Latin America. We apply international ESG standards to all our investments. By also targeting the SDGs we can demonstrate the impact-focused intent of our investment decisions and present the impact of those decisions using a language understood by our existing and prospective investors, who often ask us to describe our contribution to the SDGs.

We have found that fund strategies intentionally targeting positive outcomes have a systematic alignment to one or more of the SDGs. Mapping each investment’s positive outcomes to the goals more clearly illustrates this focus and the realisation of the intended impact, demonstrating the link between strategic intent and generating positive impact.

How we target the SDGs

We identify, measure and monitor the positive social and environmental outcomes of investments using the Actis Impact Score™ (AIS), which is based on the consensus developed through the Impact Management Project, a global forum on common standards for impact measurement and management.

This scoring system is directly comparable across investments. It provides two outputs to measure the impact performance of investments:

• an impact score, measuring the positive impact of the business;
• an impact multiple, measuring the increase in positive impact during Actis’ investment period.

A member of the responsible investment team is involved in every transaction from screening onwards, working collaboratively with the investment team and due diligence advisors to target material positive impacts.

These impacts are presented to the Investment Committee, alongside the SDGs that they align with at a high level, to demonstrate the alignment of core and ancillary business operations with the goals in the fund strategy documents. This ensures that the impact intent is clear across the firm and reduces the risk of misalignment in objectives.

The AIS follows six steps:

Step 1: What?

What are the intended outcomes? We identify up to five activities associated with an enterprise or project that: (a) generate positive outcomes for people or the planet; (b) are measurable and (c) can be influenced to increase during Actis’ investment period.

Step 2: How much?

How much social or environmental impact is likely? This dimension covers the significance of the outcome being sought in terms of depth and duration. We determine whether the investment is likely to achieve deep and enduring positive change (e.g. sustainable healthcare reducing mortality rates) or something more short term, shallow or reversible.

Step 3: Who?

Who are the stakeholders that experience the positive social and environmental outcomes, in terms of the number of people benefitting and how well-served were they already? What was the relative need of the stakeholders before the investment?

Step 4: Contribution?

Did Actis’ investment contribute to achieving the outcomes? Would they have happened anyway?

Step 5: Core, ancillary or peripheral?

The scores from steps 2, 3 and 4 are added together and multiplied by a ‘CAP’ factor, depending on whether the impact (identified in step 1) is derived from a core (x5), ancillary (x3) or peripheral (x1) activity of the enterprise or project:

• 5x factor – a core business activity that directly implements the strategy to drive revenue and profit, for example, clean power generated by a renewable energy company, displacing more carbon-intensive sources;
• 3x factor – an ancillary business activity that directly supports and enables the core activity or makes a small contribution to revenue, for example, a real estate development creating employment opportunities for local people;
• 1x factor – a peripheral business activity that does not support the core activity, for example, a business making a charitable donation to support disaster relief efforts.

Step 6: Risk

We assess the risk of the investment failing to achieve its intended outcomes as low, moderate or high. This doesn’t affect the score, but it does help with investment decision making.

Calculating the Actis impact score

At the outset of any investment, Actis will forecast a certain AIS to be achieved by exit, in the same way that it forecasts a financial return. Like financial evaluations, the AIS can be measured throughout an investment to see precisely how it is performing. The current score can be compared against the score at the time of initial investment (baseline) to understand how much impact has been added. This is called the impact multiple; the greater the increase in impact, the bigger the multiple.

Figure 1. Actis impact score

Example: Renewable power generation infrastructure, India

Having identified a gap in India for clean energy generation capable of meeting the country’s rapidly growing power demand, Actis decided to create a renewable energy platform – Ostro Energy – to focus on the construction of wind power and solar energy projects.

Within four years, Ostro had signed long-term power purchase agreements reaching 1.1 gigawatts in capacity – the equivalent to powering 1 million homes – in states where 54% of power was coal-generated, thus avoiding over 1.4 million tons of carbon dioxide. When Actis exited the investment 1 , Ostro had 850MW of wind and solar power plants in operation.

Ostro created over 4,500 jobs for Indian workers, while promoting greater worker welfare by establishing a Labour Accommodation Standards Policy, which was aligned with international best practice and embedded into all construction contracts. There were zero worker or community strikes related to Ostro’s operations.

With Actis’ support, Ostro implemented numerous programs to improve the lives of local communities. These initiatives included establishing health camps to treat thousands of people from rural communities, and livestock veterinary healthcare facilities that served around 30,000 animals.

The company also installed solar-powered water filtration units to provide safe, clean and reliable drinking water for communities in Rajasthan, after a community needs assessment highlighted that locals were suffering from fluorosis. Over 1.5 million litres of clean drinking water were dispensed to villages near Ostro’s projects—and clean water continues to be dispensed today.

The table below shows how the project’s measurable outcomes – as calculated by the AIS – were mapped to the SDGs prior to Actis exiting in 2018. For newer investments, we are reviewing impact scores annually to give a clear indication of progress towards the initial impact forecast. If a business is underperforming, we seek to correct that. The intended impacts and business case of an investment are closely aligned, and underperformance typically spans both areas, so corrective actions are usually implemented in collaboration with the deal team, and company management.

Table 1. Mapping the SDGs against Ostro Energy

1   Windpower Monthly: ReNew Power acquires Ostro Energy, 3 April 2018

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Study on the Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Ecological Security in Stages Based on the DPSIRM-SBM Model: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt

• Published: 07 May 2024

Cite this article

• Hongmei Tan 1 , 2 ,
• Yanjun Zhang 1 , 2 ,
• Fengtai Zhang 1 , 2 ,
• Guochuan Peng 3 , 4 &
• Caixia Jiang 1 , 2  

Scientific assessment of urban ecological security (ES) is an important prerequisite to realize regional sustainable development. Previous studies lack the consideration of quality and poor systematic correlation, which could not reflect the internal dynamic relationship. On the basis of considering the time lag, this study divided the research process into the natural operation stage and the management feedback stage based on the driving forces, pressures, state, impacts, responses, management (DPSIRM) framework model and DEA theory, so as to effectively overcome the above shortcomings. Finally, we analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics and influencing factors of the ES level of 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) during 2005–2019. The results showed that: (a) both two stages showed a slow and fluctuating upward trend in time series, and the level of urban ES in the management feedback stage was significantly higher than that in the natural operation stage; (b) with the passage of time, the spatial distribution of ES in the natural operation stage gradually developed towards the middle and downstream of the YREB, while the management feedback stage mainly evolved from the midstream to the edge area; (c) the level of urban ES presented a different degree of spatial agglomeration phenomenon, and showed an increasing trend over time; and (d) the key influencing factors gradually changed from pressure to response during 2005–2019. This research aims to provide an innovative perspective for the measurement of urban ES, and provide scientific reference for improving urban ecological sustainable development.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Chongqing University of Technology graduate Innovation project (gzlcx20223128); The National Social Science Fund’s key project (20AJY005); Chongqing Social Science planning Talent Program project (2022YC067); Scientific Research Foundation of Chongqing University of Technology (0108220002); Chongqing Social Science Planning General Entrusted Project (2021WT47).

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Institute for Ecology and Environmental Resources, Chongqing Academy of Social Sciences, Chongqing, 400020, China

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Tan, H., Zhang, Y., Zhang, F. et al. Study on the Spatiotemporal Evolution and Driving Factors of Ecological Security in Stages Based on the DPSIRM-SBM Model: A Case Study of the Yangtze River Economic Belt. Environmental Management (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-024-01983-5

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World Intellectual Property Report 2024: Making Innovation Policy Work for Growth and Development

Geneva, May 2, 2024 PR/2024/916

A new WIPO report probes the intersection of human innovation, economic diversification and industrial policy and finds that the key to sustainable growth for countries is to focus policy making on developing local innovation capabilities.

The biennial  World Intellectual Property Report (WIPR) “Making Innovation Policy Work for Development” documents a recent resurgence in industrial policy making, including in many developing and least developed countries, aimed at ensuring a wide and growing economic structure base - and the innovation, creativity and technology required to achieve it. 

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The WIPR establishes a novel methodology that maps 20 years of innovation capabilities across 150-plus WIPO member states, pinpointing how different countries have boosted their economic diversification in areas of technology, science and exports. Through this, the WIPR results help governments design their policies in a highly dynamic economic and political environment.

We hope this report will guide policymakers across the world on how to leverage innovation for improved productivity, competitiveness, and development amid global economic shifts, geopolitical tensions and digital acceleration.

Our report shows that countries that leverage on local strengths, build diverse innovation ecosystems and develop deep capabilities are in a better place to win the innovation race.

said WIPO Director General Daren Tang , adding

We hope that policymakers will find the data and insights in this report useful and interesting as they build durable innovation ecosystems that brings real growth over decades.

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Motorcycles Industry - full throttle on innovation

The documented evolution of the motorcycle industry is a key example of human innovation and economic diversification, which economists and policymakers can use to spur sustainable, long-term growth across the globe.

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Policy makers can see where, when and how to target their innovation policies, either by nurturing their strengths, or by leveraging them to attain new and exciting scientific, technological and production opportunities.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is the United Nations agency that serves the world’s innovators and creators, ensuring that their ideas travel safely to the market and improve lives everywhere.

We do so by providing services that enable creators, innovators and entrepreneurs to protect and promote their intellectual property (IP) across borders and acting as a forum for addressing cutting-edge IP issues. Our IP data and information guide decisionmakers the world over. And our impact-driven projects and technical assistance ensure IP benefits everyone, everywhere.

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