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Contributed by Green2Sustainable

Recently, a survey conducted on LinkedIn asked the following question:

Once an organization begins its sustainability journey, which of the following is crucial to the program's success?

The responses were as follows:

  • Sustainability analytics, 18 percent
  • Meeting government regulations, 4 percent
  • Leadership from the C-suite, 67 percent
  • Aspirations and Goals, 11 percent (stats as of November 1, 2024)

 

The survey was conducted by Steve Ashkin with Green2Sustainable (G2S), a platform that measures and monitors the sustainability progress of scores of organizations, including many in the professional cleaning industry. 

According to Ashkin, while the response "Leadership from the C-suite" is understandably crucial, “when it comes to long-term sustainability success, sustainability analytics takes center stage."

To understand why, Ashkin says we must first understand what sustainability analytics are all about. He says it refers to the collection of data on a variety of metrics, including the following:

  • Use of natural resources such as water, raw materials, and oil.
  • Greenhouse gas emissions.
  • Waste generation.
  • Water, energy, and fuel efficiency.

 

"The information collected is then analyzed, processed, and interpreted," adds Ashkin. "Doing so provides organizations with valuable insights into their sustainability progress, how well they manage risks, and how closely they adhere to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) guidelines." 

Further, this information allows organizations to benchmark their progress and share this information with key stakeholders, customers, employees, investors, and government regulators.

However, a serious problem develops if the data is inaccurate. Ashkin explains that this can produce repercussions such as the following:

  • Cause key stakeholders, investors, customers, and employees to question an organization's credibility.
  • Damage a company's reputation.
  • Lead to inaccurate forecasting of environmental risks to an organization, which can lead to overlooking critical dangers and failing to take necessary precautions. 

"Sustainability analytics is critical, but the metrics collected must be accurate," says Ashkin. "To avoid a ‘garbage in, garbage out' syndrome, fortunately at least one sustainability measuring and monitoring system provides accurate data from the very start."