Our colleague JD Capuano wrote an excellent piece for Triple Pundit called Why Sustainability is Missing the Data Party in which he describes the disconnect between sustainability teams and data-driven, business-critical solutions.
While data and sustainability are somewhat linked, there is a gap between the quality, quantity, and significance of sustainability data when compared to business-critical data.
Are sustainability professionals doomed to life at the kids table? Without better integration of data-driven strategies, yes. The good news: with some effort, data skills, and expertise, sustainability can turn from a nice-to-have into a critical business function.
As JD points out: there is hope:
Companies putting an internal price on carbon, setting science-based goals, and mapping supply chains represent some of the most detailed uses of sustainability data today. Data-driven sustainability insights can transform how executives think in this age of disruption. And that deserves a seat at the table.
