Setting Managing Sustainability Goals

Abstract

A growing number of companies are using sustainability goals as a means of signaling their commitment to become sustainability leaders, and to compete for superior positioning versus their rivals. But companies’ practices for selecting and managing sustainability goals vary widely and there is little understanding of the best practices for using sustainability goals to foster excellent sustainability performance. The research presented in this chapter draws on a survey of senior sustainability executives, interviews with such executives and a review of public statements by companies to identify trends in sustainability goal setting as well as what we believe are emerging best practices. We find that best practices include setting goals for the medium term, with targets representing material issues, overseen by senior executives whose compensation is tied in part to sustainability performance.