Boosting the bottom line with sustainability

Charissa Jaganath at Logicalis explains the benefits of a fully integrated sustainability strategy

 

In today’s business environment, integrating sustainability is no longer optional; it’s a strategic imperative. With an increasing global focus on climate change and social responsibility, organisations are under mounting pressure to demonstrate that progress is being made. 

 

Regulatory frameworks like the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the new IFRS Foundation sustainability standards (S1 and S2) are raising the bar for businesses to disclose not only their environmental footprint but the sustainability impact of their entire operations.

 

This transparency is designed to hold businesses accountable, pushing them to make more deliberate choices around sustainability risks and opportunities across a wide range of topics.

 

 

The bigger picture for business

When we think of sustainability, it’s easy to focus solely on carbon emissions, but sustainability is no longer confined to just one department or a set of isolated actions. We would suggest it now sits at the core of all business operations. 

 

With new regulations to meet, organisations will likely need to disclose not just carbon emissions but all material sustainability risks, opportunities, and impacts across environment, social and governance areas. 

 

This means that departments that haven’t traditionally been directly linked to environmental or social impact, from risk management and HR to legal and finance, will need to align with sustainability metrics and goals, and fast.

 

Doing so in the near future will not only contribute to a business’s long-term cost-efficiency but also establish its reputation as a sustainability leader.

 

 

A cross-departmental ambition

As businesses adapt to this new normal, unexpected benefits are being unlocked. Beyond improving compliance and reputation, an integrated approach to sustainability can directly contribute to a business’s bottom line, creating a more agile and resilient organisation as sustainability becomes a core part of operations.

 

For tech teams, this change has been underway for some time. Technology has long been an enabler for sustainable operations, helping to drive cost savings as businesses get to grips with, for example, reducing their carbon output and making operations more environmentally sustainable.

 

As scrutiny on emissions rises, it is more important than ever for CIOs to encourage alignment between sustainability goals and IT projects across the business. The 2025 Logicalis CIO report found that 93% of CIOs said their organisation has set clear targets to reduce the carbon emissions from their IT environment, up from 89% last year.

 

Doing this will not only drive down operating costs for things such as energy usage but can also create long-term value by encouraging transitions to a circular economy approach and reducing e-waste.

 

In an era where employees increasingly seek purpose-driven work, businesses that embrace sustainability are also deemed more attractive to top talent. Logicalis found that 84% of employees are more likely to work for companies that prioritise environmental issues. For forward-looking businesses, human resource departments also have a key role to play.

 

By aligning a company’s talent strategy with its sustainability goals, it will be able to successfully attract and retain talent as sustainability becomes an increasingly important factor for employees. 

 

Organisations must also look beyond their own impact, taking into consideration social and environmental effects across their entire value chain. The growing focus on Scope 3 emissions means that companies must think about upstream and downstream operations from a sustainability perspective. Identifying risks and opportunities early on can help businesses mitigate potential disruptions and seize emerging green market opportunities.  

 

Procurement departments can support the sustainability of the whole organisation by selecting suppliers who prioritise positive impact too, whether it be a focus on reducing emissions or ensuring compliance with anti-modern slavery and responsible sourcing programmes.

 

As regulatory changes make ESG reporting a corporate mandate, organisations have the opportunity to unlock the full potential of integrating sustainability into every business decision. Embedding sustainability into core operations makes businesses more resilient, agile, and future-ready.

 

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Charissa Jaganath is Head of Responsible Business at Logicalis

 

Main image courtesy of iStockPhoto.com and Happy Kikky