The goal of “build a sustainability plan 101” is to provide the steps and resources to get started on a sustainability journey. The approach and tools are captured in seven essential steps. As part of each step there are tools that help guide action. The plan is loosely based on a guide about a comprehensive business case for sustainability published at Harvard Business Review.

Step 1: assess impact

1. Assessing impact

• Benchmark to peer companies
• Conduct a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)
• Identify an issue that is important to your company and manage that first.
• Conduct a risk assessment to identify the issues/regions/products that matter most to your company.
• Reach out to an NGO for guidance

2. Life cycle assessment

3. Materiality assessment

TOOL: opportunity assessment matrix

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Step 2: ID stakeholders

1. Identifying your "Decider" and "Do-er" stakeholders

TOOL: High level internal stakeholder chart

TOOL: High level supply chain stakeholder chart

2. Understanding your "do-er" stakeholders

3. Activating your “do-er” stakeholders

TOOL: Sustainability plan do-er stakeholders

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Step 3: set goals

1. Making your goals ambitious

2. Making your goals scientific

3. Making your goals align with your core business

• Step 1: focus on environmental goals
• Step 2: match environmental goals to business values

TOOL: chart your company’s existing language

TOOL: aligning environmental and business divisions

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Step 4: objectives

1. Setting specific, measurable objectives

2. Identifying key performance indicators, metrics and baselines

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Step 5: ID pilot projects

1. Identifying pilot site(s), existing initiatives or projects

2. Identifying stakeholders

3. Reviewing goals, metrics, KPIs, timelines; are they relevant here?

4. Engaging stakeholders and incorporate feedback

5. Presenting amended pilot plan to stakeholders to gain buy-in

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Step 6: the business case

1. Understanding how your sustainability plan and your company align

2. Understanding potential drivers of change

• Answer key stakeholder questions

• Identify and rank drivers of change

TOOL: ID and rank financial drivers of change

TOOL: ID and rank non-financial drivers of change

3. Identifying what motivates your decider stakeholders

• Understand motivation: both a science and an art

TOOL: Assign drivers of change to your key stakeholders

4. Activating your decider stakeholders

• Understand allies ... and how to target those who aren't

TOOL: Activating your decider stakeholders

5. Identifying the data to be collected

• Identify the data to be collected

1. Financial data (revenues and expenses).
2. Environmental impact data.

TOOL: identifying financial and environmental data and owners

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• Assign financial and environmental impact to drivers

TOOL: Estimate benefits

TOOL: Estimate revenue increase from new market opportunities

TOOL: Estimate revenue increase or cost savings from enhanced brand reputation

• Perform a cost-benefit analysis

TOOL: Cost-benefit analysis template

• Calculate the return on investment

• Communicate the intangible benefits and risks

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Step 7: pitch & launch

• Know how to tell the story