Sustainability

Overview

We are witnessing a pivotal moment where traditional ways of doing business are no longer enough. This means that organisations must respond to the pressing issues facing our world today to succeed in novel ways.

Our team recognises the urgent need for progress. The key to long-term success and resilience lies in integrating sustainability matters into your strategy, culture and operations. This is a transformative era of sustainability, growth and impact that can create lasting value for both shareholders, investors and society, while positively impacting the environment.

But it's not just about being responsible and doing good - there are tangible benefits for your organisation as well. Finance, access to capital, insurance rates, operational efficiencies, employee engagement and enhanced brand value are all positively affected by a clear and positive sustainability impact. Investors and stakeholders increasingly require ESG information and will demand a convincing sustainability strategy and the appropriate performance and progress.

At the end of the day, we must deliver on value creation ambitions or face reputational damage and potentially lose relevance in the market. Don't let your organisation fall behind in this critical moment. Join us in integrating ESG into your business practices and positioning yourself for success in the new era of sustainable business.

30/08/23

PwC Sustainability Africa

There is no Plan B because there is no Planet B. The PwC Sustainability and Climate Change team advises clients on their sustainability strategies and how to integrate them into their business models.

Explore the full report here

Good growth: From compliance to value with ESG

Issues you may be facing

Climate Change: With natural disasters becoming more frequent and intense, all companies face pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and work towards achieving net-zero emissions. Acting on this also increases your competitiveness in the market and ability to operate in the low carbon economy.
Resource Depletion: As natural resources become more scarce, it's crucial for companies to adopt efficient resource management practices and invest in renewable alternatives. By doing so, you can lower your operating costs and increase your profitability while ensuring the sustainability of your business.
Embedding of emerging and different types of risks and opportunities into decision-making processes is becoming increasingly important for businesses today. Traditionally, companies have focused on managing and mitigating known risks (e.g financial or operational). With the fast-paced and ever-changing business environment, new and unpredictable risks are emerging, including those related to climate change, resource depletion or social and political unrest.
Social Injustice: Inequality, discrimination, and exploitation, is a growing concern for consumers and investors alike. By promoting social justice and human rights in your operations, you can build a strong brand image, attract and retain staff, gain customer and investor loyalty.
Business success and societal impact are closely linked. By focusing on creating a positive impact on society, businesses can increase their profitability and resilience.
Societal impact is the influence that businesses have on the well-being of the communities that they operate in, including their economic, social, and environmental impact. By prioritising societal impact, businesses can build trust and loyalty, strengthen their licence to operate among their customers, employees, and investors, and contribute to a better world for all.

So, start integrating societal impact into your business strategy today, and position yourself as a leader in the sustainable business world.

How we can add value

We’re well in tune with understanding the relationship between decisions and stakeholder impacts and we’ve invested in enhanced service delivery capabilities for environmental and social risks, impacts, compliance and performance services.

Our sustainability experts help to define sustainability strategy; advise on policy; operational change; risk management; reporting; monitoring and assuring progress – all through a sustainability lens. We help to integrate ESG issues into operations and embrace the challenges of today's business environment as opportunities for long-term and sustainable growth. Ultimately enabling your teams to effectively act on your strategies and bring your ambition to life.

Climate resilience and adaptation
Sustainability risk and reporting
Unlocking future opportunities with sustainability

Climate resilience and adaptation

Climate change response

Changing climates are already affecting businesses, societies and economies in complex ways, so we need to mitigate the impacts of our activities on the climate through decarbonisation and net zero strategies and respond to changing climate related risks and stakeholder expectations such as the need for new products and services.

At its essence, climate change is a human problem, affecting the environments in which our societies and economies operate. It therefore needs to be addressed in a people centred approach, ensuring that any transition is just, empowers the most vulnerable and ensuring no one is left behind.

Sustainability risk and reporting

Energy security

We recognise the need to diversify the country's energy mix, reduce dependence on fossil fuels and embrace renewable energy. The transition towards a sustainable energy landscape is aimed at energy security and resilience while also addressing climate change and other environmental issues.

A well-planned and managed energy transition can improve energy security by reducing dependence on volatile or finite energy sources, while improving the resilience and sustainability of the energy system. In South Africa, the energy landscape is marked by uncertainty and change. No company, government or municipality can ignore energy as the very fabric of a modern business, country or city is energy. Energy affects every aspect of the economy driven by increased digitisation in sectors like financial services, logistics, entertainment, and others.

Our solutions include: mitigating reliability risk and navigating the regulatory obstacles associated with the transition to renewables; reducing a company’s spend on electricity usage and correspondingly reducing the carbon footprint created by the company’s activities - using energy audits and optimising equipment use to reduce the organisation’s energy usage; optimising technology choices for your energy investment plan; modelling, procuring and contracting new energy solutions; assisting with Net Zero/ESG strategy and reporting.

We have a dedicated team that focuses on energy transition strategies and its impact on business sustainability, strategy and investment.

Sustainable supply chains

Organisations increasingly need to understand and report on the impact they are having on the environment as well as the positive or negative impact on the communities in which they operate. Understanding these impacts can drive improvements to corporate strategy, day to day operations and ultimately on financial performance.

We can help you to understand what steps can you take to ensure your supply chain is responsible while achieving financial and sustainability metrics at the same time.

Assess the risks associated with your supply chain caused by disturbances within social and ecological systems and the steps necessary to protect your brand.

Consider best practice from across a range of industry sectors.

Define the characteristics you require from your suppliers in order to make sure they're sustainable.

Monitor and manage environmental, social and governance risks associated with your supply chain.

Measure the financial cost or potential impact of your carbon, water and other usage on the environment, and local communities.

Redesign global supply chains to be cost-efficient, minimising their impact on the environment and delivering products and services on time.

Make smart choices regarding who your business partners with and relies upon for insights, goods and services - those known for responsibility regarding human rights and carbon intensity, for example; and enhance brand reputation through association with those walking the same journey.

ESG / Sustainability Regulatory requirements (JR)

The sustainability regulatory landscape is evolving at a rapid pace, and it's important for businesses to stay up-to-date with these changes. In today's globalised world, what happens in one part of the world can have significant implications for businesses operating in other regions. The regulations in the EU under the fit for 55 such as CSRD, CBAM and CDD among others have implications for companies in South Africa.

It is more important than ever to partner with a team that has the expertise to navigate the complex regulatory landscape from a domestic and international perspective. Regulations impact business from a strategic, operational and reporting perspective and we can provide the solutions to keep you ahead of the curve. We work with clients to develop customised solutions that are tailored to their circumstances - and help them achieve their business goals.

Sustainability/ ESG Data & Technology

Technology is critical for capturing and analysing ESG data, which is essential for measuring a company's sustainability performance, progress and reporting. With advances in technology, companies can now track and measure their environmental impact, social responsibility, and governance practices in real-time, providing valuable insights into their ESG performance.

ESG data is complex to manage because it involves a wide range of factors that are often difficult to measure and quantify, often subjective and vary widely depending on context.

Businesses need to have robust ESG data management systems in place. These systems should involve data governance, data quality control measures and the integration of different data sources into a centralised system.

With the right data, the right systems and technology in place, businesses can effectively manage their ESG data and leverage it for actionable insights and to drive sustainable growth.

We have a team of specialists who are ready to assist you in overcoming your data challenges and leverage the power of ESG insights to drive your business forward. Whether you are looking to enhance your ESG reporting, optimise your strategy or improve your performance and investor relations - we are here to guide you through every step of the way.

Decommissioning liability (asset retirement)

Decommissioning and environmental obligations are complex and involve significant management judgements and estimates. We’re providing independent and robust subject matter expert audit support to PwC financial audit teams around the world. Our team comprises 22 dedicated subject matter experts (SMEs) with 100+ years collective experience in decommissioning and liability reviews in numerous countries across affected industries.

ESG due diligence

An assessment of a Target’s material ESG considerations to identify risks / opportunities in support of an investment decision making process. It includes a detailed understanding of ESG trends impacting different points of the industry value chain, and how that affects the Target. Equally, we consider the complete stakeholder landscape and identify the most material ESG issues to each grouping.

Explore more about the ESG Due Diligence and ESG Health Check Capabilities services.

Unlocking future opportunities with sustainability

Sustainable strategy & value creation

Focusing on the long-term sustainability of an organisation presents the opportunity to move beyond only preserving current value by addressing and mitigating risks and ESG performance issues associated with climate and market developments.

The opportunity lies in unlocking significant value through ESG-led investment strategies and sustainable transformation of business models and existing assets. PwC can support you through the journey of aligning your value proposition, evaluating your business model and revenue streams and identifying possible transformation strategies that harvest opportunities beyond immediate financial gain with a long-term focus. Thereby creating value for business and building thriving communities. Learn more on the below topics:

Sustainable business transformation

Sustainability awareness has surged in recent years and many organisations have made ESG commitments, including net zero, reaching zero inequality, respecting human rights, becoming nature positive and 100% circular and are working their way through current and upcoming ESG reporting and regulatory requirements.

However, to infuse sustainability in the wider organisation is becoming a pressing need and requires an integrated, holistic approach to not only stay relevant and financially successful but to also maximise positive impact for society to satisfy stakeholder pressures. Such a holistic approach means a complete rethink of for example the business model, products and services, operating model, supply chain management, decision making and talent and performance management.

PwC has the expertise to support organisations on a sustainable business transformation journey across corporate and tax strategy development, transformation planning and implementation, meeting reporting and assurance requirements and stakeholder management and communication. Explore more on the below topics:

Social transformation / socio-economic development

The role organisations need to play in social transformation and socio-economic development is becoming increasingly important in the South African and broader African context in order to support sustainable development. To drive lasting and systemic change, it is critical that initiatives and programmes are underpinned by a robust strategy which is implemented in such a way that maximum value is created.

Suitable monitoring and evaluation frameworks and systems must also be established to track, measure and report on impact and progress, identify areas of good practice and opportunities for improvement. Establishing collaborative platforms for implementation will result in increased efficiencies and enhanced outputs. Collaboration also allows for scale which cannot be realised when tackling these challenges independently. Partnerships between the private sector, government, community organisations and other stakeholders are crucial in this collaboration approach.

Explore more on the topics below:

Circular economy

Circular operating models require a rethink from the traditional take, make and waste economic model to sustainable models that mimic natural systems and flows, conserving, redistributing, reusing and regenerating materials. Designing and operating circular operating systems can unlock new opportunities and revenue streams across supply chains as well as reduce waste, primary resource needs and associated negative impacts, which are often key considerations of a sustainability journey.