The sustainability agenda is one that is highly dynamic. Consequently, the development and maintenance of knowledge and skills for the finance professional need to be flexible and appropriate, as needs will differ greatly across different sectors and over time. This is best described in terms of different shades of green. Where deep, specialised knowledge about sustainability is represented by the darkest shade (required by a few experts). The shades get lighter as you expand outwards to the lightest green, which represents a high-level, broad understanding and awareness of sustainability issues that will enable finance professionals to support mainstream decision-making across organisations, with clients and the wider economy.
Every finance professional needs to develop their shade of green and apply a knowledge and understanding of sustainability issues to the extent appropriate for their role, function, organisation, or client interaction. As the sustainability agenda evolves, so too must a finance professional’s sustainability mindset. That mindset evolution should be facilitated by lifelong learning.
This section provides guidance for developing and practicing a sustainability mindset. Set out here are the following:
The eight UNESCO key competencies for sustainable development
The United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals
A net positive vision
The competencies behind a sustainability mindset
The eight UNESCO key competencies for sustainable development were designed in 2017 to help individual learners contribute to the achievement of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These competencies underpin Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) that
empowers learners to take informed decisions and responsible actions for environmental integrity, economic viability and a just society, for present and future generations, while respecting cultural diversity.28
The eight competencies are segmented into three learning pillars:• Ways of thinking (three competencies)• Ways of practicing (three competencies)• Ways of being (two competencies)
The following definitions of the key competencies are quoted from UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development Goals: Learning Objectives.
Ways of thinking competencies
Systems thinking — The abilities to recognise and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and scales; and to deal with uncertainty.
Anticipatory (future thinking) — The abilities to understand and evaluate multiple futures – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes.
Critical thinking — The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on own one’s values, perceptions and actions; and to take a position in the sustainability discourse.30
Ways of practicing competencies
Strategic — The abilities to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield
Collaboration — The abilities to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem-solving
Integrated problem-solving — The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development31
Ways of being competencies
Self-awareness — The ability to reflect on one’s role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires
Normative — The abilities to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate sustainability values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interests and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions32
Use these competencies as a blueprint to reflect on your development gaps or needs and build them into your future continuing professional development (CPD) or continuing professional education (CPE) learning plans.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
In September 2015, the United Nations established its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Since then, 193 countries have adopted the goals to tackle and achieve them by 2030. The goals represent a group of complex, interconnected issues facing the world; it will require global collaboration and private-public partnerships to achieve them.
As Mariana Mazzucato highlights in her book Mission Economy, the goals aim to address complex global problems:
They are problems without straightforward solutions. We must understand how social issues interact with political and technological ones, behavioural changes and critical feedback processes. Because of this complexity, it is important that these complex challenges are broken down into practical steps or targets.34
Use the SDGs to inform your mindset. But remember that the goals are deliberately aspirational. They are high level and designed to get people thinking about the relationships that an organisation or client has with the systems underpinning the goals. View the whole set of 17 goals as subtly interconnected rather than focusing on them individually and thinking of them as independent of each other. It is also important to be able to see the patterns of change and feedback loops between goals that together give the system of a sustainable economy its unique character.
Use the SDGs as part of a systems thinking approach to help break down information silos — within your sustainability mindset or within an organisation or client — and embed them in interdisciplinary conversations with wider personal or professional networks, such as supply chains, scientists, policymakers and local communities.
The authors Paul Polman and Andrew Winston describe a net positive organisation as one that
improves well-being for everyone it impacts and at all scales — every product, every operation, every region and country, and for every stakeholder, including employees, suppliers, communities, customers, and even future generations and the planet itself.35
However, the sentiment and principles behind their vision should also be at the heart of a finance professional’s sustainability mindset.
The following are core principles of a net positive company, as stated by Polman and Winston:
Ownership of all impacts and consequences, intended or not.
Operating for the long-term benefit of business and society.
Creating positive returns for all stakeholders.
Driving shareholder value as a result, not as goal.
Partnering to drive systemic change.36
