Actions, impact creation, and communication in sustainable business renewal: White paper

Anthropogenic environmental problems, such as climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, not only put pressure on nature and humans, but also on economies. Solving these grand challenges and advancing the sustainability transition requires actions from multiple actors, including companies. There is increasing public and policy pressure on companies to take action for sustainability and to comply with environmental policy goals and regulations.

In addition to taking action and complying with sustainability targets, companies face more stringent regulations on sustainability reporting. Sustainability reporting is one of the key instruments in communicating sustainability-related activities of companies. However, currently the format of reporting does not reveal the actual impacts of sustainability efforts nor help consumers in making informed choices.

This white paper presents key findings from a jointly funded public research project, Actions for Sustainable Business Renewal, and provides tools and guidance for decision-makers to gain a deeper understanding of the microfoundations of sustainability activities, impact creation, reporting, business models, and consumer expectations.
Based on these findings and information, the paper also provides actionable information in the form of recommendations to decision-makers. To conclude, for companies to have positive and effective sustainability impacts, they need to focus more on their 1) core actions, 2) impact creation, and 3) communication. In other words, to ensure sustainable business renewal, companies need to strengthen the sustainability of their core activities and measure and communicate the impacts of these activities more thoroughly and transparently.