As COP28 approaches, the region gets ready to lead. The UAE, host to the upcoming climate conference, is in a position to inspire and encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs to consider sustainability a potential tour de force in brand recognition. Or even to consider it as a core B2B offering. The world, as with all COP summits, will wait with bated breath.
In a report published in May, PwC revealed that across the Middle East, environment, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives — the fuel behind sustainability journeys — are on the rise. Some 73 percent of the region’s enterprises have made some moves towards carbon-neutral commitments and 64 percent have come up with formal ESG strategies.
Two thirds of those polled said they want their organisation to spend more time on such issues. And 40 percent expressed hope that COP28 will lead to more government involvement, including improvements in ESG infrastructure and more incentives for eco-friendly practices.
In collaboration with ThoughtLab, ServiceNow, which will be attending COP28, found similar attitudes around the world when examining ESG in the global digital economy. More than half (56 percent) of the companies we surveyed said they had adapted their business models to accommodate ESG goals. And 19 percent did so with a view to turning ESG into a market opportunity.
Green skills
But those looking for ESG success will tell you it is not easy. Many now hire ESG leaders to spearhead their efforts, but those leaders can accomplish little without a team of green-skilled professionals to support them. Like the many new disciplines arising from the digital revolution, there appears to be a lack of awareness that ESG, in itself, is a career.
Employers have started to seek out green skills in earnest. LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2022, for example, showed that in the previous year, employers went hunting for talent in areas such as “environmental remediation”, renewable energy, and corporate social responsibility. In the previous five-year period, job listings that included green skills increased at an average annual rate of 8 percent. The jobs are there, the study found, while noting the talent to fill them was largely absent.
A soup of skills
We should work right now to demonstrate to young people (or older professionals looking for an inspiring change) that ESG is a viable career path. Another 2022 LinkedIn report showed the role of “diversity and inclusion manager”, for example, to be among the fastest-growing job titles, second only to “vaccine specialist”.
We need a range of talent in a range of roles. We need people who can see the impact of businesses on people — not just the obvious industries like mining, oil and gas, energy, and aviation but fashion, retail, construction, and manufacturing.
We need minds attuned to the supply chain and the value chain. Minds that look to the sky, the rivers, the forests, and the trees and link them to activities in the labs, factories, and offices of modern enterprises.
These skills can be taught. In building ESG teams, we must look for people who can teach risk managers, accountants, and data analysts to work with frameworks like the Carbon Disclosure Project. They must have an appreciation for how business practices, and the strategies behind them, impact the ability to conform to global benchmarks. They must have excellent presentation and communication skills so they can explain the issues to colleagues and inspire them to act. Every day.
Already, we can see a blend of many competencies coming through for the ideal ESG professional — core business skills, soft skills, technical awareness, problem solving, strategy formulation, troubleshooting. Courses designed to get people up to speed are springing up globally and many can be found in the region. COP28 host Dubai’s own DIFC is one such centre of sustainability learning.
What we are seeing is many corporate bodies embarking on their own skilling and upskilling programmes because regular academic institutions may not have the capacity to plug all the gaps. An example of this is Microsoft, which now provides ESG-focused course materials for all ages. The tech giant trains children directly in basic AI and analytics for later application to sustainability goals. And it has joined forces with academia to bring the subject to adults.
The messaging gap
The challenge that remains is encouraging people to consider ESG as a career, or at the very least to train themselves so they can act as a contributor in conjunction with their main role. Companies stand ready to reward such skills because they understand that ESG differs from CSR in that it has a proven link to the health of the bottom line.
Deloitte links sustainable businesses in the age of the millennial and Gen-Z worker to higher job-satisfaction, retention rates, and productivity. McKinsey links them to increased profits and reduced costs.
As we move closer to COP28, we should keep in mind the messaging gap. We must convince people of the viability of sustainability and ESG as a career. We must demonstrate how important they are, and how rewarding they can be. If we can only get more people thinking in terms of ESG as a day-to-day role, we can crack the talent problem and save the planet.