For that occasion, on September 4th, we gathered some of our clients and employees (or simply friends, as we like to say) to celebrate together at Medicon Village in Lund. And it was all about “Be the change you wish to see in the world!”

From a small group of friends gathered around Eva Vati in 2019 to brainstorm the best way to be the change we wish to see around us, the conversation led to running the first Sustainability Mastermind course. From there on, we have transformed more than 300 companies, trained 300 change leaders, became the first company in the world to get certified to verify ESG statements, and have a foot in new markets, such as Spain and Hungary…

Not bad for a five-year-old!

Guided by Johan Wester, the master of ceremony in charge of keeping the good vibes, and Jonas Engström, the Choir Leader, the event underlined the two of the essences of Vati of Sweden:

Collaboration and power of co-creation. 

It was a perfect atmosphere to introduce the presentations and panel discussion with some of our first clients. Sarah Lidé, Deputy CEO of Medicon Village Innovation, and Anna Johansson, Head of Sustainability in Blentagruppen manifested what Vati of Sweden is all about:

We are constantly learning to be able to help our clients increase their competitiveness by integrating sustainability into their business strategy – through education and business consulting.

It was a great September day full of good vibes and inspiration. After all, our mission is to unify people, businesses, and societies in a mutual effort to create a better world by doing good business.

What makes the day even better is remembering that it all started with a dream Eva Vati had five years ago. So, here it is: Dreams do come true!… if you dare to believe and have friends to share them with.

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This is a consequence of the fact that many of today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions.” It is the first law of Peter Senge’s Fifth Discipline and is very much aligned with the Environmental Protection Encouragement Agency’s notion that cleaning up is just compensation for the outcome of flawed designs.

We no longer have time to clean up the consequences of flawed designs and yesterday’s “solutions.” 

Today’s solutions require action based on responsibility, honesty, accountability, and commitment that goes beyond short-term economic gains. These require relationships based on a new currency: more transparency.  

The European Union has taken the lead in structuring and integrating these new relationships into its socio-economic fabrics. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), Green Claims, and many other legislations that are already in place are just the first among many examples of governments seeking to align private sector contributions to national priorities.

Price is an expression of scarcity and does not reflect intrinsic value. However, markets should communicate correctly all kinds of scarcities, including scarcities of public goods. Unfortunately, they haven’t been doing so, and what is even worse, there has been a great deal of greenwashing. According to the data provided by the European Commission, 53% of green claims give vague, misleading, or unfounded information, and nearly half of these provide no supporting evidence.

There are many reasons why they haven’t. Greed and the wrong idea of increasing profit being the sole social responsibility of business are certainly among the reasons. But so is the fact that there were no effective instruments for companies and organizations to report on the true impact of their activities. Another important part of this malpractice is related to the fact that half of all green labels have not been independently verified and offer weak or non-existent evidence.

Environmental public goods, such as biosphere and ecosystem stability, clean air and water, healthy topsoil, or biodiversity, have been considered externalities for far too long. Together with social public goods, such as welfare and health, rural vitality, food security, and social capital, these have been excluded from the information on the gains from doing business. Rising temperatures, floods, droughts, pandemics, natural disasters, and other climate change-induced threats are the price we are paying for the flawed design and the lack of accountability.

The time has come to account for the true cost of doing business. However, it is not all to be blamed on industry and markets for wanting to see their profits grow. As consumers, we are responsible for choosing the products and services we want to use. We also get to choose what we want to make grow.

After all, there is no shame in pursuing success. The trouble lies in how it is pursued.

Yes, companies can indeed do a lot better. But let’s not forget our responsibility as consumers. According to the study by Hertwich and Peters, personal choices drive 72% of greenhouse gas emissions globally. These are directly tied to household consumption, while the remaining 10% and 18%, respectively, are linked to government consumption and global investments. This only shows that, as consumers, we have the ability to make smarter and more sustainable choices, and in doing so, we can drive the change we want to see in the world.

The new Directive on Green Claims, which has recently been voted by the ample majority in the EU parliament, will make our choices easier. Companies must submit product marketing claims such as “biodegradable” or “less polluting” for verification before using them. This new directive, aimed to stop companies from making misleading claims about the environmental merits of their products and services, will set the standard for more transparency in doing business.

After all, more transparency gives companies committed to sustainability opportunities to step forward and get closer to consumers. This is where transparency proves its value, and our job as Impact Auditors is to verify and account for the true cost of doing business.

______

Sources:

Public goods for economic development, Compendium of Background Papers, United Nations Industrial Development Organization: UNIDO, https://www.unido.org/sites/default/files/2009-02/Public%20goods%20for%20economic%20development_sale_0.pdf

Green claims, European Commission, https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/circular-economy/green-claims_en

Carbon Footprint of Nations: A Global, Trade-Linked Analysis, (Hertwich & Peters, 2009, Env Sci Tech), https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es803496a

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Investors, employees, consumers, and regulators are demanding that companies be more on their toes when it comes to tackling environmental, social, and governance issues from global warming and pollution to discrimination and forced labor. Most recently, the war in Ukraine has entered into the discussion about what the ESG label means.

Identifying and managing sustainability risks and reporting the results of sustainability work have become increasingly important for companies. ESG factors today are something everyone must relate to. Partly because customers and employees expect it, partly because companies must be able to manage sustainability risks to attract investors and lenders. Working actively with sustainability is crucial for companies’ survival.

The risks for companies that are perceived to move too slowly are high.

Chief sustainability officer is emerging as the new hot profession in the C-suite. The role of a CSO is a heavy position of power today in all major companies. It has far-reaching consequences for the company’s business if you do not act on your sustainability challenges and invest money in developing the company in a sustainable direction. Hiring has skyrocketed as the role shifts from one of communicating internally to delivering on business goals, such as cutting pollution.
When it started, compliance was the name of the game.
It has moved from ‘nice to do’ to ‘probably should do,’ to now, ‘must do.’

Sustainability has become a business imperative

In the last two years, it has seen more hiring for CSOs than in all previous years together without any signs of a slowdown in 2022 and the level of salary follows.

Cheryl D’Cruz-Young, a recruiter at Korn Ferry, states in an interview that a sustainability manager can earn as much as $ 800,000 to $ 1.5m.

But there’s little consensus on the job description, qualifications, or even the goals, while companies are in a hurry to staff up in the area.

Since the title isn’t even two decades old, there’s not much in the way of standardized education, and there’s no unique career path when it comes to sustainability.

Unlike members of the other managers in C-suites – those who lead established disciplines such as finance, legal and human resources – the career paths of the growing number of sustainability managers go through roles as diverse as mathematics and marketing, accounting, engineering, and agriculture, or psychology and law.

There’s no unique career path when it comes to sustainability.

The future of work offers plenty of diverse opportunities for workers hoping to make an impact. And the good news is that you don’t need to drop what you are doing, or push aside your other passions, to build a career within the field of sustainability!
If you are curious about how to shift to a career in this area, there are a few ways to get started.

First, know that this field is not going anywhere!
Businesses are reacting to consumer demands by creating new roles focused on developing ESG-friendly practices in every sector. Because these roles are new to everyone, the playing field is even. Both junior and senior employees can land them.

Second, Educate yourself on the three pillars of sustainability.
The United Nation’s definition of sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” It has three pillars: environmental, social, and economic.

The environmental pillar largely involves initiatives aimed at helping companies reduce their carbon footprint. The social pillar focuses on an organization’s people, both internally and in the external community that companies impact. The economic pillar works to ensure that companies sustainably make profits and have ethical corporate governance or management practices that are in line with the interests of their shareholders, customers, employees, and other communities.

Many international and domestic companies are rated and given an ESG (environmental, social, governance) score by accredited third-party providers that measure and verify their performance around each pillar. According to McKinsey, there have been more than 2,000 academic studies, and roughly 70% of them find a positive relationship between ESG scores and financial returns.

Third, Upskill & Reskill
As with all jobs of the future, soft skills such as creativity, adaptability, and design thinking are critical. But also the ability to work with business strategy, inclusive stakeholdership, and transformational leadership.
When it comes to sustainability, however, a couple of new categories have also emerged:

• Green skills such as circular economy, and renewable and efficient energy.
• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion is now widely regarded as business-critical. More and more people have realized that increased diversity – in addition to contributing to social sustainability – also results in better business and is important for securing innovation.
• Having knowledge of different regulations, standards and auditing suppliers about their claims are also critical areas that a CSO should be able to navigate.

Sustainability has gone from being a hygiene factor driven by stricter legislation and increased accounting requirements to becoming a competitive factor for winning business.

Fourth, Search for positions on LinkedIn
If you’re curious about what positions are currently available in your industry, search “Sustainability,” or “ESG,” under the “jobs” tab on LinkedIn. You may be surprised by the variety of roles presented.

When you apply, make sure to apply to the right companies.

Some companies may include their sustainability strategy directly on their websites. For others, this may be less obvious. During the interview process, be sure to ask about their ESG- och Sustainability related goals to make sure their values align with your own.

Eva Vati is an Entrepreneur and Business Strategist who helps Executives, Businesses, and Entrepreneurs future-proof their companies.
She is the CEO and Founder of VATI of Sweden, which is the first company in the world to give certification on integrating sustainability into business strategy. And also the Founder of VERIFY Agency of Sweden, which is the first company in the world accredited to verify organizations’ statements.

Inlägget How To Build A Career In Sustainability dök först upp på VATI of Sweden.

I feel worried and anxious about everything terrible happening in the world.

• The IPCC report states that our work with the climate is not going fast enough
• The terrible war in Ukraine – the suffering of so many people…
• The development around gender equality – goes backward rather than forwards.

It seems that wherever I turn, I’m overwhelmed by the enormous amount of strife and suffering that is going on around us.

I believe many people are disappointed with the current state of the world which can lead to rather intense despair when we think about how big the mess is and how little we can personally do to change it all.

Do you also feel a certain amount of despair, worry, or even anxiety?

Do not!

Cause, when thinking about it, I realise that my work is very meaningful and I realise surrounding myself with people who day by day, step by step make a difference through their work and create a world we all want to live in.

The thing is, you and I may not be almighty beings who can change the whole world for the better just by snapping our fingers, but we can make big changes within ourselves and thereby begin to influence.

I believe we all have the power within ourselves to make a difference! You have all that in yourself. You have the power in you, to make a difference! We all have that. If we want to.

Let me explain a little bit deeper;
My work is about impacting people and companies to become more profitable by working with sustainability, diversity & inclusion and there is a domino effect that happens.

Because my work impacts my clients, my family, and my friends, and this, in turn, impacts their clients, family, and friends.

So you see, your impact creates a ripple effect and you end up basically impacting the whole world!

Where do I get started?
I would like to mention 7 different ways you, as an individual, can change the world for the better while also questioning the norms.

But first, what does it mean to question norms?

‘Norms’ are everything we’re culturally conditioned to believe as normal, yet nothing about culture, gender, or history is ‘normal’. It’s all made up by humans, so we need to keep this in mind when talking about a certain ideology, a historical moment, and so on.

We make snap judgments and assumptions about others based upon learned behaviors, media affecting us, and biases that are so established in our system that we breathe them in like air without even realizing it. Today’s society holds a great deal of bias, known and unknown. These stigmas and norms have become so automatic that sometimes we forget to stop in our everyday lives and ask ourselves an important question: do these stigmas actually feel right?

As an example, as raised in heteronormative cultures, when we hear the word ‘couple’, most of us will automatically visualize a man and a woman. And it’s here that we need to stop ourselves, realize that actually, a couple can look very different and that ‘man+woman’ doesn’t need to be the default. We then need to start normalizing different associations with concepts that we might have preconceptions about.

It’s from within us that we start the transformation that will help battle institutionalized discrimination and battle against the norm.

So my first advice is to

1. Be kind
This seems like a simple thing, but it’s amazing to see how often we fail to accept and celebrate others as they are.
Whenever you have the chance to do so, be kind. And if you have the chance to be really kind, do that too.
Did you have a great experience with your colleague at work? Thank them sincerely, and then contact their manager and tell them what a great job their employee is doing.

2. Love unconditionally
This is another one that people tend to have difficulty with.
To love someone unconditionally doesn’t mean that you tolerate poor behavior or abuse from them, but rather you strive to love them for who they are, rather than for whom you want them to be.
You can dislike someone’s behavior, but still, love them as a person.
Basically, we all struggle through life, trying to understand things while juggling a million different responsibilities, worries, hopes, and dreams … and sometimes it gets really hard to get things going.
Sometimes we fail, we can not always be the person we really want to be, or the person our partner would be happiest with, or our children for that matter.
It’s extremely reassuring to know that they love us even when we stumble, right? Let us love others equally.

3. Stand up against Discrimination and Racism
When you experience or see more of something, it will become normal.
When you first see a polar bear in Africa, you may find it strange because it is out of your typical experience. However, once you see more polar bears in Africa you will start to believe it is normal.
The same ideas apply to discrimination. If you are introduced to or become more aware of a different culture, race, or gender in a diverse environment or society. You tend to become less discriminating because of your new world experience.
Our worldview changes the way we experience our lives. When you interact, socialize, and work with people from different experiences, you can hear and learn from people.

4. Be a champion for Diversity
Why is diversity good and important?
Let me mention a couple of reasons

• Increased market share.

Having a diverse workplace allows organizations to more effectively market, better serve, and communicate to consumer groups from different cultures, races, and religious backgrounds, which in turn may lead to increased sales and profits and access to a more diverse market.

• Productivity and innovation.

Diversity widens viewpoints and takes different ideas and perspectives into account. This can translate into creating richer solutions, obtaining better results, and maximizing productivity, innovation, and creativity.

• Employee attraction and retention.

Recruiting from a diverse pool of candidates increases an employer’s chances of finding the best person for the job. Once onboard, employees that feel valued and respected and that are part of an inclusive work environment are less likely to leave. Doing both of these successfully can help reduce expenses related to recruitment and retention.

Another benefit of diversity and inclusion is it can lead to you exploring the unknowns. A diverse workplace offers more than exposure to employees from different cultures and backgrounds. Employees learn from co-workers whose work styles vary and whose attitudes about work vary from their own. This is particularly true for employees within multigenerational work environments, as well as those who work in environments that are accessible to those with disabilities.

• Improves Employee Engagement in the Workplace

Once you have a diverse workforce with an inclusive culture, your organization’s culture will change without you even knowing it. Your team from top to the bottom will interact with employees from different backgrounds, world views, or different life stages. Your employees from diverse groups will have a better awareness of others’ world views.
A welcoming culture will increase engagement from employees because even your minority diverse employee will feel included in an inclusive workforce.

I am certain there are more benefits for diversity and inclusion, and the list of benefits will grow as companies measure and show return on their investment of it.
Diversity empowerment evidently has many benefits to a diverse workplace environment. However, let us not forget, working is not the only activity that we perform daily, we also have our social lives, our relationships in our community.

5. Find your life purpose and live in service to others
This falls under the “big choices” category and has to do with your life’s purpose.
I could devote several articles to this one, but in its simplest form, it has to do with what you want to do with your time on this planet. Your reason for being.
You have the opportunity to do just about anything you’d like as a life calling, so what will you do?
Choosing a career that allows you to work toward the greater good is one of the most profound and giving things you can do with the decades you have on this planet.
What draws you? What subjects interest you? What motivates you?
Whatever it is that inspires you, there’s a career path you can take that will allow you to pour your energy into making the world a better place.

6. Shop and invest ethically
The term “vote with your wallet” is a powerful one. Every time you purchase or invest in something, you make a statement about what you believe in, what you will tolerate, and what matters to you.
If you buy personal care products from companies that pollute the environment and treat their employees in a bad way, you tell them that you’re okay with that behavior, and will continue to support it.
If you buy items made by small business owners, or organic, fair-trade foods, you tell the people who make them that you appreciate their efforts.
Also, do not forget that money is power and you have the power to choose where you want your money to go. For example, choosing ethical and sustainable portfolios for the allocation of your pension money.
In which aspects of your daily life can you make little improvements?

7. Be a steward of the planet.
Building upon the choices listed earlier, consider the actions you take on a daily basis that affect both your environment and the greater planet beyond.
If you choose to use a potent chemical cleaner in your home, people, animal companions, and plants will be exposed to the fumes that the cleaner releases.
When you pour the cleaner down the drain, those chemicals enter the water table. The underground streams that carry those chemicals empty out into larger bodies of water, spreading the chemicals far and wide, affecting plant and animal life everywhere they go.
You can make kinder, gentler choices when it comes to personal products, and then go a step beyond for greater ecological stewardship.
If we all played our part, it would have a huge positive impact on the world.
Be a part of that change.
You are capable of doing something that can make a remarkable difference in another’s life.
And remember the “ripple effect” your impact has on the world.

So, what will be your first action to change the world for the better? Please share and inspire others to take action.

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Eva Vati is an Entrepreneur and Business Strategist who helps Executives, Businesses, and Entrepreneurs future-proof their companies.
She is the CEO and Founder of VATI of Sweden, which is the first company in the world to give certification on integrating sustainability into business strategy. And also the Founder of VERIFY Agency of Sweden, which is the first company in the world accredited to verify organizations’ statements.

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