In recent years, I've noticed a significant trend in the business community: Sustainability has moved from a buzzword to a priority for many organizations. I'm pleased to see this growing interest, as more companies are eager to undertake sustainability initiatives. However, while the enthusiasm is there, the gap between talk and action is staggering. As one commentator on the recent U.S. election noted, "All the things you say you're going to do are only beneficial if you put in 90% of the work to see it through to measurable completion." This insight rings especially true in the realm of corporate Sustainability.

The Corporate Sustainability Dilemma

During a recent conversation with a Fortune 500 company, I was struck by the disconnect between senior leadership's goals and the challenges site-level personnel faced. This conversation mirrored many others I've had, whether with large multinational corporations or small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with only one Canadian operation. It's becoming increasingly clear why many senior executives express disappointment with the returns on their investments in advancing Sustainability, ESG, and energy transition efforts.

Corporations today are keen to be on trend, pushing for a company-wide sustainability strategy. Many have established dedicated sustainability departments to spearhead these initiatives, staffed with bright, motivated professionals. Often, these team members come from business or marketing backgrounds or have recently acquired formal education graduates in Sustainability who have never worked or stepped foot into the manufacturing facility. They tend to implement initiatives like recycling programs, purchasing carbon offsets, or exploring renewable energy options to reduce the corporation's carbon footprint.

However, the crux of the issue lies in the next step: translating corporate sustainability goals into tangible actions at the site level. This is where the process typically falters.

The Disconnect Between Strategy and Execution

To make real progress, sustainability strategies must be executed at the ground level, where the operations take place. This task usually falls to technical personnel—engineers, maintenance staff, or health, safety, and environment (HSE) teams. While these individuals are critical to success, they often lack the necessary tools and resources to effectively carry out the work.

Imagine being asked to find hidden opportunities while blindfolded—that’s the reality for many of these site-level teams. They are told to identify projects (often involving capital expenditure) and present them to senior management for approval. Unfortunately, this approach is fundamentally flawed.

Why Capital Projects Alone Aren’t the Answer

There’s a misconception that swapping out equipment or launching a single capital project will achieve the desired sustainability results. Even when capital is available, these initiatives often fall short because they lack the necessary framework for success. The technical teams tasked with finding these opportunities need more than a mandate; they need proper training on plant and equipment energy consumption, access to robust energy and carbon pricing measurement tools, and the ability to build compelling business cases that demonstrate a clear return on investment.

Sustainability Requires a Holistic, Collaborative Approach

Sustainability is not a one-person job or the responsibility of a single department. It’s a team effort that requires the involvement of multiple departments, each bringing its own expertise to the table. True Sustainability involves looking beyond isolated pieces of equipment to consider the entire operation holistically. This might include revisiting maintenance practices, optimizing shutdown and startup procedures, and finding ways to streamline energy use across the entire facility.

Without the right tools—comprehensive training for various personnel, access to timely and relevant data, clearly defined company and site-specific targets, and allocated budgets—these efforts are bound to fall short. Moreover, performance metrics should be aligned with sustainability goals, making it part of individual and team accountability.

Bridging the Gap

The gap between intention and execution is one of the most significant barriers to achieving meaningful sustainability outcomes. It’s time for companies to rethink their approach and provide the necessary support at every level of the organization. By doing so, they can move from merely talking about Sustainability to successfully implementing it in measurable, impactful ways.

The conversation around sustainability is evolving, but to truly advance, we must equip our teams with the right tools and create a culture where Sustainability is ingrained in every decision. It’s only by minding this gap that we can bridge the divide between corporate ambition and real-world impact.