Trusted Data Is Essential For Retailers To Meet Rising Sustainability Challenges

Developing new ways to build and manage trusted sustainability data is essential for Australian businesses who are not only looking to be ‘regulation ready’ for mandatory climate reporting, but also to take advantage of the opportunities that will be created in the market, according to Loreto Gutierrez, Sustainability Solutions Leader at Salesforce ANZ.

Gutierrez made the comments as part of this week’s Australian Retailers Association Sustainability Breakfast panel, alongside sustainability leaders from some of Australia’s largest businesses, including Myer, IKEA, and Australia Post.

The panel focused on the circular economy, and how important collaboration and trusted data is going to be for retail businesses to meet the challenge of sustainability reporting head-on, driving profitability, and reducing environmental costs in the process.

Highlights from Gutierrez’s contribution to the panel included:

How companies can make sustainability part of every decision

Amendments to the Corporations Act of 2001 are going to force Australian companies to think more deeply about how they embed sustainability into the business, and encourage business owners to explain how they are preparing their businesses for the transition to a net zero economy.

“With businesses starting to report and disclose their carbon emissions and other sustainability measures, it’s essential that they have trusted and auditable data. But what we see with many retailers today is that they are still managing a lot of this information with manual processes, which is not only inefficient but also lacks the transparency needed.

“These changes to regulations are going to be a big shift for our region, and businesses need to be prepared for a much stricter environment. We only need to look at recent changes to similar regulations in the UK to see how complex such reporting will be. And if you’re a business that already deals with products that cross borders, this change is coming sooner than you realise.”

Helping leaders to better understand and interpret data

As retailers start to build their sustainability strategy, Scope 3 emissions – as in, those deriving from their value chain, in particular, their suppliers – will be front of mind.

“Mapping these emissions is quite complex, with multiple different methodologies to choose from, which is challenging if your data isn’t readily accessible. But once it is, you can‌ start to look at the hotspots in a supply chain and identify risks. It also provides a great opportunity to engage with your suppliers and partners, to demand more of them from a sustainability perspective and have overall better collaboration thanks to greater transparency.

“Ultimately, having the trail of data and information be really transparent allows you to have a more educated conversation with your consumer about sustainability and educate them on the ways they can assist in reducing carbon emissions.

“Customers are making choices every day based on very limited information, but if you can highlight to them real examples – say, how many trees it would take to offset same-day vs standard delivery  – then you might be able to change that behaviour.”

Salesforce’s Net Zero Cloud is an industry-recognised solution to the challenges of trusted data in sustainability reporting. It manages environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data, forecasts carbon emissions reductions and automates ESG reporting. 

It’s received gold accreditation from the Carbon Disclosure Project, a global non-profit used by more than 18,000 companies that supports organizations in disclosing their climate risks and opportunities. It was also named a leader in the most recent “Forrester Wave™: Sustainability Management Software” report.

Learn more:

• Learn more about Net Zero Cloud’s generative AI capabilities
• Learn more about Net Zero Cloud’s ESG reporting capabilities 
• Learn more about how Australia businesses can drive sustainability in the AI era

Note: Salesforce is a sponsor of the ARA.