Green is the New Black: YPO Experts Explore the Business of Sustainability

What role does sustainability play in modern business and how can organizations integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles to drive positive change?

This was the topic of the latest episode of "YPO Presents Ask the Experts," featuring YPO members Florian Kemmerich, Managing Director at Palladium, Fleur Heyns, Co-Founder and CEO of Proof, and Orlan Boston, Senior Advisory and Global Client Service Partner at EY. Together they all played a key role in developing the YPO Global Impact Report, a benchmark for businesses to evaluate and enhance their sustainability practices.

“How can sustainability, when done correctly and embedded in your value chain, protect and create new sources of value for business, people, communities and societies, and the world at large?” poses Boston, who has long been an advocate for ESG in his consulting work. “It’s about doing no harm. But at its core, it’s also about longevity. As a business, are you going to be around in five, 10, 20 50 years?”

Sustainability as a business priority

Heyns shared that she wasn’t always a champion of sustainability. She jokes that she had, in fact, started her career working on “the dark side” — investment banking. But she credits a conference at Oxford University for making her realize the potential of businesses that could solve global issues such as climate change and equity.

“We’re living in an environment, in an ecosystem, and it’s massively at risk. It doesn’t really matter what thesis you believe in or what underlying factors you think are driving some of these changes. The world’s getting warmer, and we are seeing more and more environmental disasters happening,” she says.

With the idea that solving the world’s problems would be future-proof, she made a career pivot and launched Proof to help companies present and analyze their social and environmental data to attract impact-focused investors.

For her, focusing on ESG is urgent, though not without its challenges. But the challenges also present opportunities and create solutions. Boston agreed, stressing the importance of value-driven sustainability and the need for businesses to think long-term to ensure their survival and relevance.

The new consumer and workforce

It’s no secret that the youngest generation of consumers is increasingly value-driven. To attract and retain talent as well as conscientious consumers, more and more businesses need to align their operations with sustainable practices.

Boston says at EY, sustainability is a major attraction for new graduates.

“Sustainability is one of the most popular choices and desires to focus on from a career perspective,” he says. “They are choosing where to work with this in mind.”

But companies beware: Simply talking about your impact is not enough. The younger workforce is savvier than ever about understanding what is real and what is “greenwashing.”

Heyns cited Tesla as an example of a company that, despite its green image, struggles with sustainable resource use compared to BMW’s long-standing practices. Accurate reporting and external verification are crucial in avoiding misleading claims. If you want to demonstrate that you are genuinely committed to sustainability, you need to be accurate and transparent.

Challenges in ESG reporting

Collecting and reporting ESG data is no easy task, with many leaders struggling to report out basic metrics. Heyns suggested starting small with Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions, and progressing into more complex metrics like Scope 3 emissions, water consumption, waste output and diversity.

Boston recommended using established frameworks such as the Global Reporting Initiative and the Carbon Disclosure Project to guide ESG reporting. He also advised businesses to seek third-party assurance to ensure the accuracy and reliability of their data, which builds trust with stakeholders.

“All companies have a role to play no matter where they are on their evolution to a green transition,” he says.

Business as a force for good

Perhaps the biggest takeaway of this discussion? That good intentions and good profit margins aren’t mutually exclusive.

“You can do well by doing good,” Boston says. “You can grow your revenue while also taking care of your employees, be ethical in your business practices, environmentally conscious, a good partner to your suppliers and just be a positive force in the community you operate.”

Heyns agreed — with a caveat. 

“They are no longer opposed to each other; they can absolutely be in a win-win relationship, but you have to recognize that you can’t optimize for both all the time,” she said.