Consulting

Professional & Commercial Services

The industry includes companies that rely on the unique skills and knowledge of their employees to serve a range of clients. Services are often provided on an assignment basis, where an individual or team is responsible for the delivery of services to clients. Offerings include, but are not limited to, management and administration consulting services, such as staffing and executive search services; legal, accounting, and tax preparation services; and financial and non-financial information services. Non-financial information service providers may specialize in an array of topics such as energy, healthcare, real estate, technology, and science. Financial information service companies include credit and rating agencies as well as data and portfolio analytics providers. Customers of professional and commercial service providers include private and public for-profit institutions and non-profit organizations.

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Source: SASB

Consulting firms are prioritizing Sustainability as climate change gets worse and businesses take more accountability for reducing their environmental impact, it is especially important for consulting firms to operate sustainably and be able to help their clients become more ecologically and socially conscious and implement sustainable initiatives. Key initiatives concern:

• Make headquarters and offices eco-friendly as office buildings are one of the biggest contributors to consulting firms' environmental emissions;
• Reduce travelling commuting into offices or to client sites as it generates large amounts of fossil fuels and GHGs;
• Invest in IT infrastructure and workplace services ("sustainable IT") and prioritize tech investments based on an overall enterprise strategy.

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Sustainability Impact

• Consulting firms need to be aware of how they can negatively impact the environment with: (1) Work and home offices that are not eco friendly; (2) Excessive traveling; (3) Working with firms that harm the environment; (4) Using harmfully made goods and services; (5) Greenwashing (marketing suggesting inaccurate eco-friendliness). Source: Green Business Bureau

Sustainability Investments to watch

• As companies grapple with how they can reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, consulting firms are engaged in a struggle of their own: to develop the skills to meet rising demand from clients seeking sustainability advice. Source: The Financial Times