How do sustainability and ESG complement each other?

Sustainability refers to the ability to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. It is a broad concept that emphasises the creation of long-term environmental, social and economic value. At its core, sustainability centres on optimising practices to protect resources, balance environmental and social impacts and guide strategic vision. In many organisations, sustainability serves as the overarching goal that manages risk, shapes priorities, drives decisions and informs long-term planning.

Performance across environmental, social and governance factors is measured using ESG frameworks. It helps stakeholders evaluate how a business manages risks and opportunities in these areas through strong governance and transparent reporting standards. Often linked with investor interest and business accountability, ESG provides principles and metrics to assess and quantify a company’s impact and operations. By facilitating strategic alignment with ethical and operational standards, ESG frameworks, such as those from the IFRS Foundation, make sustainability strategies tangible. They enable organisations to track progress and communicate their alignment with investors.

The complementary approach formed by the combination of sustainability’s long-term vision and ESG’s practical structure enables organisations to address today’s complex global challenges, allowing businesses to meet stakeholder expectations while maintaining resilience.

Despite the growing integration of sustainability and ESG into organisational strategies, businesses face persistent challenges such as intensifying climate risks, evolving carbon management requirements and complex stakeholder dynamics. For instance, efforts to reduce Scope 3 emissions fall under the environmental pillar of ESG, as they involve engaging across the value chain to foster more sustainable supply chains while driving positive sustainability impacts and encouraging innovation.

Another example is when businesses face a lack of diversity in leadership. The application of an ESG framework enhances the existing governance and social pillars, enabling the creation of diversity policies, with a direct impact in strengthening long-term organisational resilience and reputation. The social and governance pillars can be applied separately. When organisations have poor stakeholder trust in projects, leveraging the social dimension can activate stakeholder engagement practices that promote social license to operate and long-term project viability.

At GHD, we understand these challenges and provide innovative, multi-disciplinary solutions tailored to your organisation’s specific needs. By combining our capabilities in climate risk assessments, carbon strategy development, infrastructure sustainability and ESG reporting, we enable our clients to mitigate risks, enhance transparency and improve resilience in a fast-evolving landscape.

ESG masterplan development

We developed a comprehensive ESG Masterplan for Zakher Marine International, an ADNOC company, supporting the decarbonisation of UAE assets in line with achieving 2030 emission reduction target of 25% and ESG reporting KPIs. Our role included the evaluation and update of the existing emissions inventory in addition to the development of an integrated emissions model to identify the emissions reduction potential for ZMI by 2030.

ESG and decarbonisation roadmap

M42’s ESG roadmap was shaped through stakeholder input, benchmarking against industry best practices and alignment with international ESG standards such as GRI and SASB. Building on this foundation, we helped M42 establish a standalone decarbonisation roadmap, supported by an emissions calculation methodology, standards and governance structure.

Sustainability implementation

We facilitated an in-depth evaluation of sustainable and practical approaches to pioneer carbon reduction, waste handling and water and energy intensity reduction for Aldar Projects. The evaluation also involved identifying the most suitable supplier base for green material acquisition and use, as well as reviewing and updating the sustainability procurement policies in place. The outcome of this project provided Aldar with the necessary tools to achieve their net zero target by 2050 through effectively balancing economic feasibility with sustainable rigour.

GHG inventory development

We helped develop a greenhouse gas inventory for Khazna’s DXB1 data center, inclusive of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, while providing calculation templates and a methodological training report to support the team in developing their capacity for consistent, high-quality reporting. The project enabled Khazna to better assess where emissions are most prominent and the efficacy of different reduction options.

With a focus on social equity, we implement strategies to foster inclusive infrastructure development and ethical supply chain practices. This approach helps guarantee that the community is actively engaged and benefits holistically from every project.

To learn more about how we can support your sustainability and ESG goals, visit our ESG and Strategic Sustainability page.