The context for doing business has changed—demanding that companies develop sustainability strategies and innovative business models that deliver both financial returns and positive societal impact. BCG’s sustainability strategy consulting team helps companies do just that to build lasting competitive advantage.
Sylvain Santamarta
Investors, customers, employees, policymakers, and other stakeholders increasingly expect companies to play a role in addressing critical societal challenges including climate change and economic inequality. In this environment, leaders must reimagine their corporate strategy, portfolio, and business models, and embrace a true sustainability transformation—one that drives innovation, creates value, and enhances the robustness and resilience of the business.
Companies that drive sustainability at scale create value in a host of ways, from capturing new growth markets and building new revenues streams to higher market valuations and enhanced employee retention. We help companies set a clear sustainability strategy that links positive environmental and societal outcomes to core drivers of competitive advantage and value creation, allowing them to transform their business models and value chains to capture the value they create.
Defining Sustainability Vision, Strategy, and Ambition. A successful business sustainability strategy is anchored in purpose, focused on long-term value creation, and driven from the top of the organization. We work with clients to identify environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics that are material to their industry today and in the future, and build an end-to-end sustainability strategy across the portfolio and an authentic sustainability narrative.
Making the Core Business Sustainable. Companies must assess and enhance the sustainability of their existing portfolio and operations. We work with clients to decarbonize their operations by helping them engage their suppliers to build more sustainable supply chains, implement circularity in design, and provide approaches to value capture in the market.
Driving New Sustainable Growth. Companies have a major opportunity to unlock new sources of growth through a sustainability transformation. We work with clients to build sustainability as advantage through sustainable business model innovation by helping them create new sustainable business offerings and ventures in areas such as green products, climate tech, and nature-based solutions. We also help them identify opportunities to capture growth and margin from sustainability scarcities, and shape new sustainable ecosystems that work to their advantage.
Enabling the Sustainability Transformation. To achieve sustainability at scale, companies must ensure they have the right operating model, capabilities, and governance structure in place. We help by supporting the transformation. This includes data and analytics related to material ESG metrics, AI tools such as CO2 AI, and other digital capabilities to enable measurement and reporting, as well as the cultivation of partnerships and ecosystems.
As the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) expands into green energy, SOCAR president Rovshan Najaf describes the company's transformative journey and commitment to enhancing sustainability.
BCG worked with a US health care provider to develop its environmental sustainability strategy. The work included benchmarking competitors, identifying and prioritizing material environmental topics, outlining the most promising initiatives based on impact and ROI, and zeroing in on where partnerships and ecosystems could accelerate progress.
BCG helped a leading US industrial equipment manufacturer drive an ambitious climate and sustainability transformation. We worked with the client to develop a sequential investment plan to accelerate electrification of some of the company’s offerings, trimming product development time from roughly three years to eight months. BCG also assisted the company in a push into an emerging $3 billion green business market.
BCG helped a large North American retailer move from sustainability ambition to action. We assessed more than 250 existing projects to identify roughly 25 priority initiatives. For each, we outlined key activities, milestones, and potential financial impact; and established a change management and stakeholder engagement plan to accelerate progress toward becoming a sustainable business.
Dow’s Jim Fitterling discusses the role of new markets, collaboration, and innovation in driving technological advances and speeding up climate action.
CO2 AI’s Charlotte Degot and Allon Zeitoun of Quantis explain how AI-driven tools can help companies scale emissions measurement and reduction at the product level.
Companies are creating leadership incentives to help hit their sustainability goals. To change behaviors and improve their environmental performance, they need the right approach.
BCG’s Nanna Gelebo, a partner in the Stockholm office, explains how Nordic retailers and consumers can have the best of both worlds.
Our third CO2 AI + BCG Carbon Emissions Survey reveals that collaboration, product-level measurement, and digital technology are the keys to progress in emissions reduction.
A Leader in Sustainability Strategy Consulting
BCG has been named a Worldwide Leader in ESG and Sustainability Strategy Consulting by IDC MarketScape. Find out what sets us apart.
BCG’s sustainability strategy consulting team helps build sustainability as advantage by designing a business sustainability strategy that’s tailored to each client’s individual needs. Here are some of our experts in sustainability strategy and transformation.
Managing Director & Senior Partner
San Francisco - Bay Area
