Dr Nick Fleming, Chief Sustainability Officer CMIC Conference, 20 September 2012

Demystifying sustainability to create profound business improvement – practical insights from

real experience

Dr Nick Fleming, Chief Sustainability OfficerCMIC Conference, 20 September 2012

achieve outstanding success

Key messages

Sustainability issues are escalating, not diminishing

Sustainability provides a powerful lens and trigger for business improvement if approached practically and strategically

Well governed businesses are establishing a sustainable competitive advantage because they have bothered to pay attention

Introduction

04/20/23achieve outstanding success

Factors influencing success

Introduction

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

TimeCostQuality

Growing sustainability focusand business complexity

TimeCostQualitySafety

TimeCostQualitySafetyWaste

minimisation

TimeCostQualitySafetyWaste

minimisationResource

efficiencyCarbon priceClimate riskBiodiversity

maintenanceCommunity

livelihoods

Projectdrivers

InsurersFinanciers

Inst’l investorsStock exchanges

ShareholdersCustomers

GovernmentsLobby groups

InsurersFinanciers

Inst’l investorsStock exchanges

ShareholdersCustomers

GovernmentsLobby groups


‘Fit for purpose’ assets

Commence and remain affordable (viable)

Highly efficient and operate with a small ‘footprint’ (efficient)

Make sense as a piece in the wider infrastructure puzzle (relevant)

Are valued by stakeholders now and over their operating life (constructive)

What does sustainability mean in practice?


‘Fit for the future’ enterprises

Viable – compliant with laws and regulations, managing risks Efficient – managing costs, reducing resources and eliminating waste Relevant – producing valued goods and services ‘fit for the future’ Constructive – contributing to social well-being, and so maintaining a ‘social

licence to operate’



Number oforganisations

Strategic

leaders

Aiming for

compliance

Proactivelyresponsible

Managingrisks

Policy expression

Practical action

in operations

Bridging the ‘policy-practice gap’


making sustainability real


Bridging the ‘policy-practice gap’



Goulburn Valley Water

Case Study


Goulburn Valley Water – embedding sustainability

Case Study

Plan Policy

Actions



Case Study

Business excellence framework

Hardwiring into operations



BEFORE Confused leadership Sustainability = environment No strategy Internally focused, office-based

activities Lead by 1 person, staff cynical Safety culture Misaligned operations Office and field operations silos Little improvement focus

and knowledge sharing

Case Study

AFTER Aligned leadership, clear strategy Sy = economy, society, environment

(finance, customer, environment) Customer, supplier and staff focus Leaders guide but owned by all staff TBL culture Aligned operations working for

continuous improvement (‘Sust. Excellence Framework’)

Shift to whole-of-life value creation More team-work, less re-work


Goulburn Valley Water altered business model

Case Study

Bruce Hammond, General Manager of Technical Services, said “It was SKM’s work with GVW that helped us realise that ‘core business’ for us is as much working with the regional community to keep it strong and prosperous, as it is providing water supply and managing wastewater. It opened our eyes and lead to the Precinct initiative.”

Buffer Zone Boundary

Buffer Zone Boundary

Shepparton WWTP


Goulburn Valley Water altered business model

Synergistic operations Wastes into resources Creating regional

economic growth and jobs

Liability to income generating asset

Enhanced brand, reduced costs

Case Study

GVW biogas storage

DiamondEnergy

VeoliaEnv Services

Western Composting

Construction Construction Waste RecoveryWaste Recovery Kinetic Kinetic

Renew-Renew-ablesables

Solar PowerSolar Power

BiosolidsBiosolidsprocessingprocessing

FarmingFarming

Tree lotsTree lots

FarmingFarming

Aerobic LagoonAerobic Lagoon

Shepparton WWTP


Observations

You can ignore sustainability as a term, but not the issues, risks and opportunities.

Is your organisation ‘fit for the future’? Well run, progressive organisations are asking themselves this question.

If approached in a pragmatic yet strategic way, sustainability can trigger and unleash substantial business benefits beyond efficiency improvement

Concluding thoughts

Dr Nick Fleming, Chief Sustainability Officer CMIC Conference, 20 September 2012

Documents

Transcript of Dr Nick Fleming, Chief Sustainability Officer CMIC Conference, 20 September 2012