Sustainability Advisory
Overview & Expertise
The world has become acutely aware that many of our economic approaches to development and the creation of prosperity is premised on externalising the true costs of doing business onto society and the natural world. In the face of growing existential threats arising from environmental challenges, resource constraints and the relentless pursuit of growth at all cost, there is common understanding that it is an imperative to rethink business models and operations to adapt to the demands of new realities.
Organisations will need to move away from outdated practices and business models and determine how to embrace the true ethos of “sustainability” to produce goods and services to meet the challenges of the 21st century, whilst addressing the obligations of their social contract and purpose.
This will require transformations in mindsets and engagement of internal and external stakeholders to develop and realise long-term sustainability strategies.
Our advisory services facilitate these important discussions to uniquely bring about change: that which goes beyond compliance or only address environmental management issues and helps organisations contribute to redesigning society and thus build societal sustainability and resilience.
Drawing Upon Over 15 Years Of Experience,
GIFT has assisted our clients to meet their sustainable development objectives and implement projects across the world in areas such as:
LOW CARBON DEVELOPMENT
SUPPLY CHAIN RESILIENCY
BUILT ENVIRONMENT
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
RENEWABLE ENERGY
WATER & SANITATION
AGRICULTURE
INCLUSIVE ECONOMIES
EDUCATION
The GIFT Approach
Leveraging our strong expertise in the sustainability field, drawing upon our unique on-ground insights.
Sustainability has for some time been a business priority but knowing what it means in the era we live in and where to start can be overwhelming for many organisations. The result is often a range of initiatives and compliance-driven activities but few changes to the nature of the business and its culture or people. Only 2% of companies are reported to achieve their corporate sustainability goals. This is largely due to struggles they face in bridging their sustainability goals with the transformations needed internally in competencies and mindsets. GIFT is well-equipped to guide and facilitate an organisation’s commitment to sustainability beyond the demands of compliance and ensure the strategies and initiatives implemented are anchored to the new demands of our age.
GIFT’s approach leverages our strong expertise in the sustainability field, drawing upon our unique on-ground insights. This, coupled with our extensive facilitation experience and over 15 years of developing and implementing sustainable development projects across Asia, positions us to help clients find solutions to sustainability challenges and formulate clear and actionable positions or plans
OVER 15 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE ON THE FOREFRONT OF SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES
GIFT’s sustainability advisory is grounded in real-world insights generated from our frontline research as a think tank on key sustainability challenges across Asia.
UNIQUE INSIGHTS WITH OUTCOME-DRIVEN EXPERIENCE
GIFT’s insights on sustainability issues coupled with outcome-driven facilitation enables clients to understand sustainability and its importance for business, develop a robust position on sustainability, identify the fundamental organisational transformations needed, and unlock new business opportunities.
STRONG EXPERTISE IN SUSTAINABILITY FIELD
Chandran Nair, Lead Facilitator is widely recognised as one of the most original and leading thinkers on sustainability with over 30 years of experience across the world.
Our Services
Supporting organisations at different stages of their sustainability journey
GIFT serves clients at different stages of their sustainability journey, with bespoke solutions designed to suit each organisation’s unique objectives, industry challenges, leadership demands, and employee needs and know-how. The methodologies employed are customised to the objectives and desired outcomes of the intervention, and include – but are not limited to – webinars, facilitated workshops, leadership development programmes and feasibility studies.
GIFT’s services fall within three broad categories:
Sustainability – what is it and what does it mean for my organisation? The threats posed by climate change, environmental degradation and resource constraints compel us to rethink business-as-usual activities and act to address the urgent need to develop sustainable business models.
GIFT supports organisations at the beginning of their sustainability journey by helping them gain a deeper understanding of sustainability concepts and their importance for the business. GIFT’s insights on sustainability issues provide organisations a foundational understanding to shape their strategic and operational decision making.
Our current economic model is unsustainable. Both governments and businesses have recognised this, which is why the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiative was conceived to help change the status quo, particularly in relation to how capital markets take into consideration sustainability concerns. However, current ESG initiatives and processes are too focused on complex reporting exercises that do little to change fundamentals beyond creating metrics for investors and public relations.
GIFT’s approach is designed for organisations who are interested in gaining a deeper understanding of what each of the E, S and G pillars mean for them: how they pertain to the sustainability goals, their sense of purpose, and in relation to the country they operate in. GIFT’s insights on the drivers that underpin global ESG initiatives and the changes needed in various industries are geared towards equipping companies with the knowledge to enhance their strategies with practical sustainability actions.
Successful sustainability strategies include: understanding of the specific issues relevant to the business, a commitment to the need to update or change existing business models, alignment across relevant stakeholders and a prioritised set of implementable actions.
GIFT provides support to leadership teams to generate a robust public position, prioritise key action areas, and develop strategic plans and implementation roadmaps. GIFT assists organisations interested in evaluating and translating their sustainability objectives into strategic frameworks and business operations. GIFT assists companies to cascade their existing strategy throughout the organisation.
The transformation to a more sustainable business will require new ways of doing business and the development of new products and services. For organisations looking to generate new business opportunities aligned to their sustainability ambitions, the ability to engage internal stakeholders and leverage their expertise to develop new ideas enables commitment to implementation, creates a sense of purpose and encourages buy-in for business transformation.
GIFT works with organisations to help them examine their core business model, identify gaps between the current and desired outcomes, and develop business plans that are relevant and practical.
Select examples of new business ideas- Using brownfield sites for modular hydroponic farms
- Piloting zero plastic stores
- Embedding cluster enterprises for rural revitalisation
- Providing index based weather insurance
Translating new business ideas into plans and actions requires project feasibility exploration, which lays the foundation for implementation. GIFT consults with organisations to help pilot new sustainable business solutions from project feasibility to implementation by providing advice and end-to-end project management.
Over the years, GIFT has managed a wide range of on-the-ground feasibility and implementation projects to support this process, including but not limited to:
- Feasibility Analysis & Stress Testing
- Stakeholder Mapping & Risk Assessment
- Stakeholder Consultation & Partnerships
- Subject Matter Expert Consultation
- Commercial Viability Analysis
- Content Communication
- Monitoring and Evaluation
OUR IMPACT
Case Studies
SERVICE
Understanding Sustainability & Mindset Shifts
GERMAN MULTINATIONAL CHEMICAL COMPANY
CHALLENGE
The client sought to engage its younger talent pool in disruptive learning and “out-ofthe-box” thinking within sustainability to distill an understanding of the megatrends shaping the future business landscape.
APPROACH
GIFT facilitated interactive sessions with its unique narrative on sustainability, exploring key global shifts, the sustainability challenges of the 21st century, their impact on the role of business in society, as well as solutions and case studies for a sustainable future.
OUTCOME
Following a successful module of foundational learning, the client approached GIFT to facilitate the next stage of generating new strategic business opportunities aligned to the company’s sustainability ambitions
SERVICE
Strategic Decision-Making & Action Plans
MULTINATIONAL CONGLOMERATE COMPANY
CHALLENGE
The client sought to internalise and cascade its Group-wide Sustainability Strategy for successful implementation across its subsidiaries in property, food, retail, hotels, motors, and engineering etc.
APPROACH
GIFT’s facilitation, combining classroom-based learning and outcome-driven project work, provided Jardines’ Business Unit (BU) leaders a deepened understanding of sustainability and the know-how to develop sustainable business proposals for the company and its BUs across industries and regions.
OUTCOME
Sustainable Business Models for various BUs in five areas: buildings & construction, the automotive industry, plastic production & consumption, food supply chain, health & quality of life for supplier communities.
SERVICE
Project Feasibility & Implementation
INTERNATIONAL HOLDING COMPANY
CHALLENGE
The client desired to conduct a feasibility study to assess the viability of a global commodities exchange for plastic recycling.
APPROACH
In building the different components of the feasibility study, GIFT carried out market and policy research and analyses, engaged external experts and stakeholders, facilitated consensus-building workshops, and devised a five-year business plan.
OUTCOME
Following a successful feasibility study, the client approached GIFT to project manage the implementation phase of the Exchange.
What Our Clients Think
“Facing the complex issues in the Cambodian context made me think about how we should contribute to sustainable growth at BASF. We produced a business model that aimed to address the challenges of humanity, and not just driven by profit or growth targets.”
Kim Hong Min
Senior Global Product Manager,BASF
"GIFT overhauled my understanding and knowledge of sustainability, creating an intervention for the role to be played by my organisation and myself in moving forward this pressing agenda of mankind.”
Priscilla Wu
Group Head of Diversity & Inclusion,Jardine Matheson
“The GIFT programme inspired me to take immediate action within my own business and to promote a more sustainable approach which takes into account commercial & social factors.”
Quang Huu Nguyen
R&D Manager, Dupont Crop Protection, Vietnam & Cambodia,DuPont
“GIFT’s programme was one of the best learning experiences I have had. The facilitators provided the latest developments and information in sustainability from a broad perspective, that helped us to examine our current sustainability strategy holistically.”
Linda Wang
Sustainability Manager,IKEA North Asia
