Evaluators Briefing

Best Sustainability Projects Ceylon Chamber of Commerce Sustainability Awards 2020

27 July 2020

Kiran Dhanapala Fredrick Abeyratne Sabine Samarawickrema

Chamila Weerathunghe Azam Bakeer Marker

Exhausting our natural resource budget2020: 22nd August (2019: 29thJuly)

Keeping within the Earths Capacity

"..development that meets the needs of the present withoutcompromising the ability of future generations to meet their ownneeds” (source: Our Common Future)

COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY

GREEN +CSR

Environmental

COMPANY SUSTAINABILITY

TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE

EnvironmentPlanet /

Sustainability = economic + environmental + social� All three legs of sustainability are equally important

� Project can be one aspect of sustainability contributing to a broader effort on holistic approach to sustainability…but, you need to show this;

� E.g.: Renewable energy project in factories, seperate project for social empowerment of workers, and business objective to achieve triple bottom line target

� A project is one or more aspects but must relate to your organizations Sustainability Strategy and Policy and show clearly how this contributes to its big sustainability goals. E.g. Tree planting campaign or building a health clinic

OPPORTUNITIES

Cost Savings

Innovation

Market entry

RISKSThe Public

NGOs

Climate risks Poverty & Inequality

New Markets

Financials

Non-financials / Reputation

Supply Chain

Product Differentiation

Customers

InvestorsGovernments

Media

Scientists

Global Markets

Employees

Banks Insurers

PHASES in PLAN YEARS YEARS

Activity 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

PHASE 1 Activity 1.1WorkshopswithProfessionals

Activity 1.2Workshopswith Non-Professionals

Activity 1.3DraftSustainabilityPolicy & Plan

Activity 1.4Presentation &agreement onSustainabilityPlan

PHASE 2 Activity 2.1

Activity 2.2

Activity 2.3

Activity 2.4

PHASE 5

PHASE 4

PHASE 5

PHASE 6

CORPORATESTRATEGY/SUSTAINABILITYPLANNING

ENVIRONMENTALPROJECTS

SOCIALPROJECTS

GOVERNANCEPROJECTS

CSRPROJECTS

Gender Projects Award� Inequities in relation to gender exist.

� Structural inequities discriminate, exclusion etc. based on gender due to the prevalence of patriarchal societies

� Low Labour Participation rates for women

� Providing women and girls with equal access to; � education, � health care, � decent work, � representation in political and economic decision-making processes

� Implementing new legal frameworks on workplace equality

#Building Back Better

� Lessons from project disruptions & changes made

� Investing in resilience

� Adaptive capacity

� Emergency preparedness

� Initiatives for new needs / risks / coming shocks

PROJECT DETAILS� WHY

� WHO

� WHAT

� HOW

� MONITORING TO SHOW ACHIEVED AIMS & IMPACT

� DEMONSTATE IMPACT – KPIs for Outcomes

� EXIT STATEGY – WHAT COMES NEXT?

SDG – PROJECT CONTRIBUTION TO TARGETSEnvironmental Goals

Social and Economic Goals

www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals

Highlight

� Evidence of Significant Impact

� Innovation – how is it different?

� SDG Linkages – how?

� Gender equity related aspects of the project

� Any SME / Social Enterprise involvement

Implementation and certification� Reduction in Resource intensity

� Recovery of Resources

� Redesign of Products

� Reduction of Consumption

� Certification and independent verification

� Training and certification of key staff

� Continuous monitoring and bench-marking

� Data sharing and rewarding for champions

Ø ISO Series

Ø Global Reporting Initiative

Ø Fair trade, UTZ, Rainforest alliance, Forest stewardship councilØ Water, electricity, material, carbonØ LCA

Ø Industry specific standardsØ Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

(RSPO)Ø Sustainable Textile Production (STeP)

by OEKO-TEX®Ø NSF/ANSI 336 certification Ø Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI)Ø Leadership in Energy and

Environmental Design (LEED)Ø B Corp (social and environmental

performance)

Application guidelines� Brief project description with summary

� Describe partners & relationships to each other

� Provide evidence – disaggregated data, graphs

� Failures as lessons learned & changes necessitated (document)

� Clear & transparent financial data – ROIs, increased incomes

� New projects or with highlighted changes only

� Limit of 10 pages (single spaced, font size 12, Times New Roman) for completed responses.

� Applications exceeding 10 pages may require re-submission.

� No annexes unless requested*except of one printed or a soft copy of an independent evaluation or monitoring report on the project.

Suggestions for improving submissions

� Concentrate on rationale, logic and quantitative and

qualitative evidence.

� Have someone within your organization who has NOT been

involved in the project, read and ask questions

� Use of diagrams, tables, visuals etc. to convey information

quickly and transparently.

� List acronyms with what they stand.

� Attention to writing structure, sentences should be clear and

concise.

Suggestions for improving submissions

� Greater use of evidence and data to support project outputs, outcomes and impacts

� “reach” vs. “impact” � Reach is delivery targets or outputs. E.g. How many workshops

or how many participants at a workshop. � Impact is how many of those participants have adopted a certain

practice or improved some skill level or changed behavior over time as a result of having participated in the workshop.

� Avoid using jargon e.g. phrases such as “sustainability is in our DNA”

Benefits of the Awards Program� Clarity

� Benchmarking your project

� An opportunity to shine and spotlight your contribution to Sri Lanka’s Sustainable Development

� Feedback and comments to strengthen your sustainability efforts

COVID-19 is a human tragedy. But it has also created a generational opportunity.

An opportunity to build back a more equal and sustainable world.

UN Secretary General

Nelson Mandela Lecture, July 2020

Good luck!