Conservation Value Solutions collaborates with companies to answer “Five Key Questions” for advancing sustainability of their supply chains, procurement programs, and overall ESG strategies:
Key Question 1: “What’s the Problem?”
What are the environmental, climate, and other (e.g., health, economic) impacts (and associated risks) of producing, using, and disposing of the product? (i.e., evaluating its production impacts, use impacts, and re-use potential)
Key Question 2: “What are the solutions?”
For each impact and its associated risks (e.g., excessive water use and habitat degradation in a supply chain, or high embodied carbon in a manufactured product), we first identify the desired outcome (e.g., water use within sustainable limits and healthy habitat; low embodied carbon). We then identify the production, use, and re-use practices that science recommends for achieving each desired outcome — mitigating the sustainability risk.
Key Question 3: “How do you build credibility?”
Companies don’t just need effective solutions — they need solutions they can defend. Building credibility requires independent verification (did you actually implement the solution?), measurement (did it achieve the intended outcome?), and transparent communication (can you accurately describe that outcome to customers, investors, regulators, and NGOs, without overstating it?) — reducing greenwashing risk and building stakeholder trust.
- How can institutional buyers verify that their ESG and procurement choices have minimized impacts/risks and achieved desired outcomes?
- How can sustainability executives distinguish suppliers that have minimized impacts/risks and achieved desired outcomes?
The most credible means of verification is often an independent third-party certification program that meets The ISEAL Credibility Principles.
Key Question 4: “How do you DO it?”
- How do procurement initiatives use certification and other verification programs to find and purchase credibly more sustainable products?
- How do ESG initiatives use certification and other verification programs to identify, evaluate, and invest in credible nature-based solutions projects that can be trusted to generate their claimed benefits?
- How do supply chain sustainability initiatives use these programs to: identify suppliers who minimize impacts (and associated risks) and reward them with more business, and require suppliers to meet (and/or improve toward) independent third-party sustainability standards?
Key Question 5: “What else do we need to do?”
What are key barriers to sustainability in the sector, and what are stakeholders’ best ideas for solutions to each barrier? Answers feed directly back into Key Question 4 — turning implementation into a continuous-improvement cycle, not a one-time fix.
We use results to develop recommendations on how to: (a) design and implement supply chain sustainability, green procurement, and ESG strategies that generate credible impact, and (b) verify and communicate that impact accurately and transparently — reducing greenwashing risk and building stakeholder trust.
Selected Applications:
- Beef Supply Chain Sustainability: Click here for series landing page.
- The Quest for a Sustainable Mattress: Click here for series conclusion (with links to additional posts)