Positive Organisations

Organisations do not operate independently of society or nature. Their purpose, culture and governance shape both how they create value and the impacts they have on people, society and the natural systems on which economic activity depends. Across Culture & Purpose, Climate Advisory, Boards & Governance and Nature Positive, CSA helps organisations develop the organisational capability required to respond to the climate and biodiversity crises and move beyond compliance towards responsible and sustainable practice.

Positive organisations are clear about both the value they seek to create and their  responsibilities for how that value is created. They seek to have a positive impact on all stakeholders including the environment and future generations. Purpose provides direction, while culture translates that purpose into the assumptions, priorities and behaviours that shape everyday organisational life.

CSA extends this perspective beyond conventional measures of organisational performance. Organisations are embedded within society, and both society and economic activity ultimately depend upon functioning ecological systems. The SDG Wedding Cake model captures this relationship by locating the economy within society and both within the biosphere. The climate and biodiversity crises therefore raise fundamental questions about organisational purpose, responsibility and the forms of value organisations seek to create.

CSA approaches sustainability as an organisational and leadership challenge, not simply a technical, reporting or compliance issue. Commitments and targets have limited impact unless they become embedded in organisational purpose, governance, culture, leadership and behaviour.

Our four areas of work address different but interconnected elements of this transition. Culture & Purpose considers what the organisation stands for and how this is expressed through behaviour. Climate Advisory helps translate climate science and ambition into organisational action. Boards & Governance establishes oversight, accountability and stewardship. Nature Positive broadens the organisational lens beyond carbon to biodiversity, ecosystems and the organisation’s dependencies and impacts on nature.

Together, these areas help organisations move from stated purpose and compliance towards integration, responsible practice and positive social and environmental impact.

CSA’s Positive Organisation services are particularly relevant when an organisation is reviewing its culture or purpose, developing or implementing a climate or sustainability strategy, strengthening Board oversight of sustainability, responding to emerging climate and nature-related disclosure expectations,  managing double materiality or seeking to move from sustainability commitments towards measurable and transformational organisational change.