Why assess professional services
Consulting and marketing firms and other professional services providers have relatively small greenhouse gas emissions through their value chain. While it is important that professional services providers reduce these emissions in their inventory, it is also crucial that they address their biggest climate impact stemming from the clients they work with and the projects they work on.
For example, a marketing agency that helps promote renewable energy solutions is driving positive climate action. Conversely, a consulting firm advising a fossil fuel company on expanding its operations indirectly contributes to increased emissions. By selecting certain clients and projects, professional services providers can either advance or thwart the global effort to reduce emissions.
How the PSM helps
The matrix applies four criteria to allow mapping both customers and projects, respectively, along the matrix’ two dimensions. For assessing customers, the matrix determines whether the customer is a climate solutions company, a 1-5°C aligned entity, a non-aligned entity or a non-aligned high emitter.
Projects are assessed against whether they accelerate deforestation or fossil fuel expansion at one end of the spectrum, or whether they accelerate climate solutions, on the other end of the spectrum. Circles in different sizes represent the revenue associated with each customer and project, making for easy visualisation of where the professional services provider stands with regard to the climate alignment of its customers and projects. The matrix thus increases internal transparency and enables easy monitoring of progress.
Strategically using the PSM
The Professional Services Matrix lends itself as a strategic tool for assessing the current project portfolio, setting targets and growth/divestment strategies, making informed decisions about the continuing or discontinuing certain customers and projects, and acquiring new customers and projects. The matrix is designed for application by strategic decision- makers within professional services companies, including business leaders and sustainability managers.
The assessment using the Professional Services Matrix lays the groundwork for integrating climate and nature into business strategies, which is part of the third pillar – provide and scale solutions – represented in the 1.5°C Business Playbook.
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