Evaluating the Impact of Sustainability Actions for Enhanced Business Performance

This chapter explores how corporate sustainability assessments can be made more comparable, actionable, and strategically relevant by aligning them with current sustainability developments, the progress of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the transgression of the Planetary Boundaries. Such alignment ensures that corporate sustainability efforts contribute meaningfully to global sustainability challenges while minimizing unintended negative impacts. To advance this goal, the chapter introduces the “Sustainability Compass,” a novel Sustainability Impact Assessment tool as a methodological innovation that captures inputs, outputs, outcomes, and holistic impacts, enabling a more comprehensive evaluation of sustainability measures. By operationalizing the principle of strong sustainability, the tool links corporate actions directly to the Planetary Boundaries and SDGs progress, enhancing both comparability across initiatives and strategic relevance for sustainability strategies and reporting standards. In addition, “Sustainability Compass” provides a way to continuously monitor and support strategic decision-making in operational sustainability management. A central methodological contribution is its framework for prioritizing sustainability measures based on impact and SDG relevance, providing organizations with a structured approach to align strategies with global goals, improving reporting, and strengthening operational sustainability management. The chapter illustrates the practical application of the tool with concrete examples, demonstrating how it guides decision-making, reinforces strategic coherence, and supports continuous improvement in sustainability performance.