Sustainability, or otherwise referred to as ESG, has become more and more important in business. ESG stands for Environment, Social and Governance. This is intended to cover the different aspects of being a sustainable business. Another common term is the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. 

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A sustainability consultant is a professional who specializes in advising and assisting organizations during the process of becoming more sustainable. ESG Consultants have expertise in ESG reporting, sustainability strategy, impact assessments, sustainability KPI selection and ESG gap analyses. These actions are intended to support an organization in identifying its key priorities as it relates to sustainability. Many companies face pressure from their clients, investors, governments and even the general public. 

Sustainability Consultants provide expert advice and guidance throughout the entire ESG strategy formation, reporting an optimization phase.. This often includes the determination of a baseline, sustainability goal setting, ESG KPI selection, employee engagement through training, and general consulting on sustainability topics. 

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This work is often done by big consultancies, but freelancing seems to be the future of work. With Dazzle, we give you access to the best freelance sustainability talent. In this overview we will talk you through: 

- The skills & and qualifications of freelance sustainability experts 
- How they can support your organization in becoming more sustainable
- How your collaboration with freelancers will look like
- Why working with freelancers is more cost-effective

The freelance sustainability consultants on our platform usually have a background in ESG strategy or ESG reporting in large organizations, as a freelancer or even at big 4 consultancies. Many of them have since moved to the freelance community, either to have more freedom or to be able to serve more organizations with their sustainability skills. 

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The freelancers on our platform have gone through our assessment process, where we evaluate their skills through an interview and case study. Afterwards, the Dazzle freelancers complete a skills inventory which feeds our matchmaking algorithm. 

Sustainability consultants will have worked with many organizations throughout the years. It's not untypical to have completed ESG reports, sustainability gap analyses, and implementation projects in the past. That means that an experienced sustainability freelancer is able to hit the ground running very fast, without a long onboarding period compared to a full-time employee. On our platform, we have a wide range of freelancers, to be able to match your organization, budget and ambition level. 

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Juniors

Junior Sustainability freelancers (with 2-3 years experience in sustainability consulting) can provide valuable legwork to understand how sustainability fits into your organization - whether it's researching the specific regulations that apply to your organization, or supporting the implementation of actions that have already been determined by your sustainability strategy. 

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Associates

Associate-level sustainability freelancers (with 3-7 years of experience as a sustainability professional) can identify the gaps between your current ESG initiatives and those necessary to be a sustainable organization. A more experienced sustainability consultant can advise you on best practices within your industry, and offer concrete implementation support. 

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Seniors

Senior sustainability freelancers (with 7+ years of experience as a sustainability professional) can support you completely from becoming compliant to moving beyond basic requirements. They can act as Chief Sustainability Officers as a service to lead the sustainability efforts from the ESG strategy formation all the way up to publishing your annual sustainability report. 

Sustainability or ESG freelancers are flexible alternatives to working with traditional sustainability consulting firms. Given the breadth and depth of sustainability, it could be helpful to have specialists available. Most ESG managers are generalists, but when topics as biodiversity, regulatory compliance and LCAs arise, they could use a bit of support. With Dazzle, you can tap into a pool of expert when needed, for as long as you need the support. ​

Time pressure and flexibility

Recruiting employees for a fulltime position in your sustainability team can be a timely process. With Dazzle, you can get started in as little as 48 hours. Simply book a discovery call, complete the scoping form and we'll match you to the best possible sustainability freelancer. When annual sustainability reports are due, ESG assessment deadlines are lurking around the corner, and data collection is delaying your progress, working with a sustainability freelancers can fast-track your actions and help you bridge the gap in your team. 

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Understaffed ESG department

The beauty and challenge of sustainability is that it is an extremely broad topics, with more and more sub-topics. Especially in organizations that don't have a fully staffed ESG department, it's almost impossible to expertly cover every singly specialty. Sustainability freelancers are a convenient solution to bridge the skills gap that inevitably exist within your organization and get expert advice or implementation support in peak times. 

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Skill gaps and topic-specific expertise

Some extremely complex legislation might be coming your way, which could fall outside of the comfort zone of your core sustainability team. We also regularly see sustainability being covered by HR, Marketing or Operational departments. Especially senior sustainability advisors can deliver much-needed specialist expertise, for example for complex biodiversity scans, LCAs or reporting requirements. 

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Local expertise 

If the ESG department has no expertise in a local market, but need to comply with local regulation, it's difficult to find a sustainability advisor to support those cross-border activities. Experienced local sustainability freelancers can supply guidance for local legislation, reporting requirements, but also culturally sensitive advise on engaging employees in your sustainability efforts.

Flexibility

ESG freelancers can deliver punctual support, with more availability during peak times and on=demand standby during more quiet times in your sustainability roadmap. Tap into a pool of experts to close the skills gaps.

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Cost-effective

Traditional ESG consulting firms sell the time and rate of a consultant, and a group of analysts, or off-shore freelancers from low-income countries who deliver the work. That is neither transparent nor fare to the team members actually working on the project. Working with a sustainability freelancer ensures full transparency as you'll be working directly with the individual and there is clear commitment to the project. 

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Compliance and reporting expertise

Working directly with the individual ensures the level of expertise and experience needed to successfully deliver the project. Compare resumes and work with freelancers that are experienced in your industry. You can also rest assured that all Dazzle freelancers have successfully completed our vetting system, meaning you'll be working with only the best sustainability freelancers. 

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Working with, not for you

Traditionally, sustainability consultants take the work out of your hands and do the work for you. Our ESG freelancers will work with you on the project, and ensure knowledge transfer along the way. Dazzle is about making progress, on the sustainability front but also for the individual. Our freelancers learn from working with each other and the organization that we serve, and that goes both ways. We want the leave our clients better than they were when we started, not overwhelmed by a 30-page report. 

Setting an ESG baseline

In this first step, we will establish a baseline. What are the existing sustainability initiatives? How far along are you on your ESG journey? Depending on the maturity and ready availability of the data, we can determine a logical sequence for the rest of the project. 

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Alignment of Sustainability Goals & Strategy

After the baseline​ has been established a plan needs to be put into place to close the gaps. In the initial phase, your organization needs to establish which KPIs to report on and how that relates to your ESG goal setting.  

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ESG Reporting

Most organizations start with a rather simple ESG KPI dashboard. However, depending on which reporting standards of frameworks that you follow, the reporting structure needs to be built or improved. GRI is the most common reporting standard to follow, and thus best practice. Reporting should be incorporated into your ESG roadmap. Many organizations opt to publish an annual sustainability report, this enhances transparency, organizational commitment and accountability. 

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Continuous improvement 

Sustainability is never a once-off exercise, as it requires continuous work on your ESG strategy. That's why you will need to put in place systems to ensure the achievement of your ESG goals. This final step will help you identify the areas of improvement for the continuation of your strategy. You can view this as a circular process, similar to the PDCA-loop.