Towards a practical method for measuring and improving the sustainability-impact of value chains

To take responsibility for issues such as climate change, biodiversity collapse and poor labor conditions, many organizations have formulated strategic sustainability goals. However, frequently firms find it difficult to operationalize such objectives in their value chain activities. To address this issue, a method coined as Sustainability Impact Value Added Accounting (sivaa) is introduced. Fundamentally, sivaa measures the sustainability impact per unit of products created by adding the impact of all value-adding activities in the value chain while considering the quality of the data available in doing so. As such, sivaa is a governance instrument focused on continuously improving the sustainability impact of the primary processes rather than on external reporting. The starting point for sivaa was a method developed in earlier research, which was subsequently enhanced through literature research, validation with business and controlling students and through interviews with experts. Additional research is needed to further integrate sivaa with existing sustainability reporting and risk management efforts.