McKinsey's "Sustainability Academy" helps clients gain climate and sustainability skills

McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, has announced the creation of "Sustainability Academy," a new programme focused on preparing clients' boards, executives, and workers for the transition to net zero and addressing sustainability-related risks and opportunities.

According to McKinsey, the purpose of the new programme is to assist clients in overcoming one of the most common obstacles to achieving their ESG objectives. McKinsey cites research indicating that 100 per cent of companies in specific industries have defined sustainability strategies, but only 40 per cent believe they have the knowledge and capabilities to achieve their goals.

The new initiative follows the firm's launch of McKinsey Sustainability, a platform designed to help clients across industries transform to reach net zero by 2050 and to reduce carbon emissions by half by 2030, as well as the McKinsey Academy for Sustainability, which trains boards and high-level executives on climate change, last year.

McKinsey Sustainability consultants and learning experts from the firm's client-focused skill-building centre, McKinsey Academy, devised the Sustainability Academy programme. The programme follows a "acquire, apply, and sustain" methodology, which involves formal learning experiences, the application of capabilities in a real-world situation, and facilitating long-term behavioural change inside businesses.

Sustainability Academy launches two programmes, including "Executive Masterclass" for senior leaders, with versions at the executive and board levels, and "Sustainability transformation essentials" for the entire enterprise, with core sustainability concepts such as the climate transition, solving the net-zero equation, and seizing new business opportunities.

McKinsey Partner Pietro Sorrentino said:

"Private organisations play a crucial role in decarbonising our economy, but in order to do so, they must develop skills and capacities that they currently lack. McKinsey's Sustainability Academy was designed precisely for this purpose: to help organisations speed change by assisting them in acquiring new employee knowledge.