Sustainable Business Strategy and ESG Leadership
A Practical Two-Day Course for Value Creation, Risk Management, and Responsible Growth
This two-day course helps leaders, managers, and business practitioners turn sustainability and ESG from compliance obligations into practical business strategies. Participants learn how environmental, social, and governance issues affect business performance, risk, reputation, financing, supply chains, customers, employees, and long-term value.
The course is designed for leaders who need to make sustainability actionable. Participants learn how to identify material ESG issues, connect sustainability to strategy, assess climate and supply-chain risks, avoid greenwashing, define KPIs, and build a practical sustainability roadmap.
The course is not only a technical reporting course. It focuses on leadership decisions: what matters, where to act, how to prioritize, how to measure progress, and how to communicate credibly.
Course at a Glance
Duration: 2 Days
Format: SBS Zurich Campus or Live Virtual
Final Deliverable: Sustainable Business and ESG Leadership Toolkit
Award: SBS Executive Education Certificate upon successful completion
What Will You Learn?
Participants will learn how to:
- Explain how sustainability and ESG affect business value, including revenue, cost, risk, capital access, reputation, talent, regulation, and stakeholder trust.
- Identify material ESG issues for a company or business unit using stakeholder, impact, risk, and financial relevance criteria.
- Assess sustainability risks and opportunities, including climate risk, resource use, supply-chain exposure, human rights, governance weaknesses, and reputational risk.
- Translate sustainability priorities into business strategy, including goals, initiatives, ownership, KPIs, investment needs, and implementation steps.
- Recognize and reduce greenwashing risk by using evidence-based claims, clear data, credible targets, and transparent communication.
Build a practical ESG leadership roadmap that aligns sustainability actions with business priorities, reporting expectations, stakeholder needs, and measurable outcomes.
Who Should Attend?
This course is designed for:
- Executives and senior managers
- Business unit leaders
- Strategy and transformation teams
- Sustainability and ESG managers
- Finance, risk, compliance, and audit professionals
- Operations, procurement, and supply-chain leaders
- HR and people leaders
- Marketing and communications professionals
- Entrepreneurs and business owners
Consultants advising organizations on sustainability
Course Format
This intensive two-day certificate course is available On Campus in Zurich or Live Virtual.
The course combines faculty input, practical frameworks, interactive discussions, case-based learning, and applied exercises that help participants translate sustainability priorities into business action.
Participants work through real-world ESG challenges, risk scenarios, stakeholder expectations, and implementation decisions while developing practical tools they can use immediately within their organizations.
Why SBS Swiss Business School?
SBS Swiss Business School is a Swiss State-Accredited institution with a global reputation for business education and executive development.
Participants benefit from practical executive education, international faculty, real-world business frameworks, and a learning experience focused on immediate workplace application.
COURSE DETAILS
Sustainable Business Strategy and ESG Leadership
Certificate: Participants receive an SBS Executive Education Certificate upon successful completion.
Course Fee Includes: Course sessions, course materials, and the certificate.
Group Pricing: Available for organizations registering multiple participants. Please contact us for details.
Participants are responsible for arranging and covering their own travel, accommodation, and meals if they choose to attend the on-campus format in Zurich.
| Classes starting |
25 - 26 September 2026 |
|---|---|
| Duration |
2 days |
| Format / Location | SBS Zurich Campus or Live-Virtual |
| Costs |
1'950 CHF* |
Day 1: Sustainability, ESG, and Business Value
From Compliance to Strategy
Day 1 helps participants understand sustainability and ESG as business issues, not only reporting or public relations topics. Leaders learn how ESG factors influence performance, risk, competitiveness, investment, supply chains, customers, employees, and long-term resilience.
Session 1: ESG and Sustainability as Business Strategy
Focus Areas
- Sustainability, ESG, CSR, impact, and responsible business
- ESG as value creation, not only compliance
- The link between sustainability and financial performance
- Sustainability risks and opportunities
- Regulation, investor expectations, customer requirements, and supply-chain access
- Talent attraction, brand trust, innovation, and cost efficiency
- Common sustainability and ESG mistakes
Practical Output: Sustainability Business Value Map
Session 2: Materiality and Stakeholder Expectations
Focus Areas
- Financial and impact materiality
- Stakeholder expectations and business priorities
- Climate, energy, emissions, waste, water, and biodiversity
- Human rights, labor practices, diversity and inclusion
- Ethics, anti-corruption, governance, and accountability
- Prioritizing ESG issues
- Turning stakeholder expectations into strategic priorities
Practical Output: ESG Materiality Matrix
Session 3: Climate, Resource, and Supply-Chain Risk
Focus Areas
- Climate, regulatory, market, and reputation risk
- Energy and resource efficiency
- Emissions and carbon exposure
- Supply-chain transparency and traceability
- Human rights and labor risks
- Supplier ESG assessment
- Business continuity and resilience
- Sustainability due diligence
Practical Output: ESG Risk and Opportunity Register
Session 4: Sustainability Strategy and Competitive Advantage
Focus Areas
- Sustainability as a source of competitive advantage
- Sustainable products, services, and business models
- Circular economy and resource productivity
- Sustainable supply chains
- Low-carbon transition opportunities
- Sustainable finance and capital access
- Innovation and efficiency opportunities
- Building a strategic sustainability portfolio
Practical Output: Sustainability Strategy Portfolio
Day 2: ESG Leadership, Implementation, Reporting, and Communication
Turning Sustainability Priorities into Action
Day 2 focuses on implementation. Participants learn how to define ESG goals, assign ownership, select KPIs, establish governance, communicate credibly, avoid greenwashing, and create a practical roadmap for implementation.
Session 5: ESG Governance and Accountability
Focus Areas
- Board and executive responsibility
- ESG governance structures
- Ownership and accountability
- Policies, procedures, controls, and decision rights
- Enterprise risk management
- Budgeting and capital allocation
- Performance management and incentives
- Internal controls and data quality
Practical Output: ESG Governance and Accountability Map
Session 6: ESG Metrics, Reporting, and Data Quality
Focus Areas
- ESG KPIs and performance measurement
- Leading and lagging indicators
- ESG reporting and disclosure readiness
- Data quality and evidence requirements
- Greenhouse gas emissions, energy, waste, and water metrics
- Employee, supplier, ethics, and compliance indicators
- Connecting ESG metrics to business outcomes
Practical Output: ESG KPI Dashboard
Session 7: Credible Sustainability Communication and Greenwashing Risk
Focus Areas
- Greenwashing risks and consequences
- Credible sustainability communication
- Evidence-based claims
- Communicating progress and limitations
- Managing stakeholder expectations
- Internal and external communication
- Building trust through transparency
Practical Output: Credible ESG Communication Checklist
Session 8: ESG Leadership Roadmap and Action Plan
Focus Areas
- Turning materiality into action
- ESG goals, targets, and initiatives
- Prioritization and resource allocation
- 90-day, 12-month, and 3-year roadmaps
- Managing sustainability trade-offs
- Reporting progress to leadership
- Embedding sustainability into decision-making
Practical Output: ESG Leadership Action Roadmap
Final Course Deliverables
Each participant leaves with a practical Sustainable Business and ESG Leadership Toolkit, including:
- Sustainability Business Value Map
- ESG Materiality Matrix
- ESG Risk and Opportunity Register
- Sustainability Strategy Portfolio
- ESG Governance and Accountability Map
- ESG KPI Dashboard
- Credible ESG Communication Checklist
- ESG Leadership Action Roadmap
Registration Fee: CHF 150 (part of the overall course fee). This fee is non-refundable if the participant cannot attend.
Refund Policy:
- The course fee is invoiced 3 months prior to the course start.
- 100% refund if canceled 4 weeks or more before the course start.
- 30% refund if canceled 2 weeks before the course start.
- No refund if canceled less than 2 weeks before the course start.
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EXECUTIVE EDUCATION
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