New PMI research reveals growing gap between sustainability ambition and delivery
As organisations across Africa and the rest of the world seek to translate sustainability ambitions into business outcomes, new research from Project Management Institute (PMI) and Green Project Management, the world's leading organisation advancing sustainable practices within the profession, reveals a critical challenge - many are struggling to deliver measurable sustainability outcomes.
A new study from Project Management Institute (PMI) and Green Project Management reveals a growing gap between organisations' sustainability ambitions and their ability to deliver measurable outcomes. With the world racing against time to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, the research highlights that while 85% of sustainability executives believe their organisations will meet their goals, only 43% of Project Management Office leaders share that confidence.
Among project professionals, just 20% are extremely confident in their organisation's delivery capabilities. The study found that while 79% of respondents see sustainability as crucial to long-term success, only 41% say it is fully integrated into projects and daily operations. In Africa, where projects drive development in areas like infrastructure, energy, healthcare, mining, agriculture, and digital transformation, the research underscores the critical challenge of turning sustainability commitments into tangible results.
Only 59% of organisations have fully integrated sustainability into project delivery and decision-making. Barriers to successful execution include difficulty quantifying benefits, weak integration into decision-making, unclear goals, competing priorities, limited outcome visibility, and longer-term time horizons. For organisations struggling to demonstrate measurable sustainability delivery, this execution gap could mean being shut out of crucial international development finance, ESG-linked investment, and climate funding critical for the continent's growth.
PMI and Green Project Management are launching the Certified Sustainable Project Professional certification to help project professionals integrate sustainability into project planning, delivery, and decision-making. By focusing on leadership alignment, clear success definitions, and strong capabilities to translate sustainability priorities into actions, organisations can build the capability needed to deliver on their sustainability commitments and thrive in Africa's rapidly developing landscape.
Written by urgent.news from MyJoyOnline Ghana's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
