Global professional services firm EY has announced the launch of its EY Sustainable Operating Blueprint, aimed at providing companies with a framework to embed sustainability into enterprise strategy, the firm announced.

According to ESG Today, Alexis Gazzo, EY Climate Change and Sustainability Services global leader, said the new blueprint provides a roadmap for companies to address the challenge of integrating sustainability across all functional areas of the organisation to enable value creation, rather than treating sustainability in isolation.

Gazzo said: "Across many organizations, sustainability remains the remit of specialist teams — disconnected from planning, procurement, product design or performance management. That gap may limit businesses' ability to manage risk, capture opportunity and translate ambition into outcomes."

The offering provides an AI-enabled, structured roadmap for accelerating an organisation's transition, delivering clear steps tailored to each organisation. The framework begins with defining ambition and strategic direction, helps organisations assess current positioning and identify gaps, and defines and prioritises actions to enable transformation.

The blueprint is built on two pillars. Strategic clarity guides organisations on prioritising sustainability through decision making, engagement and preparedness. Operational embeddedness turns ambition into systems and processes through key levers including capabilities and skills, processes and technology, products and services, organisation design and governance, and monitoring and evaluation.

Gazzo said: "At this inflection point, sustainability must shift from a reporting exercise to a strategic value driver: when embedded into how a business operates, it can unlock innovation, build resilience and help enable agility to position organizations for the future. This is about harnessing sustainability, not just for moral and ethical reasons, but as a critical component for business viability."

The framework responds to challenges faced by many companies where sustainability initiatives remain disconnected from core business operations.

Explore EY's Sustainable Operating Blueprint framework.