The Sustainability Professionals Institute of Nigeria (SPIN) has called for the contextualisation of sustainability practices to reflect Nigeria’s economic, institutional and social realities.

It also urged stronger professional standards to move the sector from compliance to strategic business decision-making.

The institute made the call at its inaugural Sustainability Conference. The hybrid conference, themed,

“The Adaptive Enterprise: Sustainability Strategies for Challenging Times,” brought together sustainability professionals, business leaders, policymakers, investors, financial institutions and other stakeholders to examine how organisations can remain resilient and create long-term value amid growing uncertainty.

In his opening remarks, President of SPIN, Prof. Kenneth Amaeshi, said sustainability practitioners must avoid simply importing frameworks developed for other environments without adapting them to local circumstances.

“Let us not make sustainability another form of imperialism travelling around the world. We must contextualise it to meet our needs,” he said.

Amaeshi acknowledged the role of global standards but stressed that their application should produce outcomes relevant to Nigeria’s economic, institutional and social context.

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) Aminu Umar-Sadiq, in his keynote address, identified economic volatility, climate change, geopolitical shifts, energy transition, technological disruption and regulatory changes as factors increasingly influencing how organisations operate, allocate capital and create value.

During the first panel discussion, titled “Adaptive Enterprises and Sustainability Strategies for Challenging Times,” Senior Special Assistant to the President on Climate Finance and Stakeholder Engagement, Ibrahim Shelleng pointed to policy implementation gaps and ongoing work with the Ministry of Finance and UNDP on a Nigeria-based taxonomy for green investments.

Executive Director, Risk, FirstBank Group, Biyi Olagbami said compliance was a baseline rather than a competitive advantage and cautioned against applying international standards without adapting them to local realities.

Chief Executive of CSR-in-Action, Dr. Bekeme Masade-Olowola said the effectiveness of ESG integration should be measured by where the money actually goes, how decisions are made, and what people are held accountable for.

Meanwhile, Vice President of SPIN, Dr. Ini Abimbola, announced the institute’s push towards chartered status and a formal licensing framework for practitioners, supported by continuing professional development.

“Sustainability is not an addendum. Sustainability is governance. Sustainability is business,” she said.

According to her, professionalisation is central to its effort to move sustainability from a peripheral function into a core organisational discipline.