Edge Impact celebrates its 15 year milestone

Edge Impact Turns 15! 

This year, Edge Impact celebrates its 15 year milestone. From a humble team of 3 in Manly on Sydney's Northern beaches, the business has evolved to become a leading full service sustainability consultancy. Jonas Bengtsson, our Global CEO and Co-Founder shares his reflections on the journey so far and what's next for us and the sustainability space. 

This year, Edge Impact turns 15. How has the business evolved over that time - take us through the company’s journey. 

We started back in 2008, when a humble team of three in Manly on Sydney’s Northern beaches decided to make the leap and set up our own sustainability research and consultancy firm. It was a time where there was mixed excitement and uncertainty about the future of climate action in Australia and we had a strong ambition to catalyse change. This still rings true today. 

Our core focus back then was on sustainable built environment research and consulting. At the time, we saw that most of the action was happening in this space. We felt there was a big opportunity to contribute to the low carbon and sustainable transformation of the economy and society. 

We worked both nationally and internationally from an early stage, with both private and public sector clients. Our team (and impact) grew gradually, and within a few years, we started to work across more sectors, adding broader technical and strategic capabilities. 

Walking the talk and being purpose-led has always been very central to our culture and how we operate. In 2016 we officially became a BCorp (one of the first organisations in our space to do so) and in 2017, we set science-based carbon reduction targets for the business, one of the first with validated targets in the region. 

Motivated to continue growing our impact, we expanded into the Latin American market in 2017 with Edge Chile and merged with Adelaide consulting firm, Seed in 2019. Since then, we’ve also opened offices in Victoria, New Zealand and the US. 

In the past year, we’ve also seen the growth of our Tech capabilities which focus on developing tool-based solutions for our clients, as well as expanding our creative and communication capabilities by merging with Sydney agency, Goodness. 

How has the sustainability landscape changed during that time? 

We have been part of a very fast-moving development where our company mission has gone from something niche to mainstream. 

Now more than ever, we are in lockstep with our clients, working together on targeted solutions. 15 years ago, we were more often trying to convince people why sustainability, and corporate social responsibly would create value for an organisation.  

Today we have moved past “why”, to what are the practical solutions and tools, the focus is now on “how”. 

We have come a long way, but at the same time, we are still far from delivering the change science is telling us we must. 

When we started, we chose our company name to be Edge Environment, but over time the “environment” part has felt limiting as our work is much more oriented to delivering broader impact. Hence why as part of our recent brand refresh, we have chosen the name Edge Impact to reflect this evolution. 

Proudest moment/biggest achievement for the business? 

There is so much to highlight over 15 years but the three key achievements for me are: 

• A World Class Team: Starting from a team of 3, we have now grown to 100 passionate sustainability professionals in Australasia and the Americas, which is such an amazing force. But we have also an alumni of hundreds that are now in influential positions around the world. Additionally, 1 in 6 current employees are shareholders of the business. 
• Systems Changes: The methods, guidelines and tools we have worked with industry leaders to develop are incredibly valuable, as they contribute to impact beyond the day-to-day work we do. This includes our contributions to the leading rating tools Green Star, NABERS, IS Rating Tool, the methods used by ARENA, the Sustainability Consortium/Walmart, and many more. 
• Tech: The in-house tech and tool development capabilities we have created to decarbonise sectors and organisations, guide homeowners and property owners adapt to climate change, guide organisations to become more circular, and empower organisations to identify and eliminate the risk of modern slavery in their supply chains, plus so much more. 

What has been the most surprising thing about the journey so far? 

In the early days, we were truly seen as on the fringe, servicing a “nice to have agenda.” Today, we are in the board rooms and work with some of the most talented professionals you can imagine, helping deliver business critical and core strategic projects. 

The shift from “nice to have” to “mission critical” has been, perhaps not surprising, but rather, “thank god our premonitions turned out to be right”, not for our sake, but for the planet. 

What’s the one key piece of advice you would give your younger self when you were starting out 15 years ago? 

Surround yourself with people unlike you, with trust, patience and tolerance. Take risks, extend yourself, and trust your team. 

You need a team of people with other skills and experiences than you. Countless of times I’ve been amazed by how we have been able to adapt and overcome, simply by the diversity of skills, backgrounds, experiences and networks we have. 

What do you see in the next 15 years? 

In a world that is rapidly decarbonising (to meet zero by 2050), sustainability is integrated and ingrained into everything we do. Every engineer, banker, architect, teacher, nurse, public servant, chef and pilot have sustainability incorporated in their training, KPIs and job description. How we help our clients deliver impact in 15 years will certainly look different compared with today. 

What’s next on the horizon for Edge Impact? 

We are at a point in time where we have a unique opportunity to deliver positive impact in partnership with our clients. We are in daily conversations about how we can creatively accelerate, elevate and pioneer ways to help organisations succeed by doing good. 

Our challenge is how we can scale this effort, avoid the pitfalls of competing where we should be collaborating, zero-sum game thinking and ensure we continue to see this as the decade of action, where we need to dramatically step up and keep our focus on the outcomes and progress we need.