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By: Joel Carboni
The questions below were received during our Q&A, following the Sustainability in Project Management – The New GPM-b™ Certification session, at the Global Summit Series Africa 2025.
Q: How is PMI Green Certification (GPM-b™) different from existing PMI certifications such as PMP® on ESG, SDGs, safety & sustainability?
The GPM-b™ builds on the PMP and goes deeper into the question: can you deliver that project responsibly? What does it mean in practice? With GPM-b™, the focus is on considering sustainability from the very start of the project, not as an ‘add on’ - looking at environmental, social, and economic considerations - and being able to back that up with credible data. GPM-b™ proves you can get the project done in alignment with ESG, the SDGs, and sustainability principles. It focuses on tools like the PRiSM method, impact assessments, and sustainability management plans. It makes sustainability practical and action oriented at every stage of the project.
Q: Projects represent 40% of the global GDP. Can you expand on the work PMI is doing with GPM on mainstreaming sustainability in everyday projects?
This is about changing the DNA of project management. Sustainability can’t be treated as a side initiative or a CSR add-on anymore. With the GPM-b™, the PRiSM methodology, and the P5 Standard, PMI and GPM are giving project professionals the tools to make sustainability a default outcome. That means governance, planning, and measurement all include people, planet, and prosperity alongside scope, cost, and time. We’re aiming for a future where every project delivers value and leaves a positive legacy.
Q: For those who don’t believe in climate change, what evidence supports it?
You don’t need belief - you need to look at the data. Global average temperatures are up. Glaciers and sea ice are retreating. Oceans are warmer and expanding. Extreme weather events are hitting harder and more often. And attribution science now directly links these impacts to greenhouse gas emissions. This isn’t an ideology. It’s a measurement.
Q: Sustainability is a buzzword; can you define it in the simplest and most relatable scenario?
I’d put it this way: sustainability is doing today’s work in a way that doesn’t rob tomorrow. In projects, that means you’re not just meeting today’s requirements, but designing outcomes that create lasting environmental, social, and economic benefits. It’s not “less harm” - it’s a net-positive impact.
Q: What solutions can we use to mainstream lessons from our sustainability project in primary schools and healthcare in underserved African communities?
The key is making those lessons stick locally. That means turning success into simple playbooks, translating them into local languages, and tying them into actual budgets - for maintenance, training, and even spare parts. When communities own both the knowledge and the resources, the lessons aren’t just pilots. They become scalable practices.
Q: How can those in government involved in project initiation and design ensure projects are highly sustainable?
It starts in the brief. If sustainability isn’t in the initiation documents - clear targets for energy efficiency, water reuse, biodiversity net gain, or social inclusion - it won’t magically appear in delivery. Those requirements need to show up in tenders, contracts, and stage-gates. If it’s baked in up front, it becomes non-negotiable throughout.
Q: Given the environmental risks associated with resource extraction, how can we balance the need for these resources with the pursuit of true sustainability?
We have to minimize harm at every stage: avoid extraction when alternatives exist, reduce what we take, restore what we disturb, and only offset as a last resort. That means best available technology, strict controls, genuine community engagement, and binding restoration plans. If a business model only works by externalizing harm, it isn’t sustainable.
Q: What’s the practical role of apps in sustainability?
Apps are the accountability tools. They measure energy and water use, track waste, monitor supply chains, and feed data into ESG reports. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Apps close that gap - they turn sustainability from aspiration into verifiable action.
Q: How is selection done for professionals to be involved in sustainability projects?
It’s not about who can talk the loudest about sustainability. It’s about proven project management skills plus sustainability competence. Credentials like the GPM-b™, sector experience, and an ethical track record matter. Projects succeed because of capable teams, not slogans.
Q: What do you think about cybersecurity and sustainability?
They’re connected. Sustainability relies on accurate, trusted data. If that data can be hacked or altered, credibility is gone. And as more infrastructure - water, energy, healthcare - becomes digital, protecting it is part of protecting communities. Without cybersecurity, sustainability outcomes are fragile.
Q: How can project leaders ensure sustainability initiatives in Africa align with global ESG standards while benefiting local communities in a tangible way?
You start with the community. Ask what their priorities are. Then map those to ESG and SDG frameworks. Build contracts that guarantee local jobs, local suppliers, and community benefits. Report globally, but be accountable locally - to the people living with the outcomes.
Q: Does sustainability look the same in every country?
The principles are the same - People, Planet, Prosperity - but the path looks different. A country struggling with water scarcity will focus differently than one battling flooding. Sustainability is always contextual. It must adapt to local realities.
Q: How can we reach effective governance in sustaining sustainability?
By making sustainability a defined responsibility. Give people roles. Put it into contracts. Use stage-gates to enforce it. Tie incentives to sustainability outcomes, not just financial ones. Governance is what keeps sustainability from being optional.
Q: Is it too late to save nature from climate change - should we be proactive or reactive?
We’re late, but not done. Being reactive costs more and delivers less. The smart play is proactive: mitigation, adaptation, and phasing out harmful practices now. Every delay raises both risk and cost.
Q: What does true leadership in sustainability look like when compromise seems easier?
It looks like holding the line when the pressure is to cave. Leadership means saying “no” when crossing impact thresholds isn’t acceptable. It’s putting long-term value ahead of short-term comfort and being transparent with stakeholders about why it matters.
Q: How can PMs influence sponsors, given the conflicting interests regarding project resources and the complexity of SD requirements?
Speak the sponsor’s language: risk reduction, cost savings, faster approvals, better financing, market advantage. Sponsors don’t fear sustainability — they fear uncertainty. If you can present clear, defensible business cases with quantified outcomes, you’ll win support.
Q: Doesn’t the high cost of funding large-scale African projects with hefty risk premiums severely impact sustainability due to high interest payments?
Yes, but there are solutions: blended finance, guarantees, local currency lending, results-based grants, carbon and biodiversity credits. Strong governance and transparent reporting reduce risk premiums over time. Sustainability becomes viable when you design projects to de-risk investment.
Q: Is sustainability grounded in ethical and ecological responsibility, or is it a means to serve broader geopolitical agendas?
It’s both. At its heart, it’s about ethics and ecology. But yes, it gets used in geopolitics too. Our role as professionals is to ground it in evidence, transparency, and community benefit. If a project doesn’t deliver on those, it shouldn’t move forward.
Q: Considering the significant costs, how do we balance environmental sustainability with the potential economic burden?
By looking at total value, not just upfront cost. Sustainable choices often pay for themselves through efficiency and durability. Sequence investments: start with no-regret actions, then financed initiatives with clear returns, then strategic moves backed by blended capital. It’s not about burden, it’s about smarter value delivery.
Q: As a project manager, how do you manage value delivery when political interference takes away the benefits?
You lock value into contracts and governance. You use public dashboards for transparency. You document every change. Independent oversight and escrow mechanisms raise the cost of interference and keep benefits visible to stakeholders. Sunlight is a strong deterrent.
Q: How can we connect traditional African sustainable practices with modern certification and demonstrate long-term community impact to investors?
By co-creating with communities. Gather and document indigenous practices like water harvesting or agroforestry, test and certify their performance, and present the results in investor terms: lower costs, greater resilience, more stable returns. Tradition plus verified data is compelling - for communities and for capital.
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