Greening Is a Process, not a Checkbox: Supporting Businesses Through ESG Transitions in East Africa

In Uganda, more and more businesses are trying to understand what it means to be “green.” I’m seeing that it isn’t that companies don’t want to incorporate greening into their business. It’s that they don’t know how to do it—how to start. And why? Because they’re seeing how it matters—to the future of their operations.

The challenge is, it’s not always clear what that actually means.

Over the last year, I’ve spoken with dozens of companies. Many of them want to take sustainability seriously. But they’re overwhelmed. The frameworks are confusing.The standards are foreign. And the pressure to get it right is high: GRI, ESRS, IFC Performance Standards—it’s a lot. Especially for businesses where this isn’t their specialty.

I spoke to one large company recently whose parent company had a “sustainability approach,” but nothing had been operationalised in Uganda. They didn’t know what to do, or how to begin. Others are simply overwhelmed by it all. Some have been made to feel like ESG is a test. A checklist to complete.

But that’s not what it is.

ESG is a process. A way of building stronger, more resilient businesses that understand their impact—and make intentional choices along the way.

It’s not about getting everything perfect on day one. It’s about taking a first step.

At the RUN Global, this is how we work. We don’t start with a 50-page standard. We start with a conversation. We ask: What are you already doing? What matters to you? What’s realistic in this context, for this business, at this stage of growth? What makes commercial sense for you as a business?

Then we break it down. We help businesses move forward, one decision at a time. Sometimes that means improving labour practices to make them more inclusive. Sometimes it’s looking at waste, or water use. In agriculture, many times it’s about sourcing strategies—so that farmers get the information or technology they need to make better choices and adapt to climate change. But always, it’s about making ESG practical—and grounded in the realities of the communities where these businesses work.

Because if we want sustainability to stick, it has to make sense to the people running the business.

And when that happens—when ESG becomes part of how the business thinks, not just something it reports—then it lasts.

That’s the kind of transition we’re supporting.

Not perfect. But possible.

Not flashy. But real.

Step by step, business by business.