Using the Our Initiatives App

Prerequisites

To access features in the Our Initiatives application in SAP Sustainability Control Tower — for example, creating an initiative or editing an action — you must be assigned specific roles. These roles grant the permissions required to view and manage your organization’s initiatives. The roles required for each feature are summarized in the following table. Note: setting the global currency also requires an appropriate role.

App Function	SUS_SCT_Initiative_Viewer	SUS_SCT_Initiative_Manager
Initiative - View	Yes	Yes
Initiative - Create	No	Yes
Initiative - Edit	No	Yes
Initiative - Delete	No	Yes
Initiative - Status Change	No	Yes
Adding Impacted Metrics	No	Yes
Sustainability Benefit - View	Yes	Yes
Sustainability Benefit - Create	No	Yes
Sustainability Benefit - Edit	No	Yes
Sustainability Benefit - Delete	No	Yes
Financials - View	Yes	Yes
Financials - Create	No	Yes
Financials - Edit	No	Yes
Financials - Delete	No	Yes
Comment - View	Yes	Yes
Comment - Create	Yes	Yes
Action - View	Yes	Yes
Action - Create	No	Yes
Action - Edit	No	Yes
Action - Delete	No	Yes
Action - Status change	No	Yes

A Brief Overview of the Our Initiatives Application

The Our Initiatives application lets your organization create, manage, and track improvement initiatives that support your corporate sustainability goals. An initiative is any projected change or project — for example, “Set up rooftop photovoltaic (solar) panels to generate clean energy for the site.” Initiatives can be short- or long-term, and each has a defined validity period (start and end dates).

Each initiative records key organizational details such as the responsible reporting structure (legal entity, reporting line, business location) and the assigned owner. Financial impacts are captured as projected benefits over the initiative’s lifetime and as annualized benefits; these impacts are expressed as CapEx and OpEx values.

The application also reports expected sustainability benefits — for example, estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions avoided (CO₂e), reduced water use, or lower waste generation — based on the initiative being implemented. This information helps the organization evaluate and prioritize initiatives and make informed strategic decisions about whether to implement them.

In addition to defining benefits, each initiative can include actions. Actions are the specific, practical steps your organization takes to implement the initiative. Without actions, an initiative remains only a concept. Actions capture details such as who is responsible, where and when implementation takes place, and how progress is carried out in the organization. Tracking actions helps ensure accountability and enables progress monitoring throughout the initiative’s lifecycle.

You can find the app under the Analytics and Steering tab.

Note

Retention period for personal data (Our Initiatives app).

When an initiative is set to “Achieved”, “Failed”, or “Discontinued”, personal data are retained for 10 years from that date and then anonymized.

Statuses that start the retention period

Achieved
Failed
Discontinued

Statuses that reset the retention start date (the start date is deleted)

Proposed
Planned
In Progress
On Hold

For example, if the initiative is set to “Achieved” on 13.11.2025, the owner’s name and contact information will be anonymized on 13.11.2035. If the status is changed after 13.11.2025 to any of “Proposed”, “Planned”, “In Progress”, or “On Hold”, the retention start date is deleted. A new retention start date is recorded when the status is later changed again to “Achieved”, “Failed”, or “Discontinued”.

Getting Started

When you open the Our Initiatives application for the first time, the list of initiatives are empty. To begin, you need to create a new initiative.

Once you've created one or more initiatives, they appear in the list on the main screen. Select an initiative to open its details page, where you can view or edit its general information, sustainability benefits, financials, actions, and other related data.

To understand the overall process before creating an initiative, see the Procedure section below. The remaining sections in this document provide detailed instructions for each of these steps.

Procedure : Managing an Initiative

The process of creating and managing an initiative in the Our Initiatives application generally follows these steps:

Create a New Initiative:

Enter the basic information such as initiative title, ID, impacted metrics, business hierarchy, and the initiative validity period (start and end date of validity).
Complete General Information:
- Assign an Initiative Owner and Initiative Owner Contact.
- Optionally, add a description, levers, and additional impacted metrics.
Define Sustainability Benefits:

For each impacted metric, enter the business-as-usual performance and the projected sustainability benefit (for example, CO₂e emissions avoided, water saved).
Enter Financials:

Record projected implementation costs, business-as-usual expenses, and—if available—actual expenses.
Create Actions
- Add the practical steps required to implement the initiative.
- Specify responsibilities, locations, timelines, and how the action will be carried out.
Monitor Initiative Status:

Track progress as the initiative moves through statuses such as Proposed, Projected, In Progress, On Hold, Achieved, Failed, or Discontinued.
Add Comments and References

Record discussions, decisions, supporting documents, or links to external resources.

Creating a New Initiative

When you first access the Our Initiatives application, no initiatives are visible. To begin, select Create. A dialog window opens, prompting you to complete a series of fields. Each field helps define and track the initiative accurately.

Enter Initiative Details

A dialog opens where you need to fill in the following information:

Initiative Title

Provide a short, clear name for the initiative (for example, Reuse scrap metal in production). This field is required.

Initiative ID

Enter a unique identifier using a consistent format (for example, INIT-2025-001). This field is required and must be alphanumeric. Underscores are allowed, and any hyphens entered (for example, INIT-2025-001) are automatically converted to underscores (INIT_2025_001). Spaces are also converted to underscores, and special characters are not permitted.

Impacted Metric

Select one or more KPIs that the initiative affects (for example, Energy saved (MWh), GHG emissions avoided). These metrics help quantify the expected impact of the initiative.

Legal Entity

Specify the responsible company or legal entity (for example, Acme Manufacturing Ltd.). This field is optional unless your organization uses entity-based reporting.

Reporting Line

Indicate the department, program, or manager to which the initiative reports (for example, Sustainability Program > Operations). This field is optional.

Business Location

Select the primary site or region where the initiative takes place (for example, Springfield Plant, USA). This field is optional.

Initiative Validity Period

Choose a period with the date picker or enter a date range (for example, Nov 5, 2025 – Nov 28, 2025). The end date must be the same as or later than the start date.

Once all required information is completed, select Continue. The initiative is created (in draft), and you are directed to the General Information page to continue with the next steps. You need to Create the initiative there or you can Discard the Draft.

General Information

The General Information page shows a consolidated overview of the initiative’s fields. New initiatives are created with the status Proposed. Proposed means that the initiative has been submitted as a proposal; it does not indicate approval or a commitment to implement it.

You must provide both an Owner Name and an Owner Contact. Enter the owner’s name and email contact — these identify who is responsible for the initiative and who should be contacted for questions or next steps.

You can add the Lever. A lever is the strategic category or focus area of an initiative that shows how it contributes to sustainability goals — for example, “switch to renewable energy,” “optimize resource efficiency,” or “reduce waste generation.” Levers denote recognized pathways for driving environmental or social improvements. Assigning a lever classifies initiatives and aligns them with broader strategies such as decarbonization, circularity, and energy efficiency. You can import or modify levers in the Manage Master Data app.

You can also add a description of the initiative in the Description field.

After creating a proposed initiative, specify the sustainability benefit (see Sustainability Benefits) for each impacted metric. An initiative can affect multiple metrics; assigning a quantified benefit to each metric clarifies its individual contribution so the initiative’s total impact can be measured, compared, and reported accurately.

Create the Financials for the sustainability benefit . Enter the expected CapEx and OpEx, and quantify any cost savings resulting from the sustainability impact.

Create the Actions for the initiative. An action is a concrete, assigned task required to put an initiative into practice. Actions break the initiative’s strategy into manageable steps that lead to the Projected sustainability and financial benefits.

For the tabs, such as Sustainability Benefits, see the following sections for details on what to do.

Sustainability Benefits

This screen displays the sustainability benefits for the metrics associated with the initiative. Initially, no sustainability benefits are shown - select Add Benefits (see below) to create them. The Projected Benefit Per Year and Projected Relative Sustainability Benefit are hidden until you enter and save the required information in the side dialog.

Once you’ve added the benefits for the metrics associated with the initiative, the impacted metrics are displayed.

Add Benefits

In the side dialog, enter the required information for the metric associated with the initiative. Some fields are pre-populated automatically.

General Information	Metric associated with the initiative (for example, Gross GHG Emissions – Scope 2)
Business as Usual Performance	Target direction. This is automatically filled for you. Reference Year. Business as Usual Quantity. Comment.
Projected Benefit	Projected Benefit Per Year Comment
Sustainability Benefit Impact	State after Implementation of the Initiative Planned Relative Sustainability Benefit
Apply	Select this to apply this to the associated metric

Select Apply to store the information for the metric associated with the initiative.

If there is more than one metric associated with the initiative, select Create again to add the next one.

Note

The formulas are used in

State After Implementation of the Initiative
- Formula when Target Direction = Decrease: Business-as-usual quantity − Planned benefit per year
- Formula when Target Direction = Increase: Business-as-usual quantity + Planned benefit per year
Planned Relative Sustainability Benefit
- Formula when Target Direction = Decrease: (Planned benefit per year / Business-as-usual quantity) × 100
- Formula when Target Direction = Increase: (Planned benefit per year / Business-as-usual quantity) × 100

Financials

Once you’ve created the metrics associated with the initiative, you can navigate to the Financials tab.

Projected Expenses – Enter the estimated annual cost to implement the initiative, specifying projected capital expenditures (CapEx) and operating expenditures (OpEx) for each year. See Common terms for definitions. The app automatically calculates the total projected expenses over the initiative’s lifetime and the average projected annual expense.
Business-as-Usual Expenses – The expected costs your organization would incur if the initiative is not implemented. Enter business-as-usual expenses, the reference year, and the investment period. The app automatically compares these with the projected initiative expenses and populates the Comparison to Projected Expenses section, filling the “Comparison per year” and “Comparison over the investment period” fields.

In the populated comparison fields, negative values (−) indicate an increase in expenses after implementation. Positive values are shown without a plus sign and indicate avoided expenses — savings after the initiative is implemented. All values represent the net change in costs per year or over the investment period.
Actual Expenses – These fields show expenses incurred while implementing the initiative. Select “Create” to insert a new row. Enter the required information.

You can choose to Save or Discard the information entered.

Note

This section explains how the financial values are calculated in the app.

GCC = Group Currency.

1. Projected Expenses

Field	Description / Formula
Projected CapEx (GCC)	One-time capital expenditures. Entered manually.
Projected OpEx per Year (in GCC)	Recurring annual operating costs. Entered manually.
Investment Period	Time between start and end date of the initiative (for example, 6 years 235 days). Converted into years `years + (days/365)`.
Total Projected Expenses Over Investment Period (in GCC)	`Projected CapEx + (Projected OpEx per Year × Investment Duration)`
Average Projected Expenses per Year (in GCC)	`Projected OpEx per Year + (Projected CapEx ÷ Investment Duration)`
Comment	Optional free text.

2. Business-as-Usual (BAU) Expenses

Field	Description / Formula
Business-as-Usual Expenses (in GCC)	Expected annual costs if the initiative is not implemented. Entered manually.
Reference Year	Year for which the BAU cost applies.
Comparison per Year (in GCC)	`Business-as-Usual Expenses − Average Projected Expenses per Year`
Comparison Over Investment Period (in GCC)	`(Business-as-Usual Expenses × Investment Duration) − Projected Expenses Over Investment Period`
Comment	Optional free text.

Interpretation:

• A positive (shown without a plus sign) value in comparison fields = cost savings (avoided expenses).

• A negative (–) value = higher costs compared to business-as-usual.

3. Actual Expenses

Field	Description
Actual CapEx / OpEx Entries	Table where you record real (incurred) expenditures.
Date per entry	Date or year, cost type (CapEx or OpEx), value in GCC, and optional comment.
Calculation	No automatic calculation. Data is stored for reporting and variance analysis (comparison against Projected values).

In Summary:

Projected Expenses quantify how much the initiative is expected to cost over its lifetime and per year.
Business-as-Usual Expenses allow comparison of Projected initiative costs versus doing nothing.
Actual Expenses capture real costs after implementation and are used for tracking and variance analysis.

An Illustrated Example: Photovoltaic Integration Program

The following illustrated example uses fictional data to show how an initiative appears once created in the Our Initiatives application, demonstrating how sustainability metrics, financials, and actions come together to form a complete picture of the initiative. The example uses fictional data for illustration only. Values and results are for demonstration purposes and do not represent real costs or performance figures.

Business Goal: To significantly reduce Scope 2 emissions by installing photovoltaic (PV) grids across multiple manufacturing locations. The Group Currency (GCC) is in USD.

Initiative Overview


Field	Example Value
Initiative Title	Solar Power Integration Program
Initiative ID	INT_2025_001
Validity Period	Jan 01 2025 – Dec 31 2028
Investment Period	4 years (2025 – 2028)
Legal Entity	BestRun Manufacturing DE
Business Location	Munich, Germany
Sustainability Area	Environmental
Sustainability Matter	Climate Change
Status	Projected

This initiative supports the company’s decarbonization lever by transitioning from fossil-based electricity to self-generated solar energy.

Sustainability Benefits

The organization has identified three impacted metrics under the “Environmental - Climate Change” sustainability area.

Impacted Metric	Business-as-Usual Quantity	Projected Benefit per Year	Projected Relative Sustainability Benefit	State After Implementation	Reference Year
GHG Emissions Scope 2 – Market-based	105 000 t CO₂e	30 000 t CO₂e	29 % reduction	75 000 t CO₂e	2024
Total Energy Consumption of Purchased Electricity (from Fossil Sources)	280 000 MWh	52 000 MWh	19 % reduction	228 000 MWh	2024
Total Energy Consumption of Self-Generated Renewable Sources	10 000 MWh	52 000 MWh	520 % increase	62 000 MWh	2024

How the Relative Sustainability Benefit is Calculated

Projected Relative Sustainability Benefit (%) = Projected Benefit per Year / Business as Usual Quantity × 100

For example, for GHG Emissions Scope 2: 30000 / 105000 × 100 = 28.57% (approximately 29%).

Financials

Projected Expenses


Field	Value (USD)	Formula/Explanation
Projected CapEx (GCC)	1000000	One-time investment in PV panels, inverters, and grid integration
Projected OpEx per Year (GCC)	200000	Annual maintenance and monitoring costs
Investment Period	4 years (2025 – 2028) = 4.0 years	End date – Start date = 4 years
Total Projected Expenses Over Investment Period (GCC)	1 000 000 + (200 000 × 4) = 1 800 000 USD
Average Projected Expenses per Year (GCC)	200 000 + (1 000 000 / 4) = 450 000 USD
Business-as-Usual Expenses
BAU Expenses (GCC)	500 000	Expected annual electricity cost if no PV system is installed
Comparison per Year (GCC)	500 000 − 450 000 = +50 000 USD (savings)
Comparison Over Investment Period (GCC)	(500 000 × 4) − 1 800 000 = +200 000 USD (savings over 4 years)

Summary of the Initiative: The PV rollout is expected to save 50 000 USD per year, totaling 200 000 USD avoided costs over the four-year period compared to business-as-usual operations.

Actions

Action: Install rooftop PV panels – Munich Plant

Status: Projected

Legal Entity: BestRun Manufacturing DE

Location: Munich

Owner: [name of the responsible person]

Operation Period: Jan 01 2026 – Dec 31 2035

This action defines the implementation of rooftop photovoltaic panels at the Munich plant. The status is set to Planned, indicating that preparation and approval are in progress. The assigned owner is responsible for overseeing implementation between January 2026 and December 2035.

Actions

Actions are the specific steps required to implement the initiative. Without them, the initiative remains only a concept.

When no actions have been created, the Actions table appears empty.

Once actions are added, the screen displays the actions associated with the initiative. Initially, fields such as Action, Action Status, Legal Entity, Reporting Line, Business Location, Operational Period, and Action Owner Name are not visible. These fields only appear after you create an action using the Create button and complete the details in the side dialog.

After you’ve created actions for the initiative, they are displayed in the list.

Create

In the side dialog, enter the required information for the action associated with the initiative. Some fields are automatically pre-filled.

General Information	Action ID Expense Reference ID: Changed
Reporting Structures	Legal Entity Reporting Line Business Location
Description and Reference	Action Description Reference
Operational Period	Operational Period
Action Owner	Action Owner Name Action Owner Contact

Select Apply.

Comments and References

Comments let you discuss and track feedback on an initiative in a vertical timeline where you can add, edit, delete, or reply to comments. References let you attach external sources (title + URL) to support the initiative; save to add them to the list. See details below.

Comments

Add and manage comments related to the initiative. Select Edit to manage comments.

Comments appear in a vertical timeline (top-to-bottom). Newest comments are shown at the top by default. Scroll down to view additional comments.
You can add, edit, or delete comments.
To add a new comment, select Add Comment.
- Enter a Title and a Comment (max 1000 characters), then select Add. Your new comment will appear at the top.
- You can reply to existing comments; replies appear below the original comment.
- To close the comment editor and return to the main comments list, select Cancel.
To add a reply
- Select Reply.
- Enter your text, then select Reply again to post. Once a reply is posted, it cannot be edited or deleted.
- To cancel, select Cancel.
Tip

Replies appear under the original comment. To view all replies to a comment, select Reply; the number of replies is shown in brackets, for example, Reply(3).

References

Add and manage references. Use references to link to websites or sources that provide additional information about the actions required to implement the initiative. Select Edit to manage references.

Enter a Reference Title and a URL.
Select Save to add the reference or Discard Draft to cancel.
Created references appear in the list. You are responsible for the accuracy and appropriateness of any references and URLs you add.

Status of Initiatives

Each initiative is assigned a status based on the progress of its actions.

Progress Statuses:

Proposed
Planned
In Progress
On Hold

Final Statuses:

Achieved
Failed
Discontinued