THE NEMETAN OPPORTUNITY EVIDENCE BASE
Built on evidence, not generic brainstorming
Nemetan is pioneering a systematic, evidence-based approach to Sustainability Opportunity Discovery. We run your company data through Nemetan's Opportunity Engine to systematically identify sustainability-related business opportunities, then test the strongest against a proprietary evidence base of real-world precedent.
A structured base of proven precedent
Our purpose-built, structured database is created one precedent at a time, each screened against five evidence tests and traceable to the real company that proved it. Unlike a generic AI or web search, every precedent is structured, screened against consistent evidence criteria, and traceable to its original source.
1,500+
verified precedents, spread across every category.
Each precedent is drawn from public industry sources and verified past engagements, then tagged consistently by theme, sector, and the underlying mechanism that made it work. That structure is the whole point. A loose folder of case studies tells you only that something happened somewhere once. A continuously growing, tagged, graded base tells you which mechanism applies to a problem like yours, and exactly where the precedent sits that proves it. And it is built to argue with you: fresh evidence can overturn a candidate's ranking, not merely decorate a conclusion the room already reached.Â
The Nemetan method
The Nemetan method provides a repeatable framework for turning precedent into performance. By applying Structured Inventive Thinking (SIT) to our database of verified sustainability precedents, we move beyond generic brainstorming. Our systematic approach allows firms to identify specific Sustainability Opportunities, assess related Risks, and implement solutions that are grounded in proven success rather than speculative ideas.
WHAT ACTUALLY COUNTS
How we define a Sustainability Opportunity
We define a Sustainability Opportunity as a Shared Value Opportunity—a way to solve a specific sustainability problem that also creates clear, measurable business value. Our role is to find where purpose meets profit.
WHAT COUNTS
✓
Direct impact on core business model or operations
✓
Verifiable competitive advantage or efficiency gain
✓
Clear link between social and financial value
WHAT WE LEAVE OUT
✕
Philanthropic donations with no business strategic link
✕
General regulatory compliance without transformative gain
✕
PR-led activities that lack operational depth or scalability
Avoiding a loss is not the same as creating a gain. We are looking for sustainability that pays for itself by making the business genuinely better, not sustainability that is simply less bad.
Every precedent has to earn its place. Nothing counts as evidence until it passes the same five screening tests.
The five tests
✓ A clearly defined sustainability problem.
✓ A fully implemented response, with documented results achieved, not merely an ambition.
✓ An identifiable business benefit.
✓ An identifiable environmental or social benefit.
✓ Enough published evidence to tell reported results from projected ones.
HOW A PRECEDENT GETS IN
The references behind every precedent
A case study is easy to find and easy to be fooled by. So we do not trust judgement alone. Every precedent is worked against the same external taxonomies, established frameworks and independent sources, from the moment it is spotted to the moment it is graded. Here is exactly what it is checked against.
1 · TAG IT
Classified against known taxonomies
– The ESRS topic taxonomy, for topic and sub-topic.
– A consistent sector classification.
– Our own mechanism taxonomy: the specific move that made it work.
2 · QUALIFY IT
Categorised against proven frameworks
– The 9R framework, for circular economy and resource use.
– The mitigation hierarchy, aligned with IFC Performance Standard 6, SBTN and TNFD, for biodiversity and water.
– The carbon mitigation hierarchy, for climate.
– The EPA source-reduction hierarchy, for pollution.
– Creating Shared Value routes, for social and governance.
3 · VERIFY IT
Cross-checked against independent sources
– The company's own primary or official disclosure as the source of record.
– Claims validated, where relevant, against independent references: EFRAG's published statistics, the World Benchmarking Alliance, KPMG's global reporting survey, the SBTi target registry and CDP's disclosure scores.
– A strict verb rule: reported and achieved, never projected, targeted or expected.
4 · ACCEPT OR REJECT
Graded against a fixed standard
– The Shared Value hurdle: business and environmental or social benefit from the same move.
– The five evidence tests.
– A two-tier evidence grade, A or B, shown with every case.
– Deduplication against the existing base, with honest limitations preserved.
Clear the hurdle, pass the five tests and survive verification, and a precedent is admitted. Everything else is rejected, on the record. That is the difference between evidence and anecdote.
SHARED VALUE
What do we mean by "Shared Value"?
New to the term? Here it is in plain English. Shared Value was introduced by the economist Michael Porter, with Mark Kramer in 2011. The idea is straightforward: a company creates its most durable value when a single decision is good for the business and good for society at the same time. It is not charity, earning money one way and giving some of it back another. It is not compliance, spending to avoid a fine. Shared Value is when solving a social or environmental problem is itself the source of profit: using less material lowers your costs, a cleaner product opens a new market, better conditions attract better people. The company gets stronger by making the world a little better, not in spite of it. That is the only kind of Opportunity our Evidence Base is built to find. More information: https://hbr.org/2011/01/the-big-idea-creating-shared-value