#1601 Embed sustainability-by-design principles into Enterprise and Business Architecture (STPL) and Solution Architecture (ARCH) change request pending

Problem Statement: SFIA 9 architecture skills — Enterprise and Business Architecture (STPL, Levels 5–7) and Solution Architecture (ARCH, Levels 4–6) — do not include sustainability-by-design as a competency criterion. The TBM for Sustainability & ESG "TBM by Design" requirement explicitly states that sustainability must be embedded at the architecture and planning stage, not retrospectively. Architects certified against SFIA 9 are not required to flag carbon-intensive design choices, estimate Scope 2/3 architectural impacts, or apply green design principles during architecture review. This represents a material gap in the skills of those who make foundational technology decisions.

Proposed Change:

Amend STPL (Enterprise and Business Architecture, Levels 5–7) to include:

·        Embedding sustainability and ESG objectives into enterprise architecture principles and patterns.

·        Assessing the environmental and carbon footprint of architectural options at portfolio level.

·        Advocating for sustainability-by-design across technology investment decisions.

 

Amend ARCH (Solution Architecture, Levels 4–6) to include:

·        Evaluating solution designs against sustainability criteria including energy efficiency and carbon intensity.

·        Documenting environmental impact estimates as a standard component of architecture decisions.

·        Integrating green design patterns (e.g., serverless, carbon-aware computing, efficient data storage) into solution architecture practice.

 

Rationale:

·        Directly addresses "Weak" coverage ratings in Section 2.5 of the gap analysis.

·        Architecture decisions made without sustainability-by-design lock in carbon costs for the lifetime of a solution — embedding this at SFIA level is high-leverage.

·        Aligns with emerging industry standards including the Green Software Foundation's Software Carbon Intensity (SCI) specification.

 

Applies to: STPL — Enterprise and Business Architecture; ARCH — Solution Architecture

Change Note: Proposed additions to existing skill descriptions. No structural changes to level numbering proposed.

Note: More than 36 jurisdictions globally are actively adopting or aligning their corporate disclosure regulations with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards (ISSB) to create a global baseline for climate and sustainability reporting. Beyond the UK, the EU, and Australia, numerous other countries have formally finalised their approach to adopt or closely align with these rules, including Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Qatar, and Turkey. Additionally, nations such as Singapore, South Korea, India, and Indonesia are in advanced stages of implementing ISSB-aligned frameworks. View official implementation maps and country-by-country data on the IFRS Foundation Jurisdictional Profiles page.

Proposed change applies to Solution architecture

Current status of this request: pending