A sustainability KPI can look clean in a board pack and still make operations worse. That is the uncomfortable truth in high-risk, capital-intensive industries.

Local-content percentages can show where money was spent and who participated, but they do not necessarily prove lasting economic value. This article explores how major projects can move beyond procurement statistics to build stronger suppliers, transferable workforce skills, technical capability, resilient supply chains, and a meaningful economic legacy.

Project success should not end at handover. This article examines how long-term sustainability performance can be tested through community outcomes, workforce and supplier capability, environmental restoration, biodiversity, asset efficiency, and residual liabilities years after the project team has left.