72% of business leaders want to advance sustainability initiatives but don't know how, finds survey
21st June 2023 10:52 - Utilities
72% of business leaders want to advance sustainability initiatives but don't know how: A survey of top-level businesses leaders has revealed that 72% would like to advance their organisation's sustainability initiatives but do not know how best to go about it. This was an increase of seven percentage points since last year when 65% of survey participants said the same.
This is the second year the sustainability survey by The Harris Poll has been conducted, polling more than 1,476 c-suite executives across 16 countries.
The research revealed insight into corporate attitudes to ESG, uncovering fears of greenwashing, a lack of internal structure and short-term mindsets -- all of which are holding back sustainability advancements.
It found that nearly all the businesses polled (96%) have at least one program in place to boost their sustainability efforts, with 84% of leaders saying they care more about sustainability than they have done previously.
While the last survey revealed that Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) was the primary concern for businesses, this had fallen to third in the latest survey, with driving revenue and optimising client relations achieving a higher ranking.
When it comes to sustainability, 85% of respondents said that they know their customers are interested in engaging with sustainable brands, however, 78% said they feel forced to achieve sustainability-based results with reduced budgets.
When asked about the challenges to sustainability, greenwashing, short-termism, and a failure to execute plans were cited.
Almost two in three business leaders admitted that their organisation had overstated its sustainability credentials, however 87% want to deliver better management practices to ensure sustainability is delivered within their business, and communicated accurately.
The research also revealed that 72% of respondents had been to at least four meetings related to sustainability per quarter in the last year, with 63% stating that they were willing to risk lower company revenue in the short term to achieve sustainability in the longer term.
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