The street to sustainability for manufacturers and companies is fraught with obstacles—simply embracing the idea of the initiative is hard sufficient because it calls for a lot of industries, equivalent to product packaging, to reinvent their processes from scratch to be true supporters. And because the subject grew to become politicized, an ESG backlash arose that has morphed right into a full-on anti-ESG motion, leaving ESG traders weak to monetary punishments. Past their very own views of moral duty, how can companies justify making sustainability part of their methods? New analysis monitoring that logic finds that, certainly, most aren’t.
The brand new report from IT infrastructure providers agency Kyndryl, in collaboration with Microsoft, reveals that whereas 85 p.c of organizations place a excessive strategic stage of significance on reaching their sustainability objectives, solely 16 p.c have built-in sustainability into their methods and knowledge.Â
Because the world faces a rise in climate-related occasions and challenges, there may be an urgency amongst companies to behave now utilizing expertise to drive sustainable options. However whereas 80 p.c of organizations surveyed see nice significance in expertise’s function to attain their objectives, solely 32 p.c consider they’re making full use of it of their organizations, finds the examine survey, carried out by market analysis agency Ecosystm.
“Many corporations are at totally different phases of sustainability maturity,” mentioned Religion Taylor, chief sustainability and ESG officer at Kyndryl, in a information launch. “Firms are making use of expertise to unlock the total potential of sustainability. They’re considering past regulatory compliance to pragmatically execute and advance their sustainability objectives.”
“Know-how has emerged as a key enabler to sustainability success, and its function will solely proceed to develop with the appearance of extra refined AI instruments,” mentioned Shelly Blackburn, vice chairman, cross options space at Microsoft, within the launch. “We’re keen to assist drive significant change and contribute to a extra sustainable future in collaboration with Kyndryl.”
Key highlights of the survey embrace:
- Whereas CEOs and boards have made sustainability and digital transformation a precedence, they need assistance with integration and execution of their packages to satisfy their objectives.
- 61 p.c of organizations use AI to observe vitality use, however solely 34 p.c use present knowledge to foretell future vitality consumption.
- Amongst stakeholders, clients are probably the most vocal in advocating for sustainability insurance policies and practices, adopted by staff, traders and authorities regulators.
Drivers to constructing a extra sustainable group
Beneath are sustainability greatest practices for driving development and enhancing enterprise outcomes:
- Make sustainability a CEO and boardroom precedence aligned with finance and expertise. Over 50 p.c of organizations entrust the CEO and the Board with management roles of their sustainability capabilities. Of these corporations which have applied sustainability for greater than 10 years, solely 24 p.c have full alignment with Finance and 44 p.c with Know-how.
- Align sustainability with expertise modernization. Know-how can assist to automate, modernize and prioritize sustainability processes and infrastructures. Of the respondents surveyed, 52 p.c use automation to enhance efficiencies and construct sustainable operations, whereas 48 p.c digitize their workplaces to help a hybrid work technique and 47 p.c use expertise to cut back the environmental footprint of their group.
- Construct an built-in knowledge basis. Streamline knowledge administration for knowledgeable decision-making and profitable execution of methods. A mere 15 p.c of organizations have the aptitude to offer their staff with real-time sustainability dashboards.
- Unleash AI for predictive sustainability. Broaden the usage of AI past reporting to incorporate predictive analytics that assess Scope 3 dangers, forecast vitality consumption and anticipate potential dangers equivalent to pure disasters.
- Empower staff. The examine discovered that 48 p.c lack devoted assets or restricted inside experience, which outlines the necessity for extra workforce growth.
“Confronted with record-breaking temperatures and unparalleled climate-related occasions, it is a second that requires collective motion from governments, industries, enterprises and people alike,” mentioned Ullrich Loeffler, co-founder & CEO of Ecosystm, within the launch. “Along with Kyndryl and Microsoft, we’re honored to make this examine obtainable to forward-thinking organizations in all places to stipulate steps they’ll take as we speak to drive measurable sustainability impression.”
Obtain the total report right here.
The examine was carried out amongst 1,523 expertise and sustainability enterprise leaders throughout 16 international locations in Asia, EMEA and the Americas. The survey occurred between September – October 2023. The survey was carried out throughout 9 industries and included small to medium in addition to world corporations.
