Global Study: More To Do In Corporate Sustainability
JULY 18, 2014
Corporate sustainability isn't relegated to the back pages of a corporate plan any longer. Global enterprises, regional companies and government bodies are engaging in healthy competition with one another to be at the forefront of sustainable initiatives.
A leading clean energy research firm just released its annual report ranking U.S. states commitment to clean tech. California was ranked first, followed by Massachusetts and Oregon, and Minnesota and Hawaii dropped out of the top 10, replaced by Vermont and Connecticut.
Meanwhile, the EPA announced this week it using $2 million to fund small business development of sustainable technologies.
Yet while government strives to shine a light on corporate sustainability, the private sector should direct more attention and resources to improve their sustainability efforts, according to a new study that reports underwhelming progress by businesses.
Corporate Sustainability:
No Passing Fad
Accenture this week released a new global report on sustainability called,“From Marketing to Mattering,” and the results are eye-opening. The study found that while consumers expect more from companies, including transparency and a greater impact on global and local environmental challenges, 72 percent of business leaders worldwide believe that businesses are failing to adequately address sustainability. And across 30,000 survey participants, the same number of people believe business (85 percent) is just as accountable as government (86 percent) for improving their lives through protecting the environment.
While the report demonstrates a disconnect between what consumers and employees expect from companies and what companies are actually accomplishing in sustainability, it also represents a big opportunity to make gains where these practices are lacking.
Investment in sustainable planning isn’t always at the forefront for business leaders—but it should be. Time and again, the market has proven that sacrificing or ignoring sustainability in favor of short-term thinking is a mistake. Whether they realize it or not, a business’s sustainable growth is directly tied to its long-term viability.