ESG & Sustainability Global Corporate Survey: Firms View ESG As A Value Creation Opportunity

ESG & Sustainability Global Corporate Survey: Firms View ESG As A Value Creation Opportunity

Our recently released ESG & Sustainability global corporate survey for 2023 addresses the budgets, priorities and tech preferences of sustainability leaders. Based on a survey of 400 respondents across 35 countries and 30 industries, the report reveals that firms are facing significant challenges that must be addressed in order to improve sustainability performance, but ESG strategies are maturing and investment in sustainability software and services continues to rise. Verdantix finds that:

• Firms are seeking to achieve competitive advantage. ESG & Sustainability is no longer viewed as just a compliance exercise, but is instead seen as a value creation opportunity to out-perform competition and align with stakeholder requirements. It is unsurprising, therefore, that 26% of respondents selected voluntary reporting as the most significant framework influencing increase in spend over the next two years and 60% viewed it as a top or high priority to improve processes, aligning with 2023 predictions from Verdantix (see Verdantix Market Insight: 10 Predictions For ESG & Sustainability In 2023). Firms are eager to demonstrate transparency, accountability and positive ESG performance to customers and other stakeholders.
• Internal and external collaboration challenges impede sustainability performance improvement. Although corporates are seeking to improve strategy and demonstrate leadership, information siloes between functions – including the board – and suppliers is a significant hindrance. Regulations such as the CSRD and upcoming SEC climate disclosure requirements are pushing for boards and senior executives to be accountable and knowledgeable about their firms’ ESG performance and progress – including in the supply chains. But ESG & Sustainability isn’t just the work of the executives. Firms must extend and embed ESG matters across all functional areas. According to our survey, the greatest participation outside of the ESG & Sustainability team comes from functions such as ‘Risk, Compliance, Audit, or Legal’, EHS, and Finance.
• Organizations will increase investment in digital technologies to support ESG and sustainability initiatives. Sustainability leaders are turning to digital tools to support sustainability performance improvement. The greatest level of spend increase for 2024 is on ESG reporting and data management software. Given that a significant proportion of corporates interviewed are currently relying on manual processes for ESG reporting, software will help to alleviate data collection challenges, increase investor-grade data and streamline reporting. With mandatory regulations rolling in fast, Verdantix predicts the ESG reporting software market will grow to over $4.34 billion by 2027 (see Verdantix Market Size And Forecast: ESG Reporting Software Solutions 2021-2027 (Global)).

To obtain further insights, sign up to the open webinar on October 25^th or client only webinar on November 15^th and read the full report here: Global Corporate Survey 2023: ESG & Sustainability Budgets, Priorities And Tech Preferences.