Only about one in four senior executives report that they have access to high-quality sustainability data, and nearly 60% anticipate difficulty complying with new sustainability reporting regulations, while nearly all agree that sustainability is crucial to the success of their organizations, according to one study. new research carried out by CRM solutions provider Salesforce, in partnership with insights and consultancy firm GlobeScan.
For the study “Creating Sustainable Value: Closing the Gap Between Stated Commitments and Operational Realities,” Salesforce and GlobeScan interviewed more than 230 senior professionals across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and other regions and across a wide range of sectors, across functions including finance, information technology and sustainability, assessing their views on sustainability as a driver of value creation, as well as progress made and barriers to sustainability integration. The report was co-authored by Oxford University professor Robert Eccles and NYU Stern professor Alison Taylor.
The study concluded that, although 90% of executives considered sustainability to be important to the commercial success of their organizations, including two-thirds who classified it as “very important”, only 37% considered sustainability to be very integrated into their business. The report highlights several key factors limiting progress on sustainability, including data, lack of collaboration with finance and technology, limited capital allocation and perceptions of value creation.
Suzanne DiBianca, executive vice president and chief impact officer at Salesforce, said:
“Leaders are recognizing that sustainability can be a driver of resilience and long-term business success, but there is a wide gap between ambition and action.”
According to the survey, while 95% of respondents agreed that high-quality data is important for realizing the value of sustainability initiatives, only 27% reported having high-quality sustainability data, including just 8% with “very high” data. quality". Executives indicated that the majority of companies are working to address this issue, with 63% reporting that they have increased funding for sustainability data collection and management solutions in the last two years, and 65% planning to do so in the next two years. years.
The report highlighted the importance of high-quality data to meet new regulatory sustainability reporting requirements, with the survey concluding that 59% of executives expect to have difficulty complying with the new EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and 31% expect challenges with the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) reporting requirements of IFRS.
The study also found gaps in integration between organizations' financial and technology departments and their sustainability leaders. While 86% of respondents said they consider the finance function important for sustainability progress, and 75% reported the same for technology, less than a third (29%) reported a high level of collaboration between finance and sustainability, and only 14% between technology and sustainability. However, executives reported some improvements in this area, with 69% reporting more collaboration with finance and 63% reporting more with technology over the past two years.
Despite the perceived importance of sustainability to business success indicated by the survey, the report found a significant gap in resources directed towards sustainability, with only 23% of respondents reporting high allocation of capital and resources to meet sustainability priorities, including risks, opportunities and impacts.
Ecles said:
“Our results unfortunately show that despite all the happy talk about the importance of sustainability, senior management teams are not giving it the attention and resources needed to truly contribute to value creation. Companies need to scale back their claims about the benefits of their sustainability initiatives or meet this challenge head-on with more commitment and capital from senior management to facilitate greater cross-functional integration and better data on sustainability performance metrics.”
One of the main barriers indicated by the report that may be preventing greater integration of sustainability and capital allocation was the perception of the value of sustainability, with leaders reporting a greater impact in areas that do not directly affect financial results. For example, while 73% of respondents viewed sustainability as having high or very high value for improving brand and reputation, and 67% for strengthening relationships with stakeholders and the community, only half said the same for increasing of sales and 45% to attract more investment. .
Taylor said:
“There is a clear lack of ownership of corporate sustainability efforts and a tendency to treat them solely as a brand-building strategy. But the imperative today is meaningful cross-functional collaboration and, of course, the allocation of capital to these critical initiatives.”
