Almost half of CEOs rank sustainability as one of the highest priorities for their organisations over the next three years, up from a third in 2021, according to a survey of over 3,000.
It found that 70% are directly involved in defining their firm’s sustainability strategy, 80% believe their sustainability investments will boost business results in the next five years, and 45% think they will accelerate growth.
Sustainability is ranked among the major challenges of the next three years by 51%, up from 32% in 2021, ahead of cyber risk, regulation, technology infrastructure and supply chain disruption. Unclear return on investment was cited as a leading challenge to achieving sustainability objectives by 60%; a lack of insights from data by 44% and regulatory barriers by 43%.
“CEOs are leading during one of the most complex environments ever, including war, inflation, talent shortages and the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis,” said John Granger, senior vice president at IBM Consulting, which did the survey. “Despite these challenges, they aren’t taking their foot off the gas when it comes to sustainability, and more now rank it among their top priorities. Yet many don’t fully appreciate the extent to which data and technology can bridge the gap from strategy to impact.”
CEOs received the most pressure to improve sustainability from board members (72%), followed by investors (57%), ecosystem partners (49), regulators (49%) and government (46%). Investment in sustainability has more than doubled as a percentage of revenue in the past five years, and 64% of respondents are confident they’ll achieve their sustainability goals.
