According to a report issued by Honeywell, a majority of firms are planning greater expenditures in support of their sustainability objectives
Called the 3Q 2023 Environmental Sustainability Index, the report was published in collaboration with The Futurum Group. The paper added that firms worldwide are looking to spend more on sustainability objectives, despite economic uncertainties.
According to the fourth edition of the quarterly index, sustainability investment is expanding and will continue to rise, owing to the political and regulatory environment:
• 86% of the 751 global companies surveyed indicated that they plan to increase their sustainability budgets
• 7 in 10 surveyed companies said the political and regulatory environment has had a positive impact on their sustainability initiatives in the past 12 months
• 74% of respondents said they were optimistic about attaining sustainability goals, particularly with respect to 2030 energy goals – a strong number but 3 percentage points lower than the last index
• Budget increases are slated across four sustainability categories: energy evolution and efficiency, emissions reduction, pollution prevention, and circularity/recycling
• Improving energy evolution and efficiency is the top sustainability commitment across all geographies, with 87% of respondents citing it as a priority
• Some 25% and 20% of organisations in Latin America and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), respectively, plan to boost their investment in energy evolution and efficiency by at least 50% in the coming 12 months – outpacing the budgetary commitments being made in North America and the Asia-Pacific
Sustainability has become a high focus for manufacturing and energy firms, with almost eight in ten organisations in both sectors selecting sustainability goals as their most significant effort for the next six months. Sustainability appears to be exceeding other company goals such as financial success, market expansion, and employee development in these organisations.
The most recent edition of the poll also discovered that sustainability reporting is robust, with 93% of survey organisations having a reporting procedure in place. 82% of these firms are confident that their reporting practices will fulfil future disclosure obligations. Managing the reporting process, on the other hand, is a bit more difficult, since just 38% claim they have a centralised person on staff to manage sustainability initiatives.
“The latest Environmental Sustainability Index confirms that large global companies are continuing to stay on pace and invest in technology and staff to achieve their environmental sustainability goals,” said Evan van Hook, chief sustainability officer at Honeywell.
“Middle East nations have been leading the way in the adoption and localisation of technologies to meet their climate targets, and in doing so are successfully transforming the ways that critical sectors of their economies operate,” said Mohammed Mohaisen, president and CEO, Honeywell Middle East and North Africa.
“The fourth release of Honeywell’s Environmental Sustainability Index provides new insight into how organisations are reporting and tracking their previously set commitments toward sustainability,” said Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner of The Futurum Group. “This quarter, we are seeing increases in investment and transparency of efforts along with a balanced approach to technology versus process when it comes to reaching goals. As we move into 2024, we look forward to sharing data about our year-over-year comparison.”
