Another day, another ESG survey. I’m always cynical about surveys intended to predict company behavior on sustainability/ESG but this one could be different given that we are in “budget season” for many companies. ESGToday wrote about the latest release of Honeywell’s Environmental Sustainability Index:
“…in collaboration with Futurum Research, Honeywell surveyed more than 750 business, technology, and sustainability professionals directly involved in the planning, strategic development, implementation, or oversight of environmental sustainability goals and initiatives, at companies across multiple regions and economic sectors, and each with at least 1,000 employees.
The report found that the achievement of sustainability goals remains the most cited priority for the executives, identified by 75% of organizations as one of their 5 most important near-term initiatives, up from 65% last year, and well ahead of second-place Digital Transformation Initiatives, at 56%. Of the environmental sustainability categories studied, Energy Evolution & Efficiency was the top cited priority category, cited by 62% of respondents asked to choose two categories, followed by Emissions Reduction at 47%, Pollution Prevention at 43%, and Circularity & Recycling at 33%.
With sustainability initiatives remaining a top priority, the significant majority of businesses surveyed reported plans to increase spending towards the achievement of their environmental sustainability goals over the next 12 months, including 88% looking to grow their budget for Energy Evolution & Efficiency, 84% for Emissions Reduction, 84% for Pollution Prevention, and 83% for Circularity & Recycling.”
Keep in mind these results only reflect environmental programs and don’t include DEI or human rights initiatives. Even so, this is good news. Perhaps it is even more notable given the anti-ESG push prevalent most of this year – which seems to be fading away quietly.
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