Higher spending and investments in the ESG context

Climate change and the resulting regulations and standards are forcing companies to take action. Environmental issues are no longer a niche topic, but have found their way into the boardroom. Honeywell's quarterly "Environmental Sustainability Index" survey, which was published in the last quarter of 2023, shows that environmental issues are the top priority for companies worldwide, even ahead of topics such as digitalization.

• More than 80% of the companies surveyed want to increase their expenditure in order to achieve their sustainability goals.
• Investments are primarily made in the areas of energy development and efficiency, emissions reduction, pollution prevention and circular economy/recycling.
• Sustainability targets are a top priority for the company and the management is confident that these can be achieved.

Sustainability has priority

According to the study, which surveyed 750 internal experts from companies in various industries and regions, achieving sustainability goals remains a top priority for executives. 75% of companies named this as one of their top five short-term initiatives - an increase from 65% last year - and well ahead of digital transformation, which came in second at 56%. Of the environmental sustainability categories surveyed, development and energy efficiency was cited as the most important category by 62% of respondents who were able to select two categories, followed by emissions reduction (47%), pollution prevention (43%) and circular economy and recycling (33%).

Higher expenditure to achieve the sustainability goals

As sustainability initiatives remain a high priority, the majority of companies surveyed plan to spend more money on achieving their environmental sustainability goals over the next 12 months. Of the companies surveyed, 88% plan to increase their budget for development and energy efficiency, 84% for emissions reduction, 84% for pollution prevention and 83% for circular economy and recycling.

Managers remain confident

The report also shows that executives in all categories are more confident of achieving both their short and long-term environmental sustainability goals, with confidence highest in emissions reduction: 72% of companies are optimistic of achieving their goals in this area in the next 12 months, up from 65% last year, and 72% of companies are confident of achieving their goals by 2030, up from 62% last year.

Methodology for achieving the climate targets varies

There are a variety of ways to achieve your own climate targets. For example, most companies (74%) prefer to improve their business processes in terms of energy consumption and efficiency. The majority of companies would also like to reduce their own emissions and avoid pollutant discharges into the environment (67% and 64% respectively). Just over half (58%) are convinced that they can make their overall concept more sustainable by increasing the recycling rate. For all 4 approaches, it can be seen that slightly more than 40% of companies focus on redesigning and improving business processes and around 30% on both the

improvement of business processes as well as new technologies as drivers of their sustainability goals. Slightly less than 20% of companies state that new technologies will contribute more or predominantly to achieving the company's own climate targets.

Conclusion:

Sustainability targets remain a priority. Despite the difficult economic situation, companies want to continue to invest more money in order to achieve their sustainability goals. It is particularly noteworthy that the majority of companies are very confident that they will achieve their sustainability targets on time.

According to the European Investment Bank, additional investment of 180 to 270 billion euros per year is needed to combat climate change and adapt to its consequences. Many companies are still willing to invest more money in their sustainable transformation. We support you in seizing and exploiting these opportunities. More at: www.curentis.com/consulting/sustainable-banking