Is opposing ESG and financial returns "misinformation"?
IBM conducted a global survey involving more than 20,000 customers and 2,500 executives to ask them about their sustainability preferences in business situations and presented their results in their "The ESG data conundrum" report.
Some of their main conclusions include:
- Sustainability and profitability are not at odds, contrary to popular opinion, with ESG-capable leaders being 43% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability.
- Many commitments are not (yet) followed by actual corporate action: out of the 95% of companies that have set sustainability goals, only 10% has significantly progressed towards them.
- Only 20% of consumers trust corporates' sustainability statements (from 48% in 2021) as they are wary of greenwashing statements.
- 60% of executives state they have to make trade-offs between financial and ESG goals, but are unsure of their ability to do so properly due to lack of data and track record.
- The most cited obstacle to adopting ESG practices is the access to adequate data, before regulatory barriers and inconsistent standards.
- Overall, 72% of executives say ESG needs to be a higher priority in their organisation.
Many business leaders still see ESG as mostly compliance and reporting-focused when it can help achieve sustainability, social responsibility, good governance, and shareholder value goals at once.