Oct 25, 2022   SOURCE: BusinessWire

New Futurum Environmental Sustainability Survey Reveals Global Corporate Optimism, Long-Term Concerns

Futurum Research, a global tech-focused strategy, research, and advisory analyst firm focused on analyzing emerging and market-disrupting technologies, identifying and validating trends, and empowering clients to find their competitive edge in the digital economy, has published a new global environmental sustainability index reporting current corporate optimism along with longer-term business worries.

The inaugural index report, produced in collaboration with Honeywell, surveyed more than 600 senior business professionals at large organizations worldwide across all industry sectors. The study revealed corporate success over the past 12 months but indicated concerns in meeting near-term and especially long-term 2030 targets.

The index, which will be distributed quarterly, assesses corporate achievement of climate change objectives as well as the sentiment of business leaders directly involved in sustainability initiatives. In terms of ranking current corporate priorities for the next six months, respondents said sustainability was at the top of the list ahead of other major business initiatives including financial performance (No. 2), digital transformation, market growth, and workforce/talent development.

"The data-driven findings confirmed that environmental sustainability has taken center stage, and the new Honeywell-Futurum global index can serve as a bellwether for tracking the sentiment, adoption, and intent of companies around the world in reducing their carbon footprint," said Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner at Futurum Research.

The index is designed to deliver actionable data on the prioritization, progress and expectation of achieving sustainability goals for energy efficiency, emission reduction, pollution prevention, and recycling. The double-blind survey of business professionals also offers insights on corporate sentiment on the speed of adoption of climate technology.

“This is the first quarterly barometer that reveals trends in business efforts to combat climate change as well as progress in corporate environmental sustainability programs and initiatives,” Newman added. “Over the next decade, we expect sustainability to be further prioritized through not only policy, but increased investment by the world's leading companies to demonstrate the importance of sustainable practices, becoming a mandate from consumers, investors, and company boards around the world."

Among some of the key findings from the survey:

  • The majority (97 percent) of organizations plan to increase budgets for sustainability initiatives and programs focused on one or more categories including energy conservation, greenhouse gas reduction, pollution mitigation, and recycling/re-use of products and components.
  • To achieve near-term environmental sustainability goals, organizations are focusing on process change through modification or elimination of specific operational practices and behavioral changes internally and with partners. Though most organizations are focused on process improvement, one-third of business leaders said they plan to rely on a blend that includes upgrade and replacement of existing equipment and systems with more efficient, sustainable technologies.
  • While corporate leaders are pleased with the progress of their sustainability programs so far, there was much less optimism expressed about the longer-term outlook for achieving goals set for 2030.

“Respondents felt good about the progress they've made in the last year on sustainability issues, but they weren't confident of their success moving forward,” said Shelly Kramer, principal analyst and founding partner Futurum Research. “That's an obvious reflection of the nascent stages of sustainability initiatives overall and the many challenges -- known and unknown -- ahead.”

Sustainability leaders report top barriers to success with near-term goals are due to the pandemic, staffing challenges, and budget concerns. As a result of current macroeconomic conditions and geopolitical concerns, Futurum warns those barriers may continue to remain obstacles, or even increase.

“It would not be a surprise to see sustainability budgets take a hit as a result,” Kramer said. “And with the clear focus on process improvement rather than on technology investment, we can see that there is much progress yet to be made. Process change alone is not the path to sustainability, and the fact that technology investments are not yet a priority for the majority of organizations demonstrates we are still in the very early stages of progress on the sustainability front.”

Honeywell, which has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2035, plans to publicly release the quarterly environmental sustainability index reports to assist business leaders and corporate stakeholders on critical issues and decision-making associated with climate change. The full sustainability index report can be downloaded at:
http://www.honeywell.com/us/en/company/sustainability/environmental-sustainability-index

About Futurum Research

Futurum Research is a global tech-focused strategy, research, and advisory analyst firm focused on analyzing emerging and market-disrupting technologies, identifying and validating trends, and empowering clients to find their competitive edge in the digital economy.

Legacy research analyst firms are great at helping companies better understand broad industry shifts and obvious market trends, but they have been late to the game when it comes to explaining how new and disruptive technologies are truly transforming the world of business. That’s where Futurum Research excels. They have long been leading the conversation about digital transformation and have been helping clients navigate the process of DX for the last decade.

About Honeywell

Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.