Chief execs confirm commitment to low-carbon revolution

Sustainability is now firmly entrenched as a high priority for many of the world's top business leaders, according to a major global survey of 750 chief executives that revealed 93 per cent believe sustainability is critical to their company's future success.

The study, which was undertaken by consultancy giant Accenture in partnership with the UN Global Compact initiative, revealed that far from falling down the corporate agenda during the recession, environmental issues are now more important than ever to business leaders.

More than three quarters of the chief executives and chairmen interviewed for the survey said the recession had raised the profile of sustainability initiatives, while the majority signalled that they saw the development of environmentally sustainable products and services as a way of driving revenue growth.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Peter Lacy, head of Accenture's sustainability services practice, said the survey revealed a shift in chief executives' approach to sustainability issues since the poll was last carried out in 2007.

"The main shift is that the execution of sustainability strategies has moved from third or fourth on the list of priorities to the top," he said. "The level of ambition in terms of sustainability is higher and it is being integrated into the core business. As a result CEOs recognise that they need to get the execution right."

The survey also revealed that the main motivation for sustainability strategies has shifted from a desire to impress employees to a more commercially focused interest in generating revenue from green products and services.

"The extent to which consumers are regarded as the key stakeholder for sustainability initiatives has jumped substantially," said Lacy. "The chief executives we spoke to recognised there is consumer interest in sustainability that has not yet translated into buying power. But they think that will change as products mature and government spending begins to drive the market."

He added that the results of the survey revealed nothing short of the beginning of a "new era of sustainability" for the world's largest firms.

"The CEOs we spoke to are looking at sustainability through an innovation lens and a market opportunity lens that just wasn't there three years ago," he said. "The next 10 years will see a fundamental shift in the way they do business."