Ethical Corporation’s recently-published survey of 2000+ business execs finds that only half of corporate business execs believe that sustainability is driving revenue

In the recently-published State of Responsible Business 2016 report, Ethical Corporation found that 49% of corporate respondents either “don’t know” or “don’t believe” that sustainability is driving revenue for their business.

Apparel, FMCG and Manufacturing firms are amongst the most likely to acknowledge the benefit of sustainability in this way, and those from Financial and professional services sectors were less likely to agree.

Managing Director of Ethical Corporation commented that “As much as this report highlights the ways in which CSR and sustainability are becoming increasingly ingrained in mainstream business, there’s also evidence that there’s a long way to go: The majority of respondents are still struggling to accurately measure the ROI of sustainability activities and very few budgets are increasing."

The report – which builds upon the inaugural report published last year – provides a series of interesting findings over the course of more than 50 pages, including;

• 71% of corporate/brand respondents said that their CEO is convinced of the value of sustainability

• There’s been a 9% increase globally in those feeling that sustainability is integrated tightly enough into broader business strategies

• 52% of Apparel, FMCG and Manufacturing respondents said that they pay for external assistance with their sustainability strategy

Of the full report, Ronan Dunne, CEO of O2 said: “Ethical Corporation’s second State of Responsible Business report provides up-to-date insight into how corporate sustainability is viewed, organised, and prioritised. Over time, it will provide valuable intelligence about how businesses are adapting and innovating to meet some of the world’s most pressing challenges."

Malcolm Preston, Global Sustainability Leader, PWC, said: “I welcome this report which gives us a snap-shot of how the Corporate Sustainability agenda is progressing year on year. It broadly confirms what I see in the market – a growing understanding of the issues at Board level and a recognition that incorporating responsible business principles is not a “nice to do”, but a business imperative for the 21st century.”

The full report provides extensive insight into the key issues being faced by business globally, with more than 40 graphs demonstrating the changing response from last year and the differences between major global regions, and is available only to subscribers. Those interested can register to pick up their copy of the 2016 State of Responsible Business Report here.

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Media contact: Greg.Cohen@ethicalcorp.com