Four in five (78%) companies say an improved ESG strategy has created a “significant or transformational increase in revenue”, according to a survey.
The study, by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Dun & Bradstreet, found almost all (97%) survey respondents from firms with high ESG maturity also reported significant or transformational reduction in costs resulting from implementing their ESG strategy.
Eight in 10 (79%) agreed ESG-related insights allow them to identify new growth opportunities earlier.
Supply chain teams emerged as a driver to ESG goal adoption, with 46% of companies having these teams play an important role in setting these goals.
The survey, involving 260 decision-makers in compliance, sustainability, procurement, finance and risk across the US, Canada and UK, found 79% were using ESG data to create more resilient value chains, and three-quarters were using this data to mitigate investment and operational risk.
Almost half said ESG-related data management was a mission-critical pillar of success, but 70% were relying on “immature data collection, management and analysis practices”. This limits a company’s ability to draw insight and apply ESG analytics at scale and slows ESG maturity.
Nine in 10 (90%) expected ESG data to be very important to their company by 2025. However, 72% still needed standardised metrics and benchmarks, while 71% stated they needed help automating ESG data to streamline reporting.
The report stated: “Firms must improve their internal data practices and find ways to bring more integrity to their ESG data so they can be more comfortable using it to make decisions… A company’s ESG data platform should include public and private company data.
“When asked about an ideal, dedicated ESG data solution, decision-makers said the most important capability is effective self-assessment of their own company to identify potential gaps in their ESG strategy, followed by the capability to leverage a solution that allows them to compare the performance of their third parties, including suppliers and partners.”
☛ Want to stay up to date with the news? Sign up to our daily bulletin.