Companies faced ESG challenges in 2022

Companies faced significant challenges in meeting their environmental, social, governance (ESG) goals in 2022 and raised concerns about the long-term sustainability of their operations, according to the GlobalData’s ESG Sentiment Polls Q4 2022.

The study showed that only one-third of respondents admitted that their company had an ESG strategy, meaning that the majority either had no ESG plan in place or were unsure whether they had one.

Although according to an age-old view many chief executives associated ESG with hurting profits, GlobalData’s head of thematic intelligence, Cyrus Mewawalla, said that the research suggested the opposite.

“Companies that embrace all three elements of ESG will outperform their peers. CEOs that are too slow to improve their company’s approach to sustainability will see an exodus of customers and a drop in profits far sooner than they ever imagined,” he said.

“As the world continues to grapple with climate change and other environmental challenges, the importance of ESG performance is only set to grow. The growing efforts of financial institutions, businesses, and governments to align with the UN’s SDGs demonstrate a growing recognition of the urgency of the challenge at hand.

“Companies that embrace this trend and take meaningful action to improve their ESG performance are likely to be the ones that thrive in the years to come.”

The study also confirmed that climate change and related themes (including heatwaves, emissions, deforestation, and water shortages) remained in the spotlight in 2022.

According to GlobalData, the trend represented by financial institutions, businesses, and governments and their increased efforts to align with the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs) was expected to continue in 2023.