Some 86% of chief sustainability officers believe that the Trump administration will have a ‘very negative’ (34%) or ‘somewhat negative’ (52%) effect on corporate sustainability goals, a survey undertaken by Economist Impact has found.
Just 14% stated that they believed the Trump administration would have a ‘neither positive nor negative’ effect, while 1% answered that the new U.S. president was likely to have a ‘very positive’ effect.
CSO Leaders Club
Economist Impact surveyed members of its CSO Leaders Club during the Sustainability Week conference, which took place this week in London.
Combined, the 131 members of the club represent firms with combined annual revenues exceeding £2 trillion and over five million employees globally.
The survey also asked CSOs about their recruitment plans for sustainability and energy-transition roles in the next 12 months, with close to a third (30%) expecting an increase in recruitment, and more than half (55%) stating that recruitment was likely to ‘stay the same’. Some 16% expected recruitment levels to decrease.
On the retention of sustainability roles, more than a fifth (22%) expected an increase in retention, while 62% expected retention to stay the same, and 16% expected a decrease.
As regards budgets for sustainability-linked projects over the next year, two fifths (40%) expected an increase in corporate sustainability budgets, a similar number (40%) expect budgets to remain the same, and 20% expected a decrease.
Elsewhere, close to half (47%) expect investor scrutiny of sustainability performance to increase over the next year. Two fifths (41%) expect scrutiny to stay the same, and 12% expect a decrease.
The top budget priorities cited by CSOs over the next 12 months with regard to sustainability were ESG data and reporting software (42%), supply-chain sustainability (38%), consulting and advisory services (40%), compliance and reporting (34%), circular economy (23%), employee engagement and training (22%), and biodiversity and nature restoration (19%).
Business complexity
Commenting on the findings, Harry Chapman, the head of sustainability events at Economist Impact, said, “Corporate sustainability leaders acknowledge the challenges posed by current American policies but believe that investor expectations and regulatory environments in Europe will continue to drive ESG commitments forward.
“While this demonstrates resilience, it also underscores the complexity businesses face balancing global operations against varying regional priorities and regulations.” Read more here.
