A Look at Sustainability and Social Responsibility
Benefits of Investing Time/Sources into Sustainability and Social Responsibility
- Businesses who commit to sustainability and social responsibility could see 13% productivity increase, 50% reduction in turnover
- Companies with higher representation of women in the C-suite deliver 34% greater returns to shareholders
- Companies with higher-than-average gender diversity and employee engagement have 46% -56% stronger financial performances
- Companies with above-average total diversity were found to score 19% higher in innovation revenues, 9% higher on EBIT margins
- Achieving sustainable development goals in four domains (food and agriculture, cities, energy and materials, health and well-being) is estimated to create $12T of new market opportunities by 2030 with profits as high as $17T due to savings from reductions in carbon emissions and other resource consumption
Demand for Sustainability and Social Responsibility
- 77% of Americans prefer purchasing brands that prioritize climate change efforts
- Among American consumers:
- 87% are willing to buy a product or service due to a company's advocacy concerning a social matter
- 76% would decline to do business with a company if it held views and supported issues that conflicted with their beliefs
- 63% seek out businesses that take the lead on social and environmental change
- 86% of U.S. women state they would not work for a firm that had a poor reputation for sustainability and social responsibility
Trends in Sustainability and Social Responsibility
- Assets professionally managed under sustainable investing through ESG rose 25% from 2014 to 2019 to almost $23T
- 47% of consumers, 61% of executives consider making the world a better place an important responsibility for large companies
- 74% of business executives are willing to increase corporate giving going forward
