PwC: Prioritizing and budgeting for sustainability initiatives new focus

By Rob Starr, Content Manager, Big4.com

Results of a new poll of 1,400 corporate executives during PwC US’s August 16^th webcast Sustainability Valuation: Putting a Dollar Value on Your Initiatives concluded that nearly half are  looking at sustainability initiatives. The impact on the environment remains the number one indirect benefit that survey respondents were concerned about, drawing almost a fourth of the response.  However, it is noteworthy that talent, corporate know-how and retention came in as a close second, being cited as a paramount concern for about 25 percent of the respondents as well.

Don Reed, a director in PwC’s Sustainable Business Solutions practice clarifies:

“Corporate sustainability is driven by market forces and puts material business value at stake.  That’s why companies need a valuation framework to effectively quantify and demonstrate its benefits,” he said. ” The fact that our webcast drew a large number of C-level attendees, including hundreds charged with sustainability, confirms the drive to continue pushing the valuation envelope for sustainability initiatives and give them a voice at the CFO table to make the business case.”

About 10 percent saw beyond prioritization and are now in the stage of asking the question of how much capital to allocate to sustainability, demonstrating their desire to take the valuation proposition premise to the next level.  Another 17 percent revealed that direct cost savings is what matters the most, indicating that the indirect benefits of sustainability initiatives are not yet on their radar screen.