GHD ADVISORY RESEARCH IDENTIFY OBSTACLES PREVENTING ORGANISATIONS FROM IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABILITY PLANS

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- GHD Advisory, a professional services company, has published the results of its global corporate sustainability research to uncover what is holding organisations back from executing their sustainability strategies, ahead of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28).

According to a statement, GHD Sustainability Monitor 2024: From Ambition to Action research found that the scale of sustainability ambition is unnerving for most organisations and the gap between intention and action is significant.

While a promising 97 per cent of executives believe that their sustainability agenda is adding commercial value, more than 50 per cent of executives feel that economic uncertainty has reduced or significantly reduced commitments and actions.

“The GHD Sustainability Monitor 2024 reveals the barriers which help to identify practical and tangible ways to overcome challenges and close the gap between ambition to action through new levels of engagement, collaboration and action,” said GHD Advisory Executive General Manager, Richard Fechner.

GHD is attending COP28 with a strong on-the-ground presence and programme of activity across the blue and green zones, as well as Climate Action’s Sustainable Innovation Forum.

Among findings from the research show that 95 per cent of executives said sustainability is central to their organisation’s vision and strategy. Executives cited less confidence in integrating sustainability strategy across internal stakeholders.

In addition, 79 per cent of executives believed a moderate to significant gap exists between what they are trying to achieve and what has been implemented. The need for a step-change in external and internal stakeholder collaboration is seen as a hurdle.

Also highlighted, 75 per cent of executives said there are fundamental contradictions in the sustainability agenda with for-profit companies working towards making a positive impact while furthering the bottom-line.

The report also outlines five ways to expedite immediate sustainability action including actualise sustainability; lead with social engagement; prioritise corporate sustainability regulation; and tackle Scope 3 emissions.

The global research examines the state of corporate sustainability involving 550 executives across the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and India.

-- BERNAMA