2Sustain

Corporate sustainability programs aren’t typically integrated with tax departments, and that could be costing companies valuable financial opportunities, according to new research from Ernst & Young LLP.

The survey, entitled Working Together: Linking sustainability and tax to reduce the cost of implementing sustainability initiatives, included responses from 223 senior executives at companies predominantly in the US. 19 percent of those polled were Chief Sustainability Officer (CSOs), while the remaining 81 percent were tax directors or their equivalent. Responses from each group were vastly different, highlighting the lack of coordination between the two groups. For example, only 28 percent of tax directors believe their company has a sustainability strategy or is developing one, compared to 90 percent of CSOs surveyed. In addition, the survey results showed that: (more…)

The risk of natural resource shortages, coupled with changing customer and employee expectations, is likely to impact core business objectives in the coming years. Exactly how global companies have been addressing impacts like these has been somewhat murky –at least until now.

Results from a 2011 Ernst & Young LLP/GreenBiz Group comparative survey, “Six Growing Trends in Corporate Sustainability,” determined an increasing financial focus by executives on corporate sustainability efforts affecting core business objectives.

For example, the replies of 272 sustainability executives from 24 industry sectors provided several illuminating statistics centered on six major trends: (more…)

Despite challenging economic conditions and regulatory uncertainty, a majority of corporate executives expect to increase spending on climate change initiatives between 2010 and 2012, according to new survey results from Ernst & Young.

The survey, conducted in the spring of 2010, polled 300 global corporate executives from 16 countries with at least US$1b in annual revenue. Among these respondents, 70 percent plan to increase spending on climate change initiatives over the next two years. Nearly half plan to spend between 0.5 percent to more than 5 percent of their revenue on climate change initiatives. (As a frame of reference, for a US$1b company, this represents an anticipated spend of US$5 million to US$50 million annually.)

Here are a few other key finding from Ernst & Young’s new research: (more…)

Supply chain risk continues to be a hot topic among business executives –and for good reason. The current economic downturn, combined with an increasingly complex global business and regulatory environment, has created an atmosphere where most firms are feeling more vulnerable than ever to uncertainty in their supply chains. If you’d like some numbers to back up that claim, consider this: According to an Ernst & Young LLP poll conducted in January 2009, 67% of companies said they would be adversely affected if one of their top three suppliers failed. I wouldn’t be surprised if that percentage has creeped even higher now, indicating that supply chain risk is emerging as a significant top priority.

“Supplier risk is an order of magnitude greater than it has been in decades,” says Mark Short, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP TAS. “Companies are faced with deteriorating cash and credit conditions, and at the same time, an increasingly complex, integrated supply chain.”

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