Capgemini released a report yesterday which reiterated a message that has been gaining ground over recent months; namely, that sustainability makes business sense.
According to the report – Powering Sustainability: Why energy and utility companies need to act now and help save the planet – sustainability reaps all sorts of rewards. These include increased environment, social, and governance (ESG) ratings along with an increase in revenue. Social activism has already impacted investment strategy for many global investors, divesting investments from emissions-intensive sectors to cleaner, greener technologies.
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As part of a ‘carrot-and-stick’ strategy, the European Unions has provided a number of financial packages as part of its stimulus and post-COVID-19 recovery programme – many of these aimed at incentivising sustainable behaviours. The stick part of the equation comes in the form of a carbon tax on “imports, which could directly affect the revenues of companies exporting to Europe,” according to the report.
The report examines the challenges from the perspective of direct emissions (Scope 1), emissions within their direct supply chain (scope 2) and all other (Scope 3) emissions.
Many are seeing the opportunities brought about by sustainability – from a revenue perspective specifically: “(64%) of organisations say that they have generated a revenue increase from sustainable operations, with more than half of organisations investing in at least six clean sources of revenue, including green hydrogen (59%).” There is also the benefit of increased brand value and improved ESG ratings. However, there are those for whom the opportunity (and the roadmap) is still a little obscure.
Many utility and energy companies are still falling short in scaling and accelerating sustainability practices and alarmingly, nine in 10 organisations do not have science-based targets yet – but say they plan to implement them.
Does your utility or company have science-based targets in place? More importantly, would you know where to begin?
The report highlights a number of considerations, including the role of technology and the tension between ROI and investment in low emissions assets. Do you believe that sustainability provides an opportunity for revenue growth?
What do you consider the most important consideration in the development of your emissions reduction journey and how are you faring in terms of addressing emissions along your supply chain?
As always, we’d love to hear what you think. Contact us at [email protected] or visit our LinkedIn post to leave a comment.
Wishing you a week full of opportunities!
Until next time
Claire
