Tech sector aims high in sustainable digital transformation
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- 23 Jan 2023
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A new research report analysing the sustainability work, attitudes, and efforts of businesses in six major sectors shows a business community trying to do its best but needs more guidance to convert will to action.
Though 96 percent of businesses surveyed have noticed the benefits of adopting sustainable solutions, less than a third of companies can benchmark their sustainability performance against other comparable organisations.
Global energy and automation digital solutions provider Schneider Electric produced the New Zealand Business Sustainability Research Index with Perceptive, which interviewed 300 New Zealand business decision-makers in operations, finance, technology, and sustainability in organisations ranging from two to over 100 employees. Leaders were canvassed in the retail, construction, telecommunications and technology, manufacturing, professional services, and electricity, gas, and water services sectors.
A few key barriers were identified among some of New Zealand's top business decision-makers. Close to one-third (32 percent) say the most significant barrier to adopting sustainability solutions within their organisation is a need for government incentives for sustainable technology adoption. Even though exactly half of the businesses surveyed are required to report on sustainability in their business plans or stakeholder reporting among those with 50 or more employees, that figure is 58 percent.
There is also considerable variation in reporting across industries, with just 42 percent of construction businesses being required to report on sustainability, one of the lowest rates across all industries surveyed.
Of those surveyed, the small to medium businesses (two to 49 employees) have the lowest uptake and sense of urgency to adopt sustainability solutions and the lowest agreement (51 percent) that their business is on track to meet its sustainability targets. However, among companies with 50 to 99 employees there is 76 percent agreement, and those with 100+ employees have 81 percent agreement.
Business leaders on the frontlines of change confirm that a significant barrier is a need for comparative data.
Vinit Mahna, Finance Manager for Spark, says, "Benchmarking is a problem. There are no benchmarks or means of comparison, so it’s hard to track progress.”
And the Vineyard Manager at a large corporate wine company says, "We don't have a baseline that we are comparing ourselves against. Another sustainability barrier is people; changing their mindsets. It is now part of performance reviews."
A large logistics company in Auckland notes that their organisation’s goals are specific, including zero waste into landfill by 2040, but better communication is needed. “It would be nice to hear about what other organisations are doing in the news in terms of sustainability initiatives. Some of the initiatives in the UK far supersede what’s happening here.” Read More…
