Research concludes 80% of firms are seeing financial benefits from decarbonising

Survey of 2,000 execs shows business case for going ‘green’ is crystalising, with some valuing decarbonisation efforts at 10% of revenue  

The vast majority of big companies are reaping financial rewards from their decarbonisation efforts, according to research from Boston Consulting Group (BCG). 

Nearly 2,000 executives were canvassed for the report, while disclosures, target-setting and CEO discussions around climate had declined, 70% of respondents said their firms were maintaining or increasing their green investments. 

The survey focused on those in charge of measuring, reporting or reducing emissions at companies with more than 1,000 employees and more than $100m in annual revenue.   

According to the results, 82% of companies said they’d seen at least some “economic benefits” from their decarbonisation work, with 6% valuing the upside at more than 10% of revenue. 

Seven-tenths of companies were found to have “maintained or increased their overall investment in sustainability”, with the energy, construction, technology, health care, and industrial goods sectors among those most likely to increase investment.  

The BCG study also found that over the next five years the firms plan to ramp up investments in mitigation, adaptation, and resilience by dedicating an additional 16% of their capital expenditure. This represents an increase of $69m per company. 

The business case for climate action was also explored in a report from fellow consulting titan by Bain last week, which estimated that a quarter of global carbon emissions can be “profitably abated” using existing levers. 

The remaining 75% is likely to be much more costly, it suggested, with 43% currently lacking an economically feasible pathway.