The newly released Sustainability Leaders 2024 Survey reveals that although sustainability experts’ perceptions of how well sectors are managing their transition to sustainability have improved over the last few years, only one-third or fewer say performance is excellent, even for the top-rated sectors. Overall, sustainability professionals award mostly poor ratings for all sectors except forest products and life sciences.
While the forest products and life sciences sectors are viewed most positively by experts on managing their transition to sustainable development, all seven top-rated sectors have seen improved performance on sustainability. The largest improvements in performance over the last decade are seen in the banking/finance, electric utilities, automotive, and life sciences sectors (all have improved by around ten percentage points on positive ratings). In contrast, the chemicals and extractive sectors are now seen to be doing either the same or slightly worse than they did a decade ago. More than three-quarters of experts now say that the oil and gas sector is doing a poor job on sustainability while two-thirds say the same about mining.
The GlobeScan / ERM Sustainability Institute Leaders Survey captures the perspectives of almost 500 sustainability experts in 65 countries worldwide on the priorities and forces shaping the sustainable development agenda. The survey explores sustainability leadership across governments, nongovernmental organizations, and companies and tracks priority issues as well as the most important recent developments.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The research shows a mixed picture of sectors’ performance in managing their transition to sustainable development. There is evidence of positive momentum for sustainability leadership across several sectors that have improved in the past decade, though more needs to be done. The priority now is to build on this progress and accelerate efforts in the sectors whose role in the transition is essential, such as mining and oil and gas.
Read more on what sustainability experts expect from leading companies in our Sustainability Leaders 2024 report.
Survey Question: Please rate how well each of the following industry sectors is managing its transition to sustainable development in your country or region. Please use a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 means “poor” and 5 means “excellent.”
Source: 2024 GlobeScan / ERM Sustainability Institute Leaders Survey of 484 experts representing business, government, NGOs, and academia across 65 countries from April to May 2024
