Over half of businesses plan to increase their investment into sustainable business, according to the latest report from global professional services firm Capgemini.
The firm’s research institute found that organisations investing in sustainability are on the up thanks to the growing optimism around business performance.
Speaking to over 2,000 global business leaders from firms with more than $1 billion in annual revenue, Capgemini’s ‘Embracing a brighter future: investment priorities for 2024’ report revealed that 52% of those organisations plan to increase investment into their sustainable business practices.
Unsurprisingly, sustainability is at the forefront of corporate consciousness with almost two-thirds (61%) of organisations viewing a lack of sustainable practices as an “existential threat”.
A further 57% of respondents showed an interest in investing into clean technology innovation in the US and Europe over the next two to three years.
Capgemini named economic incentives, such as those offered by the EU Green Deal Industrial Plan in Europe, as key drivers of sustainability investments.
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CapGemini CEO Aiman Ezzat said: “It is good news that business leaders are increasing investments in a wide array of critical business areas from customer experience and innovation to talent and supply chains, and perhaps even more importantly sustainability”.
Supply chains are also predicted to be a prominent area for investment, as 41% of business leaders see supply chain vulnerability as a concern. This is namely because of the disruptions supply chains have faced in the past few years.
Geopolitical and environmental factors, trade conflicts and an over-reliance on China are said to have caused major logistical issues in the past.
It is likely that they will continue to jeopardise supply chains, resulting in 45% of business leaders looking to mitigate those risks by friend-shoring large portions of their sourcing or production, with almost half (49%) looking to invest in emerging economies reducing their dependency on China.
Technology and digital tools also continue to be an important investment for companies, with almost 9 in 10 organisations planning to focus on AI, including generative AI, within the next 12–18 months.
