By Matt Mace

Copyright edie

The fifth annual climate survey by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and CO2 AI was published on Tuesday (16 September).

The report is based on a survey of 1,924 sustainability executives. Collectively, the companies included in the survey cover 16 major industries, 26 countries and are collectively responsible for 40% of global GHG emissions.

The report highlights that 82% of the companies have captured economic benefits from decarbonisation, with 6% reporting a value that exceeds 10% of annual revenue.

There are common features amongst the top 6% of companies. The report identifies that comprehensive emissions and risk measurement approaches make a company 1.4 times more likely to achieve “significant revenue”. Companies integrating transition and adaptation plans are 2.2 times more likely to achieve revenue, internal carbon pricing, and risk modelling (1.6x), and using multiple advanced digital solutions (2.3x) were also listed as key factors.

Over the next five years, companies are planning to increase investments in mitigation, adaptation, and resilience by 16% of their capital expenditure budget – equating to an increase of $69m per company.

“Around seventy percent of companies are maintaining, if not increasing overall their investments in sustainability. This is encouraging as it shows that climate action hasn’t stalled, and momentum continues steadily around the world,” said Hubertus Meinecke, the global leader for Climate & Sustainability at BCG and coauthor of the report.

The survey found that 33% of companies are now using internal carbon prices, while the creation of climate transition plans has increased 5% annually, with 61% of plans now approved at the board level.

Reporting gaps

While progress is welcome, the report points to data gaps. Currently, only 7% of companies fully report emissions across Scopes 1, 2, and 3, which is a 2% decrease from 2024 levels.

Measurement of climate-related risk is also limited, with only 12% of firms assessing all types of physical and transition risks.

In related news, new research from sustainability software firm osapiens has found that 69% of companies believe that mandatory reporting is required to improve data sets and transparency.

The survey, based on 150 senior UK leaders, found that 41% would welcome a tiered approach to mandated reporting that offered different requirements for smaller firms.

More than 60% believe that sustainability was crucial in boosting customer engagement and loyalty.

“It’s encouraging to see more UK firms engage with sustainability requirements. In the past year, we’ve seen contrasting developments from ‘stop the clock’ decisions as part of the EU Omnibus initiative, while other requirements have intensified, such as the upcoming UK Sustainability Reporting Standards (UK SRS),” Tim Lambert, Regional Lead UK, Ireland and Nordics at osapiens, said.

“While the pace of change can be challenging, it’s also driving greater intent. Many businesses now recognise the value of improving visibility into their sustainability data because you can’t change what you can’t track.”