Sustainabilitys main drivers are changing although

• Sustainability’s main drivers are
changing. Although regulatory
requirements, brand enhancement and
risk management remain key drivers of
sustainability, cost reduction is also a
key rationale. The primary focus is on
the environmental side, in particular
with regard to resource and energy
efficiency.
• Sustainability is being viewed
as a source of innovation—and
new growth. Forty-four percent of
executives agree sustainability is a
source of innovation, and 39 percent
see it as a source of new business
opportunities. Far fewer disagree.
• Firms are increasingly measuring—
and reporting—their sustainability
performance. Just over one out of
three (36 percent) companies polled
have issued at least one public report on
sustainability, and another 19 percent
plan to do so soon—although a sizeable
minority (38 percent) have no plans to
do so. Two key challenges on this front
include generating relevant data and
establishing relevant benchmarks.
• Business wants a successor to the
Kyoto Protocol. Two-thirds (67 percent)
of executives believe a new set of rules
to replace those that will end in 2012
is “very important” or “critical” . Just 8
percent think it is “not important” . The
field of sustainability is unusual in that
corporate lobbying is weighted toward
tighter rules, even though this may
result in higher costs.
© 2011 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. All rights reserved.

© 2011 KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”), a Swiss entity. Member firms of the KPMG network of independent firms are affiliated with KPMG International. KPMG International provides no client services. All rights reserved.
14 | Corporate Sustainability
Introduction —
Sustainability’s±corporate±evolution±±
“No one can resist an idea
whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo’s quote could well be
applied to corporate sustainability at the
dawn of 2011. Companies around the
world remain committed to pursuing
sustainability agendas, despite a number
of factors: a severe economic downturn
in many regions, high unemployment, a
disappointing outcome from the 2009
Copenhagen climate change meeting and
somewhat lower energy prices.
Indeed, the proportion of firms with a
sustainability strategy has edged up to
62 percent, from just over half in a similar
survey conducted by the Economist
Intelligence Unit in early 2008. This rise
was by no means a foregone conclusion a
few years ago, but illustrates how the idea
has caught hold within business.
Senior executives interviewed for the
current report often cited the depth of
engagement with the issue as the most
surprising thing about their organization’s
sustainability policies. German industrial
conglomerate Siemens, for example, now
regards sustainability “not as a compliance
topic, but as a strategy topic,” says
Sören Buttkereit, Head of the company’s
corporate sustainability external office.