Companies continue to increase spending for sustainable activities

Even with the recession and economic downturn, companies say they are increasing their spending on sustainable activities. The second annual Sustainability & Innovation Global Executive Study conducted by MIT Sloan Management Review and the Boston Consulting Group also found that companies expect the spending to increase further this year.
More than 3,100 managers and executives, representing every major industry and region of the world, participated in the survey. More than half of respondents reported that they had either “increased” or “significantly increased” management attention and investment, and the trend is speeding up. The largest change projected for the coming year is in the category of organizations planning to “significantly increase” investments, which jumped by almost a third.
Based on the responses to other survey questions most companies indicated there is a growing sense that sustainability demands strategic attention. Even though the respondents consider sustainability to be worth their company’s attention, only about one in three executives are able to say with any conviction that sustainability is currently adding to their profitability.