ESG Champions embrace operational transformation. ESG is no longer a nicety; it’s a necessity. Customers demand it; investors require it; regulators are making it law. Still, most companies, while stating ambitious goals, have been slow to act. Transformation is costly and burdensome, and economic stresses are slowing efforts. But where many companies see challenges, some see opportunities.
Like with digitization – a period of massive transformation characterized by high costs and uncertainty – there are big benefits to transforming without delay. Companies that digitized early, learned from mistakes and moved forward. Those that waited, are now investing heavily to catch up. We think it’s better to be an ESG Champion than a follower.”
The PwC Global ESG in Operations Survey of mostly large corporations shows many leaders think the same. Appearing to be green isn’t enough. To be competitive, operations must be reengineered to meet wide-ranging ESG standards. There is a subset of ESG champions emerging that enjoys top management support, has a clear strategy and vision and balanced focus on all ESG aspects. They rethink the end to end value chain and with that made their business more resilient for the future challenges. Those who lag behind need to speed up their ESG transformation to not lose ground.
