Study on ESG Management and Steering - Steering Sustainably

Our study analyses the ESG maturity of 200 companies from the automotive, industrial manufacturing, infrastructure and transport sectors along four dimensions.

The economy is currently being fundamentally changed by a multitude of developments. Under the term ESG (Environment, Social & Governance), companies, institutions and society summarise a broad spectrum of this change towards a more sustainable and socially just future.

Companies are faced with the challenge of securing economic success and reconciling this with a sustainable ESG value proposition. ESG is now at the top of the management agenda of a growing number of companies in different sectors. However, it is often difficult to assess the maturity of ESG management and the distance to leading practice examples.

In order to identify the relevant fields of action, it is necessary to locate the ESG landscape and understand how ESG criteria, trends and developments can have an impact on one's own company. Based on this location, companies can take action in the relevant areas of their business.

With our ESG Management & Steering study "Steering Sustainably", KPMG uses four sectors - Automotive, Industrial Manufacturing, Infrastructure, Transport & Logistics - to show how the requirements of key stakeholders and also of ESG regulation can be better classified. To this end, the current strengths, challenges and development areas of ESG management are highlighted on the basis of four dimensions:

• Strategy & Value
• Governance & Organisation
• Regulation & Reporting
• Technology & Alliances

For the ESG Management & Steering study, 200 decision-makers from four sectors were asked in January and February 2023 how they assess the status of ESG activities in their own companies. Fifty companies each from the automotive industry, the manufacturing industry, the infrastructure market and the transport and logistics industry were asked for their opinion on how well they are prepared for medium and long-term changes, how sensitively they react to future changes and whether potential risks and opportunities have already been recognised.