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. Our study "Steering Sustainably" examined how companies from four industries (manufacturing, automotive, infrastructure, transport & logistics) are preparing for change based on self-assessments.
Growing importance of ESG criteria in the manufacturing industry
The current level of ambition to address sustainability-related issues is currently described as proactive by slightly less than half of the respondents. But this should change in the future, as companies can gain significant competitive advantages by managing risks and opportunities. The importance of ESG issues is already recognised by the majority of the companies surveyed; at almost two-thirds of the companies (64 per cent), responsibility for all sustainability-related issues is anchored at C-level and the board of directors, i.e. at the top management level.
Lack of KPIs and fragmented data landscape complicate ESG management
Often in the manufacturing industry, the implementation of environmental, social and governance aspects is hampered by a lack of KPIs to manage them. Only 48 per cent of the companies surveyed from the manufacturing sector state that they have a suitable set of KPIs for managing the three ESG fields of action. In addition, there is a need to catch up with regard to a systematic or overarching approach to internal data governance for ESG: almost every second company lacks defined and binding processes for data maintenance as well as a systematic management of ESG data.
Ulrich Ackermann
Member of the Managing Board, Divisional Director Tax
KPMG AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft
