Nordic CEOs are staying the course in their efforts to promote sustainability. Their commitment to looking beyond purely financial growth to achieving long-term, sustainable success has been unwavering since 2018 and is still at 43 percent.
The Nordic countries and companies are renowned as global sustainability leaders, with high scores across a variety of sustainability performance measurements. The results in this year’s CEO Outlook show that Nordic CEOs already consider sustainability as ingrained in their business strategy and financial growth, and they are less likely to make the distinction between financial growth and sustainability that their global counterparts make.
Despite the strong focus on sustainable growth, 53 percent of the CEOs say they still struggle to link their growth strategy with a wider societal purpose for the organisation, a bit higher than the global average (47 percent).
We must look beyond purely financial growth if we are to achieve long-term, sustainable success:
Source: 2019 CEO Outlook, KPMG.
On the other hand, 75 percent claim that the organisation has an effective workforce of sustainability experts that lead the integration of sustainable thinking into business strategy, and 62 percent of the CEOs feel it is their personal responsibility to ensure that the environmental, social and governance policies reflect the values of the customers. This suggests that the future looks bright for Nordic sustainable development.
KPMG Sustainability Services
KPMG has been providing sustainability services for more than 20 years and is a pioneer in sustainability consulting. Our international sustainability network consists of more than 500 subject matter experts from more than 60 countries that help organisations ensure a long term and responsible business and meet the high standards and expectations from customers, owners, government and the public.