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Companies that take effective action on climate change, not only create long-term value for the planet and a broader set of stakeholders, but also drive financial value.
The EY Sustainable Value Study Greece 2023 was conducted this year for the first time in Greece, following EY's first global survey, Sustainable Value Study, published in 2022. The study was conducted in parallel with three other Central and Southeast European countries - Poland, the Czech Republic, and Romania. The aim of the study is to understand the actions and initiatives that businesses in Greece are taking to address climate change, as well as, the value these actions create in relation to business expectations, and to explore the barriers that prevent them from doing more as well.
The businesses that have participated in the study have already taken - to a greater or lesser extent - action on climate, as shown by their responses, and have reached at least a basic level of maturity about addressing climate change. Therefore, it is important to note that the findings of the study are not representative of all Greek businesses but relate to those that have already begun their climate journey.
According to the study, Greek businesses appear to feel less exposed to climate-related risks than businesses globally, with physical risks being a concern for only one in two (53%), compared to 83% in the rest of the world. This finding is unexpected, considering how often our country experiences long-lasting (e.g. drought) and severe weather occurrences, which have become more frequent and noticeable in recent years.
Companies that take decisive climate action, do not just create more value for the planet, and various stakeholders - the society, customers, and employees - but also capture more financial value for themselves such as revenue growth and earnings. At EY, we call this ''value-led sustainability''. 45% of companies in Greece, and 69% globally, report that they have captured higher financial value from their climate initiatives than expected. This finding challenges the belief that the positive impact of climate actions is mainly captured in non-financial indicators.
Companies are reducing emissions, but too slowly and not fast enough
96% of companies surveyed in Greece have made a public commitment to tackle climate change. So far, they have achieved an 18% reduction in emissions, compared to the baseline year. In order to limit the global temperature increase compared to the pre-industrial era to below the 1.5°C limit, a 45% reduction is needed by 2030.
However, the commitments of Greek organizations fall short of this target: only 44% have made a specific public commitment by 2030, while just one in three organizations (34%) plans to reduce emissions by 45% or more at some point in the future.
So far,
of companies surveyed have made a public climate change commitment.
Only
of companies, surveyed have a public commitment by 2030.
A Value-Led Sustainability approach is driving financial impacts
45% of respondents have captured higher than expected financial value as a result of their climate change actions. A holistic approach to sustainability that takes into account financial benefits, as well as benefits for employees and customers, tends to deliver more value to the planet.
The further companies go, the better their returns
Most companies are still in the early stages of turning public commitments into action, with most progress being made on measurement and governance.
Companies leading on action take a broader approach. They are more likely to report significantly higher financial value than expected and have a larger reduction in emissions to-date.
According to their progress on climate change actions, companies are segmented into three groups:
The study measured the performance of the companies on climate change actions and based on this performance, classified them into three groups.
Pacesetters have completed most actions to address climate change, explorers are at an intermediate stage of completing actions and form the largest group, while observers will have to intensify their efforts to reach the desired outcome in the future.
The findings indicate that, when compared to the global sample, Greek businesses have significant room for improvement. At international level, 32% of the surveyed companies are categorized as ''pacesetters'' while only 9% fall within this category in Greece. Similarly, in our country, 52% of companies are categorized as ''explorers'' (compared to 45% globally), while 39% as ''observers'' (compared to 23% in the global sample). The findings indicate the importance of focusing on both explorers and observers in our country, aiming to enhance their efforts and improve their performance on climate actions.
Ways to adopt value-led sustainability
EY presents a number of initiatives and actions that businesses should undertake to create value from their climate agenda, including, but not limited to, the following initiatives:
Download the full version of the study in Greek
Summary
Companies that take decisive climate action, do not just create more value for the planet, and various stakeholders – the society, customers, and employees – among others, but also capture more financial value for themselves, on measures such as revenue growth and earnings. The aim of the EY Sustainable Value Study Greece 2023 is to help understand what actions companies are taking to address climate change, what value they expect and are receiving from these actions and barriers to doing more.