Companies cannot refuse to address environmental issues
The increasingly vocal call for sustainable practices appears to be gaining traction among Swiss companies. In fact, a large majority has already implemented environmental measures and is planning further steps, as shown in a study released by UBS on Monday.
For weeks, schoolchildren around the world have been trying to lend weight to their environmental concerns with strikes. At least with Swiss companies, they seem to be preaching to the choir. Around 77 percent of the 2,503 companies surveyed by UBS consider environmentally sustainable business practices to be important or very important.
The companies see the most significant environmental impacts in electricity and energy consumption. However, environmental impacts in other areas, such as plastic waste, air and soil pollution, are also frequently mentioned.
However, the high value that Swiss companies place on sustainable business does not seem to be the result of the current media hype surrounding this topic, said UBS Chief Economist Daniel Kalt. On the one hand, the survey was conducted before the recent cantonal parliamentary elections, which brought significant seat gains for the green parties; on the other hand, according to Kalt, this can be deduced from the measures already taken and planned by the companies.
This is because more than half of the companies surveyed have already counteracted the environmental impacts mentioned by reducing electricity and resource consumption as well as waste. In addition, they have already planned further steps in the next two to five years. "These are indications that the issue of sustainability is being addressed by the companies in the long term," Kalt continues.
The companies surveyed also stated that they were rarely able to attract investors or increase sales by acting sustainably in the long term. On the other hand, they benefit from cost savings and an enhanced reputation.
Most companies cite their employees (46 percent) and their customers (43 percent) as the driving force behind greener business practices. "In a competitive market for talent and customers, companies are likely to hope for competitive advantages from this," Kalt added.
When it comes to achieving environmental goals, companies prefer instruments such as education, information and communication, as has been successfully achieved in Switzerland in the area of recycling aluminum, for example. Voluntary cooperation and environmental target agreements between companies are also frequently mentioned as a preferred instrument.
Companies tend to be skeptical of legislation as a driver for ecologically sustainable management. According to Kalt, government intervention is most likely to be supported if it is implemented in the form of market-based instruments, such as an incentive tax. (SDA)
