The number of companies worldwide with active corporate sustainability programmes is increasing, owing to growing pressure from regulators and a rising concern over the potential for brand and reputational management, a global survey has found.

KPMG International commissioned the research project, which was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and launched at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change conference in Cancun, Mexico, this week.

The results were also said to reflect sustainability developments in South Africa.

Entitled ‘A Review of Corporate Sustainability in 2010’, the report showed an increase in the numbers of companies with active sustainability programmes.

A similar survey conducted in February 2008 showed that about half of the respondents had a sustainability strategy in place.

Early results from the 2010 survey of 378 large and medium-sized companies throughout 61 countries showed that 62% of companies had active sustainability programmes in place, and 11% were currently developing one.

Many respondents reported growing support for sustainability on operational and commercial grounds, once the practical benefits were realised.

“These findings are in keeping with a trend that is emerging in South Africa,” said KPMG climate change and sustainability division director Shireen Naidoo.

On reporting, the study revealed that 38% of respondents had no plans to report on their sustainability performance. Reasons given included a lack of good data and benchmarks, combined with skepticism among stakeholders about the worth of these reports.

Asked what action they would like to see from governments, two thirds of respondents said that a successor to the Kyoto Protocol was ‘very important’ or ‘critical’. A majority of those actively involved in lobbying their governments over climate change said that they were pressing for tougher regulation, preferably on an international basis.

“Companies believe that more regulation on carbon will come, and they want it sooner rather than later so that they can adapt and comply,” said Naidoo.

“The clear message from business to governments and officials at COP16 is: ‘Give us a solid regulatory framework for sustainable business growth, and we will deliver it’.”

“KPMG has seen an increasing number of requests from companies in recent months to have their carbon emissions independently assured. These requests point to the need for companies to have accurate information out in the public domain, as well as to use as a baseline for setting reduction targets. They are also an indicator that companies are embracing sustainability issues largely because it makes business sense,” she added.

Overall, 61% of companies with sustainability programmes found that, despite an initial increase in investment, the benefits outweighed the drawbacks. This rose to 72% among the largest companies, with revenues above $5-billion.

Benefits identified from the focus on sustainability, included reductions in energy costs, improved relationships with customers and suppliers, and more efficient use of resources, especially water.

Some companies also found that a focus on sustainability stimulated innovation in their companies, leading to new product lines and opening up new markets.

"The demand and preference for sustainable business processes is becoming part of the business environment," said KPMG climate change and sustainability practice special adviser Yvo de Boer.

There remained challenges to overcome, and one of these was how to measure the effectiveness of programmes and report these to stakeholders.

In the South African case, Naidoo stated that investors had emerged as a key group in motivating change in the businesses within which they had an interest. The Carbon Disclosure Project process helped deliver on these changes, among the Top-40 JSE-listed companies.

However, Naidoo stated that companies “need help in assessment and evaluation of their programmes, benchmarking against emerging industry standards, verification of the quality of their information systems, and guidance on how to take commercial advantage of the incentives on offer from governments”.