Sustainability Survey
Annually beginning in 2009, the WI Sustainable Business Council and the WI Department of Natural Resource’s Green Tier Program conduct a survey on “sustainability” efforts of businesses in Wisconsin. These surveys are intended to be both a snapshot in time, and also to serve as a measure of progress on sustainability efforts.
The target respondents were the 100 largest companies in Wisconsin, determined by a list compiled by Forward Wisconsin (2009), and 45 additional small and medium sized companies that had been identified for their interest in, or their commitment to, sustainability. Phone calls were placed to each company with a request to identify who (if anyone) at the company was championing their sustainability work. 89 of the large companies were able to identify a champion and all of the small companies identified a contact person. The survey was then sent via email to the identified “champion” or contact three separate times over a series of several weeks.
This survey used the term “sustainability” but is meant to encompass efforts of companies to green their business, to improve their environmental or social performance, or in other ways to respond to stakeholder pressures to be better citizens or be more responsible.
We received responses from 37 of the large businesses and 33 of the other businesses that we emailed. This 48% response rate was very encouraging, indicating that companies of all sizes are paying attention to sustainability. 70% of respondents felt that they are leading their sector in understanding sustainable principles. A majority of companies indicated that they are leading their sectors in their understanding and implementation of sustainability efforts and have also taken the initial steps to develop a corporate sustainability strategy.
The vast majority of respondents are active in the sustainability area, focusing mainly on energy efficiency, the development of sustainability metrics, and identifying their carbon footprint. When asked about future focus areas, the most common responses were energy efficiency and sustainability reporting. Driving forces towards sustainability appear to be cost reduction and efficiency improvement as well as corporate image and brand reputation. Conversely, cost and perceived lack of return on their investments are sited as being the biggest barriers to sustainability.
Comments on the survey analysis, the questions used, or any other observations, can be submitted to Tom Eggert at teggert@bus.wisc.edu.
