68 Business Sustainability Statistics (Relevant in 2022)

When businesses take sustainability seriously, it couldn’t be more meaningful. True business sustainability means more than just selling ‘eco-friendly’ products and reducing emissions. Sustainable businesses operate with purpose, so they have business models that value social and environmental impact as much as financial profit.

Since corporate sustainability has probably never been more important than it is today, we’ve put together this collection of statistics on the latest sustainability trends. They should give you a good idea about the importance of sustainability in business, and offer an insight into how much progress we’ve made so far. 

Are companies becoming more sustainable? 

• Although 90% of business leaders think sustainability is important, only 60% of companies have a sustainability strategy. – Forbes
• 67% of companies have started using more sustainable materials, such as recycled materials and lower-emitting products. – Deloitte
• 66% are working to increase their energy efficiency. – Deloitte
• 3426 companies globally are working with the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) towards decarbonization; reducing their carbon emissions in line with climate science. – Science Based Targets initiative
• 57% of companies have started using energy-efficient or climate-friendly machinery, technologies, and equipment. – Deloitte
• 57% are also providing employee training on climate change/climate action. – Deloitte
• Over 4500 companies globally have become certified B Corps as of February 2022. (To become certified as a B Corp a company must meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability, and aspire to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems).- B Lab
• Almost one-third (30%) of Europe’s largest companies have committed to reaching Net-Zero by 2050. – Accenture
• However, if these companies continue the pace of emissions reduction they achieved between 2010 and 2019, only 9% are likely to meet the 2050 target. – Accenture
• Companies with a net-zero emissions goal reduced emissions by 10% on average over the last decade. – Accenture
• 55% of companies are cutting down on air travel post-pandemic. – Deloitte
• An estimated 90% of companies on the S&P 500 index published a corporate social responsibility (CSR) report in 2019, compared to just 20% in 2011. (The S&P 500 index is an index featuring the 500 leading U.S….