CEOs place sustainability as a top priority in MEA

Sustainability is rising higher on corporate agendas, according to a recent IBM (NYSE: IBM) Institute for Business Value (IBV) study, and CEOs acknowledge sustainability as a business necessity and growth driver. 

However, as CEOs face increasing pressure from boards and investors, a lack of clarity about ROI and economic benefits is impeding their capacity to act.

Own your impact: Practical pathways to transformational sustainability, IBM’s annual CEO study, polled over 3,000 CEOs worldwide, 350 of whom were from the Middle East and Africa (MEA). According to the poll, more than half of MEA respondents consider sustainability to be a high priority for their firms, up 22% from 2021. However, global research shows that more than half (51%) of respondents see sustainability as one of their top problems in the next two to three years, citing a lack of data insights, uncertain ROI, and technological constraints as roadblocks. While 95% of CEOs worldwide claim they are at least in the piloting stage of adopting their sustainability plan, just under a quarter (23%) believe they are executing it across their entire organisation.

“CEOs are leading during one of the most complex environments ever, including war, inflation, talent shortages, and the COVID-19 pandemic health crisis,” said Saad Toma, General Manager, IBM Middle East &Africa. “Despite these challenges, they aren’t taking their foot off the gas when it comes to sustainability, and more now rank it among their top priorities. The current landscape presents an opportunity to use data and AI in ways never before considered and we remain committed to providing our unwavering support to partners and customers to help them achieve their goals.”

Key study findings include:

CEOs say sustainability is climbing higher on their agendas and believe it can help drive business performance

• More than half (52%) of CEOs in MEA say increasing sustainability is one of their highest priorities for their organization in the next two to three years – up 22% since 2021.
• Nearly 70% of surveyed CEOs globally say they are directly involved in defining their organization’s sustainability strategy.
• Nearly 40% of MEA CEOs believe that their sustainability investments will accelerate business growth, and more than 30% of them find that their sustainability strategy, actions, and stated targets have made it easier to access capital. 

Pressure is mounting from stakeholders, but unclear economic benefits  and regulatory barriers stand in the way

• More than half (52%) of surveyed CEOs in MEA cite sustainability as among their greatest challenges in the next two to three years, up from 12% in 2021, ahead of regulation (49%), cyber risk (44%), technology infrastructure (40%).
• Nearly 60% of MEA respondents list unclear ROI and economic benefits as a leading challenge to achieving sustainability objectives, followed by regulatory barriers (49%), and a lack of insights from data (41%).
• 37% of respondents in MEA also identify technological barriers to implementing sustainability in their organization.

CEOs are putting words into action, yet aren’t embedding sustainability strategies across the organization 

• Respondents indicate that CEO investment in sustainability has more than doubled as a percentage of revenue over the last five years.
• Nearly 60% of MEA CEOs are confident they’ll achieve their sustainability goals and only 23% of CEOs surveyed believe sustainability targets announced by government for their industry were not achievable.
• More than 60% of surveyed CEOs in MEA say they are implementing at least some aspects or functions of their sustainability strategies.