Most organisations now see climate technology as essential, but relatively few have moved from believing that to actually investing with a clear plan, according to a new ACCA report. Two-thirds of those surveyed said climate tech is or will become essential to their business, and 21 per cent are already investing within existing budgets, with another 21 per cent planning to within two to three years. Only 15 per cent of organisations currently invest with a clear financial or strategic rationale behind it, though; the rest are either investing cautiously or motivated mainly by non-financial returns like ESG standing and brand value.
Adoption is concentrated in a few areas so far: energy efficiency, carbon compliance, and sustainable supply chains lead the way, while green finance, carbon offsetting, and climate risk planning are emerging as the next priorities. The report’s biggest finding is a data problem underneath all of this: 72 per cent of organisations say fragmented or inconsistent data, weak governance, or a lack of internal knowledge holds back their climate tech efforts, and even where data exists, a fifth of organisations can’t interpret what it’s telling them and 15 per cent can’t measure the return on their investment.
The report’s recommendations centre on a five-step roadmap for embedding climate tech: align it with strategy, map the current footprint before investing, build a proper value case, draw on available government and external support (cited by 77 per cent of organisations as a key driver), and keep monitoring investments after approval rather than treating them as one-off decisions. It positions accountants specifically as the people best placed to close the gap, given their role in data governance, ROI measurement, and strategic oversight.
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