Companies are increasingly producing sustainability information, but there’s a gap in how far that data reaches into actual decision-making, according to a new ACCA global survey. The report polled more than 1,000 respondents across 113 jurisdictions, ran interviews, and convened eight roundtables to gauge how ready organisations really are to create and use sustainability data.
More than half of respondents, 53 per cent, have begun creating and using sustainability information. But only 16 per cent of senior management and boards actually factor it into decisions, a gap that suggests much of what’s being reported still isn’t reaching the people setting strategy. Regulation remains the dominant driver: 71 per cent cite compliance and the licence to operate as their main reason for producing the data in the first place, ahead of any purely commercial or reputational motive.
The report’s recommendations focus on closing that gap: build systems that connect sustainability and financial data for both internal and external users, engage stakeholders and regulators in two-way dialogue rather than one-off disclosure, and collaborate across industries to share expertise and cut duplicated effort (30 per cent of respondents said peer collaboration was the most useful way to overcome their reporting challenges). Its overarching recommendation is that organisations move sustainability reporting beyond compliance and start using it to build resilience.
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