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CFOs see sustainability as vital

Wednesday, September 19 11:00:18

The vast majority of Ireland's CFOs - nine out of ten - believe there is a direct link between environmental sustainability programmes and business performance, according to the Deloitte Q2 2012 CFO Survey.

The research, carried out in association with Business in the Community Ireland, shows that Irish CFOs identified sustainability as having the strongest impact on long term value creation, compliance, risk management and building trust.

This was followed by cost control, revenue generation and investor relations.

The survey was carried out to garner views on the importance placed on sustainability programmes within Irish organisations, and the extent to which driving these programmes falls under the remit of the CFO.

Sustainability, along with non-financial reporting, is likely to become increasingly important as the EU is currently progressing legislation that would require non-financial reporting by CFOs.

Over half of respondents to the survey (58pc) think that it is important for sustainability programmes to be part of the CFO's role.

Those areas deemed most important to their role are the marketplace, including supply chains and customers (28pc) and the workplace (24pc), followed by communication, governance and reporting (19pc), the environment (15pc) and the community (15pc).

With regards to the supply chain, the results of the survey show that just over a third of CFOs incorporate sustainability dimensions into their company's bidding and/or procurement processes.

"Sustainability and non-financial reporting are becoming increasingly important in today's marketplace as a means of driving value. Whereas traditionally many companies believed that sustainability issues fell within the remit of various functions including HR, marketing or investor relations, Irish CFOs are now aware of the benefits of driving these programmes. Increasingly, stakeholders such as investors, customers and employees are expecting organisations to meet standards of social, environmental and economic performance, the so-called triple bottom line," said Ciaran O'Brien, Partner, Deloitte.