The presence of clearly defined sustainability goals in their business strategies was declared by 20% of Polish companies from the retail and FMCG sector, according to a PwC report. For foreign-headquartered companies, this percentage rises to 67%.
Only 25% of the companies surveyed have implemented or are implementing a significant number of sustainability reporting processes. This is a worryingly low percentage, especially considering the regulations coming into force that oblige reporting, such as the EU CSRD. Furthermore, as many as 81% of respondents are currently not technologically ready for such reporting, according to the report ‘The bumpy road to sustainability. ESG in consumer goods and retail’ from PwC.
ESG data reporting is also an important factor affecting business relationships. According to the report, 78% of companies have not yet assessed ESG risks in their supply chains, with 13% of respondents declaring that they have assessed their suppliers’ ESG profile.
Global experience shows that the sector’s largest companies have already been taking action on ESG for many years, from reducing their use of non-renewable raw materials and reducing CO2 emissions to actively supporting local communities, protecting human rights and improving working conditions. Their commitment to ESG issues is often a key element of their business strategies, which aim to both generate profits and create a positive social and environmental impact. Over the past years, there has been a significant increase in interest in ESG aspects from companies in the home market. However, it is worth noting that still about half of the companies surveyed do not have a complete sustainability strategy in place, according to the report.
The most important ESG areas that are covered by the operationalisation of the strategy among the surveyed companies are: GHG emissions and energy consumption (20%), employee well-being (18%) and training and development (18%). The company’s communication with stakeholders on ESG topics, including the area of corporate governance, remains a major challenge. There is still a noticeable relative lack of awareness and number of actions taken regarding the value chain and relations with suppliers and end-users, it was highlighted.
Companies also indicated that they have implemented or are in the process of implementing the following processes in the area of ESG reporting:
Carbon footprint analysis (61%)
Dialogue with stakeholders (37%)
Wage gap analysis (36%)
Dual materiality analysis (35%)
Value chain due diligence (21%)
Business model climate change resilience analysis (18%)
Business analysis in terms of the EU Taxonomy (16%)
Scenario analysis in climate risks (13%)
None of the above (23%).
Companies recognise the potential of technology tools to collect and manage ESG data, but less than a fifth of companies are actively using them. This is definitely an area for improvement given the level of detail of new disclosures under ESRS standards. The use of dedicated tools to support both the data collection process and the calculation of the required indicators is the right direction. The fact that only about half of the more than 70 per cent of respondents, who declare a lack of tools, plan to use them in the future indicates that there is a great need in the market for an educational aspect on the importance of a properly implemented data management system, the report indicated.
The report consists of the results of a Polish survey conducted by European Conferences United on behalf of PwC Poland. The survey took the form of an online survey (CAWI) and was conducted in February 2024 among 112 companies from the retail and FMCG sectors operating in Poland.
Source: PwC and ISBnews
