Nearly 80% of CEOs of Poland’s largest companies have implemented social, environmental and corporate governance (ESG) practices in their operations, according to the ‘KPMG CEO Outlook’ report. At the same time, the majority of them (76%) believe that it takes three to five years to see a return on investment in ESG.
In the KPMG survey, half of the CEOs of the largest companies admitted that their current ESG progress is not sufficient to be fully prepared for potential stakeholder or shareholder scrutiny. This is a pessimistic statistic given that soon the entire group of companies considered in the survey could face serious consequences as a result of new regulations related to the attestation of non-financial reports, it was reported.
Among the main negative consequences of not meeting stakeholder expectations with regard to ESG declarations, Polish respondents point to higher costs and difficulties in obtaining financing. This is followed by concerns about extending the current tenure of the board of directors and difficulties in maintaining adequate levels of commitment in current employees and recruiting candidates.
“The future requires companies to commit to ESG goals at a deep, authentic level. This is not only a requirement from society and regulation, but more importantly an opportunity to create real, sustainable value for companies and their stakeholders. The key now is to turn the current status quo into action and use it as an impetus to build sustainable business strategies,” emphasised Associate Partner, leader of the ESG, Decarbonisation and Biodiversity Team in the Consulting Department at KPMG in Poland Justyna Wysocka-Golec.
8 out of 10 CEOs of Poland’s largest companies believe they will see increasing scrutiny of their organisation’s diversity performance over the next three years. The majority of Polish CEOs surveyed acknowledge that achieving diversity in the workplace requires changes in senior leadership and confirm that achieving gender equality in the boardroom will help them achieve their growth ambitions. In terms of social programme activities, 68% of Polish CEOs responding to the KPMG survey confirm investing in a range of programmes in line with their core values around the world.
CEOs participating in the survey realise that they need to step up their efforts to move towards carbon neutrality. The biggest obstacles to achieving zero-carbon or similar climate goals are considered by CEOs from Poland to be the lack of appropriate technological solutions (60% of indications). Compared to the previous edition of the survey, this percentage is more than doubled, it also indicated.
There is a noticeable change in the perception of the level of knowledge and skills of staff in implementing appropriate solutions related to the achievement of the set climate goals. In the previous edition of the survey, such an obstacle was indicated by the largest number of Polish respondents; this year, it is one of the three least frequently selected answers. At the same time, survey respondents emphasise the positive impact of ESG strategy on various areas of company operations. According to Polish respondents, the most significant role of ESG has and will continue to be played in the employee context. 32% of respondents indicated the positive impact of ESG strategy on attracting the new generation to work, and 28% on strengthening employee engagement and increasing the employee value proposition (EVP), the report concluded.
The report discusses the results of the Polish version of the survey of executives from Poland’s largest companies (25), which were contrasted with the responses of leaders from the so-called Core Countries (1,325).
Source: KPMG and ISBnews
