25% Global CEOs Will Make Environmental Sustainability One Of Their Priorities: Gartner

Gartner research indicates that by 2025, 25 per cent of global CEOs will make environmental sustainability one of their top five business priorities, up from an average of less than 5 per cent over the past decade.

“While a niche market for sustainability consulting services has existed for at least 20 years, it is within the past two years that it has begun to transition from a niche to a mainstream market”, said Brendan Williams, senior director analyst at Gartner.

Sustainability consulting, which was primarily the preserve of boutique specialists, is now seen as a major growth opportunity by many of the world’s largest traditional consulting providers. Gartner forecasts sustainability consulting to total USD 8 billion in 2022, an increase of 96 per cent from 2021.

According to the research, sustainability consulting services are professional services that support end-user organizations to plan, deliver and monitor sustainability-related projects or programs. These include:

•Managing the complexity of sustainability measurement, reporting and forecasting

•Addressing sustainability risks and opportunities in strategy, finance, and governance

•Incorporating sustainability into marketing, branding, and communications

•Enabling sustainability improvements through operations, execution, and agility

•Driving sustainability innovation in products, services, and business models