Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Companies to grow investments in energy-transition solutions, emissions reduction

Environmental goals remain a top priority for most organizations, despite macroeconomic challenges, quarterly environmental sustainability index shows.

investment-5241253_640.jpg

Most organizations remain committed to their environmental sustainability goals, despite macroeconomic challenges and a potential recession in 2023. That’s according to the most recent quarterly Environmental Sustainability Index from manufacturing and technology company Honeywell, released January 31.


The company’s first-quarter 2023 outlook shows that most organizations plan to increase their investments in climate-related initiatives and energy-transition solutions over the next 12 months, with the majority of those surveyed saying they’ve had some success in pursuing “green” goals over the past 12 months. For the report, Honeywell surveyed 750 business, technology, and sustainability professionals directly involved in the planning, strategic development, implementation, or oversight of environmental sustainability goals and initiatives. The professionals represented businesses from around the world and across a range of industries. Nearly all—98%—said they have been “at least somewhat or extremely successful” in achieving one or more sustainability goals over the past 12 months.

Compared to the previous quarter’s report, respondents also said that they are more optimistic about meeting certain goals by 2030—an anchor deadline year for many commitments—including energy efficiency and evolution, emissions reduction, pollution prevention, and recycling, according to the report.

Honeywell produces the index in collaboration with research firm Futurum Research.

“The second release of Honeywell’s Environmental Sustainability Index provided new data highlighting some interesting positive shifts in sentiment toward sustainability efforts across sectors,” Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research, said in a press release announcing the findings. “As the macroeconomic environment continues to put pressure on companies to be more efficient, the commitment to sustainability indicates both the importance of meeting sustainability goals and the potential economic value that purposeful investment in sustainability may deliver for companies that prioritize sustainability.”

Other study findings include:
  • Sustainability goals continue to be perceived as the top corporate priority, cited by 71% of organizations as of one of their top five priorities, according to the report.
  • Most organizations are prioritizing energy efficiency and evolution across geographies; other categories such as emissions reduction and circularity/recycling showed increased momentum. Half of organizations said they plan to increase budgets related to emissions reduction by more than 20% over the coming 12 months.
  • Companies are shifting from primarily process-driven methods for achieving goals to more balanced approaches that combine both technology- and process-driven initiatives. While most organizations said they focus on process change to achieve near-term goals, more than 20% of organizations said they are using a balanced blend of process and technology, and 15% said they are leaning heavily on technology to achieve goals.
  • Current economic and geopolitical concerns are an issue as well. Pandemic-related concerns were cited as the top barrier to success in last quarter’s report, but economic concerns and their impact are now cited as the top anticipated barrier over the coming 12 months.

The Latest

More Stories

nimble smart robots for fedex

FedEx picks Nimble for fulfillment automation

Parcel giant FedEx Corp. is automating its fulfillment flows by investing in the AI robotics and autonomous e-commerce fulfillment technology firm Nimble, and announcing plans to use the San Francisco-based startup’s tech in its own returns network.

The size of FedEx’s investment wasn’t disclosed, but the company was the lead investor of Nimble’s $106 million “series C” funding round, announced last week. The round was co-led by existing shareholder Cedar Pine LLC.

Keep ReadingShow less

Featured

Logistics gives back: October 2024

For the past seven years, third-party service provider ODW Logistics has provided logistics support for the Pelotonia Ride Weekend, a campaign to raise funds for cancer research at The Ohio State University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. As in the past, ODW provided inventory management services and transportation for the riders’ bicycles at this year’s event. In all, some 7,000 riders and 3,000 volunteers participated in the ride weekend.


Keep ReadingShow less
siemens logistics airport buggage

Vanderlande to acquire Siemens Logistics for $325 million

The logistics process automation provider Vanderlande has agreed to acquire Siemens Logistics for $325 million, saying its specialty in providing value-added baggage and cargo handling and digital solutions for airport operations will complement Netherlands-based Vanderlande’s business in the warehousing, airports, and parcel sectors.

The acquisition has received approval from the Supervisory and Management Boards of both Vanderlande and its parent company Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) as well as the Management Board of parent company Siemens AG.

Keep ReadingShow less

Resilience is a daily fight

I recently came across a report showing that 86% of CEOs around the world see resiliency problems in their supply chains, and that business leaders are spending more time than ever tackling supply chain-related challenges. Initially I was surprised, thinking that the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic surely prepared industry leaders for just about anything, helping to bake risk and resiliency planning into corporate strategies for companies of all sizes.

But then I thought about the growing number of issues that can affect supply chains today—more frequent severe weather events, accelerating cybersecurity threats, and the tangle of emerging demands and regulations around decarbonization, to name just a few. The level of potential problems seems to be increasing at lightning speed, making it difficult, if not impossible, to plan for every imaginable scenario.

Keep ReadingShow less
AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

AI tops digital supply chain investment priorities

Investing in artificial intelligence (AI) is a top priority for supply chain leaders as they develop their organization’s technology roadmap, according to data from research and consulting firm Gartner.

AI—including machine learning—and Generative AI (GenAI) ranked as the top two priorities for digital supply chain investments globally among more than 400 supply chain leaders surveyed earlier this year. But key differences apply regionally and by job responsibility, according to the research.

Keep ReadingShow less