A new survey has revealed that 80% of businesses in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East have set sustainability targets, but 53% still depend on manual methods for tracking their progress, highlighting a significant gap in technology integration.
Alibaba Cloud commissioned the survey, titled “Tech-Driven Sustainability Trends and Index 2024”, with Yonder Consulting. It surveyed 1,300 business leaders from various industries between May 10 and June 19, 2024.
Respondents were from 13 markets across Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Singapore, South Korea), Europe (France, Germany, UK), and the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE).
Among those with sustainability goals, 92% have set emission reduction targets, with only 33% committing to net-zero goals based on science-based targets (SBTs).
Emerging Asian markets lead at 39% adoption rate for SBTs, followed by Europe at 35%, developed Asian markets at 30%, and the Middle East at 22%.
Approximately 56% of businesses cite growth as a primary driver, followed by compliance with regulations at 54%, and a commitment to corporate purpose at 49%.
Indonesia leads with 70% of businesses prioritizing growth, Saudi Arabia emphasizes compliance at 73%, and the UAE highlights corporate purpose alignment at 61%.
The top 4 challenges include budget constraints (29%) complex supply chains (28%) time limitations (23%) and technology limitations (23%). To add more complications, over 50% of businesses continue to use traditional practices like spreadsheets and emails.
The survey also revealed that 78% of respondents recognize the importance of integrating digital technologies, such as cloud computing and AI, in achieving their sustainability objectives.
A majority of the respondents (82%) also agreed that technologies should be developed sustainably, and that the government should play an active role to support the companies.
Selina Yuan, president of international business at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence, emphasized the urgent need for businesses to adopt digital tools for sustainability measurement.
“These digital tools not only streamline the measurement process but also provide actionable insights that can drive meaningful progress for sustainability,” she stated.
The survey commissioned provided value valuable insights into the evolving landscape of corporate sustainability while highlighting how technology can be applied to drive impactful change
