
Technology Will Enable the C-suite to Transition to a Sustainable Future
CIO Review APAC | Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Sustainability is becoming a top priority for more businesses than ever. The Vice President of Google Cloud Australia and New Zealand examines why goals might not be achieved as desired and offers potential ways to increase ESG success.
FREMONT, CA:Australians are urging businesses to take meaningful environmental impact reduction measures in response to climate change's increasingly negative effects. Customers' changing attitudes are starting to affect the bottom line, with 40 per cent of consumers saying that a company's social and environmental efforts are very or extremely essential when purchasing products or services.
Corporate executives are being pushed toward green chances to improve sustainability outcomes by the growing public awareness about climate action.
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Environmental, societal, and governance (ESG) activities are a major priority for global executives, according to recent data from The Harris Poll for Google Cloud. 80 per cent of the 1,500 executives polled gave their firms above-average grades for their sustainability efforts. However, there is a mismatch between this superior rating and the truth.
Two-thirds of executives surveyed doubt the sincerity of their organisation's sustainability activities, despite greater investment and the conviction expressed by 86 per cent of those questioned that their efforts are advancing sustainability. Additionally, only one-third of businesses have to measure tools in place to track their progress.
Although there has been progress, the evident uncertainty raises questions about the genuine impact of these sustainability efforts and what is preventing companies from putting their intentions into practice. Cost, a lack of awareness, and competing for business priorities are all obstacles that affect an organisation's capacity to carry out its climate strategy, but the biggest obstacle is a failure to invest in the appropriate technology.
Cleaner in the Cloud:Technology innovation is the top area which will have the biggest influence on tackling sustainability concerns, according to a report by The Harris Poll, with 78 per cent seeing technology as essential to sustainability initiatives. Organisations can boost sustainability by switching to the cloud, which is predicted to reduce CO2 emissions by a billion metric tonnes by 2024.
Progress in sustainability is made possible by using the cloud, notably by making firm activities' carbon footprints more visible through cloud-based technologies. For instance, the end-to-end sustainable sourcing platform for Google Earth Engine and TraceMark gather supplier data and rate suppliers according to their environmental impact. Businesses are then given the power to choose greener sourcing and procurement practices. Quantifying the environmental impact of moving from physical data centres to the cloud or lowering energy consumption and carbon emissions produced by an organisation's IT function are two more ways the cloud advances sustainability goals.
Organisations can concentrate on installing sustainability solutions that meet their particular use case by selecting a cloud provider with a track record of best-in-class sustainability practices. For instance, Google Cloud, the cleanest cloud provider, develops solutions that enable businesses in all sectors to act right now by decarbonising their digital apps and infrastructure.
Climate-related disclosures are among the most pressing ESG targets businesses are under pressure to set. Deploy digital solutions to accomplish these goals, and the C-suite is prepared.
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