The view on sustainability in Dutch boardrooms (in 5 charts)

14 April 2022 Consultancy.eu

Global consulting firm Deloitte has released the 2022 edition of its Sustainability Report for the Netherlands. Five charts on the report’s key findings.

83% of executives in the Netherlands today see the world at a tipping point for responding to climate change. Globally, this percentage is 79%.

More than six out of ten (61%) Netherlands-based CxO’s believe that the world has hit the point of no return to repair the damage already caused.

To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements related to the environment?

Compared to CxOs worldwide, Netherlands-based CxOs are less likely to have been personally impacted by climate events in some way over the past year, with the exception of severe flooding – where Netherlands scores are higher than the global average (not surprising given that many parts of the country are below sea level).

Have you been personally impacted by any of the following in the last twelve months?

Interestingly, Netherlands-based CxOs are significantly less concerned about climate change than the global average (in fact the Netherlands ranked in the bottom three of all 20+ polled countries).

When it comes to issues executives face, Dutch companies are considerably more likely than global companies to feel the regulatory impacts of climate change, pressure from society and shareholders, and reputational damage

How concerned is your organization about climate change

Compared to the global average, leaders in the Netherlands feel more pressure to act on climate from all stakeholders, including regulators/government, board members/management, consumers/clients, and shareholders.

To what extent does your company feel pressure (to a large/moderate extent)to act on climate change from your stakeholders

So what are Netherlands-based CxOs doing to enhance their sustainability footprint? The top actions taken are:

Top actions taken

Commenting on the key findings, Jacques Buith, Senior Partner Risk Advisory at Deloitte, said: “We are in a decisive decade to act on climate change and CxOs feel the pressure to act. Bold actions with measurable impact are needed now to accelerate the pace of the transition.”

“For many, adopting climate considerations in their organisation requires a fundamental transformation of the business model, impacting procurement, talent, supply chain, product development, customer relationships and more. This requires new strategies and processes, as well as a change of mindset among the company’s workforce, its suppliers and its customers.”