A report by Oxford Economics and a multinational enterprise found that employing sustainable strategies in businesses could help boost efficiency, improve brand reputation and meet customers’ demands.
Around 56% of businesses in some Asian countries have cited efficiency as a benefit of employing sustainability measures.
Sustainable efforts have also resulted in the improvement of brand reputation, according to 46% of the respondents.
Meanwhile, about 44% of businesses that employ sustainable methods cited “meeting customer demands.”
The report covered 2,000 companies or respondents in some Southeast Asian countries but it did not indicate when the survey or interview was conducted.
While the findings of the report are based in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, Verena Siow, president and managing director of SAP South East Asia, said that sustainability could generally translate to better revenue.
“You can also leverage on it [sustainable business measures] to drive revenue because there are some consumers that they are more likely to purchase your products if you’re a sustainable company and you have sustainable practices,” Sow said, highlighting that this is evident in consumer brands.
She added that businesses with sustainable measures could also attract investors.
Beyond the business profit, Siow stressed the importance of sustainability for future generations.
Business leaders in South East Asia should not perceive sustainability action as a risk mitigation measure only. It is an opportunity to realize new sustainable revenue streams, find new efficiencies, and build new business models based on low-emission, circular, and ultimately regenerative concepts to benefit both the organization and our society at large,” she said.
“We need to make sure that we have a world or earth that is not damaged, that can still support healthy living for us to all survive for the many generations to come,” Siow said.
“We don’t want to make ourselves extinct in the long term. While maybe it seems like an extreme outcome, it’s important [to realize the importance of sustainability],” she continued.
“We can look at the amount of typhoons and climate turbulence we have experienced in the last couple of years—it’s more than usual,” she said.
“We all have a role to play,” Siow said.
