86% in UAE frustrated and fed up with lack of progress made by businesses in sustainability

People around the world are demanding more progress on sustainability and social efforts and are looking to businesses to step up, according to a new study by Oracle and Pamela Rucker, CIO Advisor and Instructor for Harvard Professional Development. The study of more than 11,000 consumers and business leaders across 15 countries including the UAE found that people are fed up with the lack of progress society is making towards sustainability and social initiatives, want businesses to turn talk into action, and believe technology can help businesses succeed where people have failed.  

People in the UAE want businesses to step up sustainability and social efforts

The events of the past two years have put a spotlight on sustainability and social efforts, with people worldwide fed up with the lack of progress and calling for businesses to step up:

• 99 percent of people in the UAE believe sustainability and social factors are more important than ever and 94 percent said the events over the past two years have caused them to change their actions.
• 97 percent believe society has not made enough progress. 47 percent attribute the lack of progress to people being too busy with other priorities, 43 percent believe it is the result of more emphasis on short-term profits over long-term benefits, and 42 percent respondents in the UAE believe people are too lazy or selfish to help save the planet.
• 51 percent in the UAE believe businesses can make more meaningful change on sustainability and social factors than individuals or governments alone.
• 86 percent are frustrated and fed up with the lack of progress by businesses to-date.
• 94 percent believe it’s not enough for businesses to say they’re prioritizing ESG – they need to see action and proof.
• 96 percent UAE respondents believe businesses would make more progress towards sustainability and social goals with the help of AI, and 74 percent even believe bots will succeed where humans have failed.

Human bias and operational challenges are holding businesses back in the UAE

Business leaders know sustainability efforts are critical to corporate success and even trust bots over humans alone to drive sustainability and social efforts:

• 95 percent believe sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) programs are critical to the success of their organizations. Executives identified the top three benefits as strengthening the brand (40 percent); increasing productivity (50 percent); and attracting new customers (44 percent).
• Almost all business leaders (96 percent) are facing major obstacles when implementing sustainability and ESG initiatives. The biggest challenges include obtaining ESG metrics from partners and third parties (46 percent); a lack of data (38 percent); and time-consuming manual reporting processes (40 percent).
• 99 percent of business leaders in the UAE admit human bias and emotion often distract from the end goal, and 97 percent believe organizations that use technology to help drive sustainable business practices will be the ones that succeed in the long run.
• 98 percent of business leaders in the UAE would trust a bot over a human to make sustainability and social decisions. They believe bots are better at collecting different types of data without error (46 percent); making rational, unbiased decisions (50 percent); and predicting future outcomes based on metrics/past performance (47percent).
• Business leaders believe people are still essential to the success of sustainability and social initiatives and believe people are better at implementing changes based on feedback from stakeholders (48 percent); educating others on information needed to make decisions (53 percent); and making context-informed strategic decisions (49 percent).

People in the UAE will cut ties with businesses that don’t take action on sustainability and social initiatives

Businesses need to prioritize sustainability and social issues and rethink how they use technology to make an impact – or risk facing major consequences.

• 99 percent of people in the UAE want to make progress on sustainability and social factors to establish healthier ways of living (56 percent); save the planet for future generations (54 percent); and help create more equality around the world (52 percent).
• 80 percent of people in the UAE would be willing to cancel their relationship with a brand that does not take sustainability and social initiatives seriously, and 81 percent would even leave their current company to work for a brand that places a greater focus on these efforts.
• If organizations can clearly demonstrate the progress they are making on environmental and social issues, people would be more willing to pay a premium for their products and services (97 percent); invest in their companies (92 percent); and work for them (95 percent).
• Business leaders understand the importance and urgency – 97 percent believe sustainability and societal metrics should be used to inform traditional business metrics, and 94 percent want to increase their investment in sustainability.