Microsoft, PwC and the Environmental Change Institute’s Longevity Key for Business report shows how AI and ESG data enable firms to reach net-zero, cut emissions and boost efficiency.
The Longevity Key for Business research paper is the result of a joint effort and collaboration between PwC Germany, Microsoft and the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford.
The report highlights organisations that are utilising their ESG data and AI to reach sustainability goals and current net zero targets.
Professor Michael Obersteiner, Director of the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford, said:
The findings of this report should inspire businesses across all sectors to embrace AI as a tool for sustainability. The potential of data and AI to drive economic growth while fostering sustainable practices presents a compelling vision for the future of business."
In recent years, a lot of academic research has been published showing how sustainability can make a positive financial impact on a company. But at the same time there have been compelling voices arguing that companies must choose to either maximise their positive impact on society and the environment, or to maximise their financial returns – because it’s allegedly impossible to do both.
In this context, sustainability programmes without a clear and positive business case can sometimes be viewed as “nice-to-have” activities for boosting brand positioning, rather than “must-have” activities to optimise and grow the core business. This suggests that the future of sustainability programmes will depend on value creation.
On the other hand, CEOs and CFOs also need to balance the fact that sustainability is a big focus topic for shareholders, investors and customers. Nowadays, investors are willing to pay a premium for companies that can offer genuine transparency about the impact of their sustainability programmes. This is because investors now also need to meet increasingly strict regulations and reporting requirements.
In addition, modern customers and consumers value products and services with a strong sustainability profile. This creates a set of clear imperatives for businesses.
This report shows that AI technologies have the potential to reduce the global carbon footprint by gigatons of CO2 emissions annually. On top of this, our research shows that using data and AI to reduce emissions has the potential to save companies hundreds of billions of dollars each year. The report also provides a preliminary snapshot of these first examples of how data and AI can cut emissions, reduce costs, and enable new and more sustainable revenue streams across industries.
Read the report in full: The Longevity Key for business