78 VIEWPOINT Businesses must learn how to leverage data and AI tools to translate their climate commitments into real outcomes FAITH TAYLOR: KYNDRYL The missing piece in organisational sustainability efforts Despite the global population becoming increasingly aware of the detrimental effects of climate change and environmental destruction, the progress made towards addressing these challenges has been slower than expected. According to the United Nation’s 2024 Emissions Gap Report, there is a “massive gap between the rhetoric and reality”, and the worldwide effort to restrain the temperature increase to 1.5C will remain a distant dream if countries don’t start delivering on their environmental commitments. We are witnessing a similar trend in the enterprise world, with 84 per cent of organisations placing high strategic importance on achieving sustainability goals, according to the Kyndryl-Ecosystm 2024 Global Sustainability Barometer Study. The report, which reflects on the perspectives of 1,355 global sustainability leaders surveyed from 20 countries and nine industry groups between August and September 2024, also found that only 19 per cent of businesses have implemented concrete sustainability initiatives. Several factors contribute to this wide gap between enterprise intent and action. They include limited integration of sustainability into business strategy, the limited availability of resources and skills, and lack of coordination among key internal stakeholders. While it’s encouraging to see more CEOs getting involved in defining organisations’ sustainability strategies, they must build a culture of synergy and collaboration, especially in finance and sustainability teams, and leverage the power of technology to translate their vision into measurable outcomes. Technology, especially data analytics and artificial intelligence, is becoming a powerful catalyst for driving action and predicting future risks. Most teams are focused primarily on using this technology to track their environmental impact and, while that’s an essential area, organisations are missing out on a bigger opportunity to use technology to transform their overall environmental footprint and predict their future potential. The Kyndryl-Ecosystm study highlights several of the areas where technology can significantly impact sustainability initiatives. For starters, it found that only 21 per cent of organisations globally recognise the dual role technology plays in reducing their carbon footprints and “Technology is becoming a powerful catalyst for driving action and predicting future risks”
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