While the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) discussed the rumors and goals for the sustainability of the planet, Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR) revealed that, since the beginning of the pandemic, sustainability in Brazil become more important for 87% of hazards. But despite having few percentage changes in 34% of the percentage increases, 34% above Latin American taxes (33%). more than the global average (29%).
• The International Business Report (IBR) Sustainability surveyed 253 companies in Brazil, out of a total of around 5,000 companies from 29 countries
This result demonstrates that there is still much to be done on this issue of reducing CO² emissions and other greenhouse gases across the planet, as the UN concluded, in a recent report, that it is no longer possible to prevent global warming from intensifying. in the next 30 years, with this, the goal of limiting the increase to 1.5ºC in the next decades is further away.
At COP26, the discussions aimed to define more ambitious targets to avoid the aggravation of extreme events, such as heat waves, heavy rains, droughts and tropical cyclones caused by warming, which, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), from UN, already affect all regions of the planet.
On the other hand, the results of the research carried out by Grant Thornton show that what most stimulates entrepreneurs towards sustainability is to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs, an item also mentioned by 48% of respondents in Brazil and Latin America, against 42% globally. Improving access to capital and investment comes next, being important to 35% of Brazilians and Latin Americans and 37% of the global population. Lastly, the increase in regulation and non-financial reporting requirements was cited by 19% of respondents (Brazil and Latin America) and 32% globally.
Regarding the actions that companies have taken to make the business more sustainable:
Another relevant issue concerns the barriers that delay the progress of sustainability in companies.
“There is no doubt that the topic of sustainability has been gaining ground in Brazilian companies and was clearly driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the integration of ESG aspects in the business is a process that involves stages of understanding and implementation. The survey results show that many entrepreneurs, especially Brazilians, feel a lack of clarity about what is an important requirement within sustainability in the context of their business. To speed up and facilitate the construction of more concrete parameters, joint and collaborative articulation between governments, regulators and organizations is essential”, says Daniele Barreto e Silva, Sustainability leader at Grant Thornton Brasil.
To illustrate the current scenario, the executive cites a study by the World Trade Organization (WTO) that states that natural disasters are a real threat to national and international development goals and reinforces the importance of neutralizing the emission of gases and maintaining the increase global average temperature by 1.5˚C by 2050, one of the goals of COP26. It also points out that the interdependence of the world economy and the prevalence of global supply chains imply that damage to local infrastructure or productive capacity can have economic and commercial impacts globally. “Together with their stakeholders and taking a constructive attitude, companies need to seek mechanisms to eliminate the barriers identified and advance the sustainability agenda, so as not to be at the mercy of climate events and their consequences, which can shake the business”, he concludes.
