Most readers will need little persuading that sustainability is a hot topic for business leaders. This heat comes from a number of factors, including: the risk of fines and reputational damage from non-compliance with sustainability regulation; falling revenues if customers’ growing environmental and ethical expectations are not met.

While many thought that the pandemic might knock ESG approaches off course as companies and investors went ‘back to basics’, it seems that the opposite has happened. Three quarters of all investors surveyed said they’re now more likely to divest shares of companies with poor ESG performance post-pandemic.

The words regulation and opportunity don’t typically appear in the same sentence, but the scale and depth of new sustainability rules can offer forward-thinking businesses the chance to gain advantage.

The article emphasizes the growing imperative for businesses to integrate sustainability into their operations and ERP systems, highlighting the pressures from various stakeholders and the need for new metrics to ensure long-term value creation in the face of climate change and evolving regulations.