Honeywell’s Environmental Sustainability Index: Global Study Shows 98 Percent of Companies Meet Sustainability Goals

Pune, India – Honeywell International Inc, a global leader in energy and climate transition solutions, recently released its 1Q 2023 Environmental Sustainability Index, a quarterly indicator of key trends pertaining to global efforts in climate change mitigation and other sustainability initiatives. The second release of the index provides a comparison of corporate sentiment and progress against environmental sustainability initiatives across sectors on a global basis.

The global study, which surveyed more than 750 business leaders involved in the sustainability process, revealed that nearly 98 percent of organizations have been at least somewhat or extremely successful in achieving at least one or more sustainability goals over the past 12 months. When it comes to meeting their goals by 2030, an anchor deadline year for numerous commitments, there is an increased level of optimism quarter over quarter across all sustainability categories, including energy efficiency and evolution, emissions reduction, pollution prevention, and circularity/recycling.

Stating that despite challenging macroeconomic conditions, organizations remain committed to the fight against climate change and their sustainability goals, Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell, commented, “While data shows an increased sense of optimism towards reaching goals, we know decision makers are still very perplexed on what their respective journeys and roadmaps look like towards their targets. With over 60 percent of our annual revenue stemming from solutions that contribute to ESG-oriented outcomes and approximately 60 percent of our R&D spend being directed towards ESG-oriented innovation, we have the deep experience and expertise to help organizations around the world reach their sustainability targets even in a tougher economic environment.”

Ashish Gaikwad, Managing Director, Honeywell Automation India Ltd, said, “As India’s corporate landscape is moving rapidly towards digitalization and sustainability, we can expect significant sustainable growth in the foreseeable future. Honeywell is committed to supporting this industry-wide change, and our local engineers are developing sustainable solutions for both India and the global market. Developing refineries of the future and identifying sustainable, cleaner fuel alternatives, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renewable diesel, hydrogen, and others, will help build the platform for India’s sustainable future.”

Many of these technologies are developed at the Honeywell India Technology Center (HITC) in Gurugram, the company’s only such innovation center outside the US. SAF can reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by up to 80 percent on a life-cycle emissions basis, Solstice range of hydrofluoroolefins (HFO) in India to help augment our customer’s no ozone depletion potential.

Honeywell itself committed in April 2021 to become carbon neutral in its operations and facilities by 2035 through a combination of further investment in energy savings projects, conversion to renewable energy sources, the completion of capital improvement projects at its sites and in its fleet of vehicles, and the utilization of credible carbon credits where needed. These initiatives represent a continuation of the company’s sustainability efforts that began in 2004 and have already yielded a reduction in greenhouse gas intensity of more than 90 percent. Honeywell has also committed to setting a science-based target, including scope 3 emissions, with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

Key highlights from the study include:

Sustainability goals continue to be perceived as the top corporate priority, cited by 71 percent of organizations as one of their top five priorities (the highest percentage). North American organizations appear to trail most other regions in establishing long-term sustainability goals. Organizations in Asia-Pacific prioritize sustainability goals more than any other region.
Most organizations are prioritizing energy efficiency and evolution across geographies, but other categories such as emissions reduction and circularity/recycling showed increased momentum. In fact, 50 percent of organizations plan to increase budgets related to emissions reduction by over 20 percent over the coming 12 months.
Companies are shifting from primarily process-driven methods for achieving goals to more balanced approaches that combine both technology- and process-driven initiatives. While most organizations focus on process change to achieve near-term goals, over 20 percent of organizations are using a balanced blend of process and technology, with the other 15 percent leaning heavily on technology to achieve goals.
The current economic and geopolitical environment negatively impacts the ability of organizations to successfully achieve their sustainability goals. While pandemic-related concerns were cited as the top barrier to success in the previous report, economic concerns and their impact are now cited as the top anticipated barrier over the coming 12 months.

Emphasizing that the second release of Honeywell’s Environmental Sustainability Index provided new data highlighting some interesting positive shifts in sentiment toward sustainability efforts across sectors, Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner, Futurum Research, asserted, “As the macroeconomic environment continues to put pressure on companies to be more efficient, the commitment to sustainability indicates both the importance of meeting sustainability goals and the potential economic value that purposeful investment in sustainability may deliver for companies that prioritize sustainability.”

To this, Evan van Hook, Chief Sustainability Officer, Honeywell, added, “I am encouraged to hear companies are increasingly using technology integrations to achieve their goals. Regardless of where companies are on their sustainability journey, incorporating technology initiatives into their sustainability strategy will accelerate progress.”

Image Source: Honeywell