Majority of employees in Germany satisfied with their company's sustainability efforts – survey
Clean Energy Wire
The majority of employees in German companies are satisfied with the speed with which their employer is promoting sustainability efforts and say it is increasingly gearing its business operations towards sustainability goals, according to a survey conducted by communications agency Klenk & Hoursch. On average, over half (54%) of people working in start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large companies and family businesses say they agree that the company they work at is very sustainable, the survey among roughly 1,000 employees found. Additionally, a further 54 percent of respondents said they were convinced their company was making a real contribution to sustainable development and believed they themselves can make a difference as well.
"The sustainability mindset in companies is fundamentally positive," said Georg Lahme, partner at Klenk & Hoursch. "The commitment and perseverance of executives, sustainability managers and communicators in driving forward the often complex sustainability issues is paying off."
Respondents ranked innovative ideas for products and business models as the strongest lever for achieving a more sustainable economy, followed by changes in consumer behaviour and companies acting responsibly out of conviction.
Most German companies are in favour of the country's energy transition, with 85 percent supporting the policy agenda, according to a survey commissioned by the German Technical Inspection Association (TÜV) in September. An earlier survey conducted by state investment and development bank KfW found that sustainability in Germany is now firmly mainstreamed in the business sector.
However, an anaylsis of 160 major companies in the country released earlier this month found that a majority of them is missing their own decarbonisation targets. Another analysis released in July found that the current carbon footprint of the 40 largest listed companies in Germany's DAX stock market index will cause global temperatures to rise by almost 5°C if they do not implement their own climate targets. These 40 companies reduced their full value chain greenhouse gas emissions by a combined four percent in 2023.
