Business leaders face green ‘investment paralysis’ as concerns clash with climate targets

Business leaders in the UK are anxious about sustainability, with efforts to go green hampered by a lack of sustainable investment.

That’s according to research from BT, with three-quarters (72%) of surveyed business leaders saying they feel stress over sustainability targets.

With the UK government pushing towards climate targets — including an 81% reduction in emissions compared to 1990 levels by 2035 — the report said just shy of a quarter (23%) of businesses are feeling pressure to adopt technologies that support net zero objectives.

“As environmental, commercial, and political pressure builds, sustainability isn’t a nice to have; it’s business critical,” said Sarwar Khan, sustainability director at BT’s business arm.

“Tech can be a tool to help businesses tackle climate challenges, but it’s not a silver bullet – and our research tells us that anxiety around where and how to invest is holding organizations back,” he added.

Indeed, two-fifths of surveyed execs said they were suffering from ‘investment paralysis’ when deciding what technology to commit to. This could slow the pace of change, the report said.

Green investment falling short

While half (56%) of businesses are optimistic about hitting sustainability goals, just over a fifth (22%) plan to invest in sustainable tech over the coming year. This includes circular IT technology, BT said, such as refurbished or remanufactured computers that help to reduce carbon footprints.

BT’s research, carried out by Censuswide between 26 March and 5 April 2024, took in responses from 2,000 UK business decision makers.

The research aligns with a similar report from Kyndryl and Microsoft, which noted that few businesses are deploying technology to meet sustainability quotas despite pushing green objectives.

As many as 84% of organizations placed a high level of strategic importance on achieving sustainability goals, but only 21% said they were doing so with the assistance of technology.

Research from OVHcloud found that over 30% of IT leaders in the UK don’t think they will meet sustainability targets over the next two years, with cost cited as one of the main challenges by 45%.