â–¶ Green Ambivalence: PR agency Gibbs & Soell’s 2010 “Sense & Sustainability Study,” which surveyed U.S. consumers and Fortune 1000 executives on their views of corporate efforts to improve the health of the environment, found that only a minority of execs (29%) see an overall strong corporate commitment to “going green.” Other findings include:
• Top barriers to more businesses going to green that executives cite include: insufficient return on investment (78%), consumers’ unwillingness to pay a premium for green products or services (71%) and difficulty in evaluating sustainability across a product life cycle (45%).
• Companies also lack designated personnel to steward green initiatives. While more than two-thirds of executives (69%) indicate their companies have people responsible for sustainability or “going green” initiatives, most have merely added responsibilities for green efforts to the primary duties of a team of individuals (35%), or a C-suite or another senior level position (15%).
• Only about 1 in 10 say they have a C-suite or other senior level title/position dedicated solely to sustainability (12%), while 31% noted there is no one at their organization that is primarily or partially responsible for green initiatives.
Source: Gibbs & Soell