Cost crisis: Businesses backtracking on sustainability are urged to keep environmental focus

Less than 20% of business owners vowed to keep environmental credentials as a priority focus in the short term given the cost of living crisis, a new report has revealed.

One third of respondents admitted to de-prioritising sustainability in light of rising energy and resources costs, said survey organisers, Gousto, the recipe box service who quizzed 250 businesspeople in the UK across a broad range of sectors.

But their research also revealed an unwavering demand from consumers for access to sustainable goods and services.

Almost 80% of respondents said they were concerned about the environmental impact of the crisis in costs, fearing backtracking from both businesses policymakers as they grapple with the soaring bills.

Six in ten of the people surveyed said they would prefer businesses to do more to offer sustainable options at this moment in time. Half said they are keen to make “significant” changes to their lifestyle in a bid to cut their environmental impact – particularly if this results in cost savings.

In further research by Mintel, global consumers’ top three environmental concerns remained climate change, air quality and plastic pollution – the same as last year.

The firm’s Sustainability Barometer looks at how concerned consumers in 16 key markets are with environmental sustainability and which issues they would like businesses to prioritise.

For most people, these concerns were driven by real-life experience rather than simply seeing issues covered in the news, or by the private or public sectors with 58% claiming to have witnessed more extreme weather in the country where they live, prompting an increased desire for environmental protection.

Mintel’s senior trends consultant Richard Cope said the findings “point towards the emergence of a more informed and hardened global consumer”, with increasing energy and food costs, and stories of poor water management, bringing home the connection between the economy and the natural environment.

He added that consumers are less likely to accept greenwashing

He stated: Looking ahead to 2023, expect to see resource conservation ascend further up the agenda and the use of economising technology refurbishers and urban peer access sharing economies to grow. For consumers, the connections between saving the environment, its resources and their money will strengthen.’

Syntegra’s MD Alan King said: ‘The rising costs of energy and resources is a stark reminder to us all that we need to ensure our businesses operate sustainable solutions wherever possible.

‘Now is a not a time to compromise on the drive to sustainability – the reverse is, in fact, true. If companies abandon their plans now, energy efficiency and its associated cost savings in the longer term will be lost to future generations and the environmental impact will be huge with a large number of associated ramifications. It is vital that businesses keep their focus on their role in tackling climate change.’’