The annual BIFM Sustainability Survey has revealed a 20% decline in confidence among businesses in their ability to implement and manage their environmental, sustainability and CSR policies compared to 2014.
The BIFM said: "Despite sustainability pledges featuring within all of the political manifestos this year, the response from business appears muted, with 40% of respondents saying they thought their organisation was 'very good' or 'excellent' at implementing sustainability, compared to over half (60%) last year, and 43% in 2013."
It added: "This noticeable drop coincides with a reported increase in barriers to fulfilling sustainable practices. Physical constraints were highlighted by 80% of respondents, while financial constraints (71%) and a lack of organisational engagement (69%) were the next most commonly cited obstacles, requiring organisations to sharpen their focus and modify their sustainability strategies if they are to reap the benefits of long-term sustainable business practice."
The survey also found that 36% of respondents had no formal reporting system or data collection process when measuring effective sustainability outputs, resulting in a lack of evidence when it comes to building and reinforcing the business case of sustainability among leadership teams.
And, despite 81% of senior management reporting sustainability as being a very important issue for their business, only 61% of middle management and 63% of front line management reported the same.
Gareth Tancred, ceo of BIFM, said: "Despite increased pressure on businesses to be more sustainable, we are actually seeing a decline in their ability to do so. What is clear from our findings is that organisations need to re-think their approach to sustainability in the face of increasing barriers.
"In nine years of conducting this survey, 2015 has seen the biggest year-on-year decrease recorded and historically, sustainability has been dominated by a tick-box mentality by business which is undermining the long-term value of sustainability investment."
For a copy of BIFM's 2015 Sustainability Report, visit here.
