60% of companies in Ireland have increased their attention on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives in their organisation over the past year, according to new research by business group Ibec.
Its annual CEO survey provides insights from business leaders on what they believe the business landscape will look like this year.
Over the past number of years, the business group said there has been a growing movement among Ibec members and businesses globally to consider the impact of their operations.
"This is not just in terms of maximising returns but in generating returns in a way which balances economic, environmental, social and governance goals," said Danny McCoy, CEO of Ibec.
He said this movement can be seen in the findings of their latest survey.
"Within 65% of organisations there is work underway on the prioritisation of ESG across the business, 53% were engaged in preparing for ESG reporting and 53% in developing activities to manage organisations energy use," he said.
47% of companies surveyed also said that employee health and wellbeing is fully embedded within their organisation.
"While much work remains, these are encouraging early signs and we look forward to working closely with business to further strengthen and develop their ESG ambitions," Mr McCoy said.
Some 60% of respondents said availability of specific skills and talent would be a key challenge this year, with 56% saying it would input cost inflation and 52% claiming it would be labour costs.
Disruption to supply chains will be a key challenge for 39%.
62% assessed the business environment as good right now with two thirds predicting it would be good in six months time.
59% of CEOs said their own business performance right now was good, with 29% describing it as very good.
43% said employee absence rates had increased last year, with half also recording an increase in sales and the number of staff they employ.
