Honeywell launches environmental sustainability index showing leaders’ sentiments on progress, future

Honeywell, a global leader in energy and climate transition solutions, recently announced the launch of its Environmental Sustainability Index. The index is the first quarterly indicator of key trends pertaining to global efforts in climate change mitigation and other sustainability initiatives.

Two-thirds of the S&P 500 have set emission reduction targets of some kind, according to an August report from Harvard Business Review.

In its first of a quarterly series, Honeywell’s new index is tracking sentiment data on corporate climate priorities and approaches to environmental sustainability.

The global study surveying over 600 business leaders who are involved in the sustainability process revealed that 90 percent of respondents are generally optimistic about overall success with prior 12-month goals across sustainability categories including energy evolution and efficiency, emissions reduction, pollution prevention, and circularity/recycling.

However, forward-looking perceptions are less confident, with just 67 percent of respondents being optimistic about achieving goals for the upcoming 12 months. Additionally, only 63 percent are optimistic about achieving their goals by 2030, an anchor deadline year for numerous commitments.

“At Honeywell, we have the privilege of serving customers around the world in every sector and industry,” said Darius Adamczyk, chairman and CEO of Honeywell. “In 2021, over 60 percent of our annual revenue was from solutions that contribute to ESG-oriented outcomes, and approximately 60 percent of our R&D spend was directed towards ESG-oriented innovation. This gives us a unique position to help our customers and the world solve their biggest climate and environmental challenges, so that they can reach their targets by – or before – their committed deadlines. Our position also makes us an authority on monitoring sustainability trends progress across the market, which we’re sharing with the world through the Honeywell Environmental Sustainability Index.

“Over the next decade, we expect sustainability to be further prioritized through not only policy, but increased investment by the world’s leading companies to demonstrate the importance of sustainable practices, becoming a mandate from consumers, investors, and company boards around the world,” said Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner of Futurum Research.

“It is promising to see energy evolution and efficiency high on ESG managers’ agendas. This is an area that often results in the highest ROI, because the more efficient your operations, the less you pay in energy costs,” said Evan van Hook, chief sustainability officer of Honeywell.