CFOs still bank on sustainability, despite Trump’s anti-ESG agenda

Despite the results of the 2024 election, chief financial officers remain committed to integrating climate strategies with their business growth and investment plans, according to two recent surveys.

Nearly two-thirds of the 500 CFOs contacted by management consulting firm Kearney and nonprofit We Don’t Have Time said they plan to dedicate 2.1 percent of their revenue to sustainability in 2025. Their top investment priorities:

• Materials that have a lower carbon footprint than tradition options
• Partnerships that can drive new innovation, with sustainability as an underpinning
• Energy management
• Waste reduction initiatives
• Systemizing ESG reporting and disclosure

“These priorities align with broader global trends, emphasizing the need for urgent action before 2030 rather than aiming for faraway 2050 net-zero commitments,” said Kearney in a Feb. 17 blog post.

Close to 70 percent of CFOs expect a higher return from these investments than from more conventional categories, according to Kearney.

Few CFOs deprioritize ESG

Meanwhile, close to 45 percent of another 500 CFOs surveyed by tax and financial advisory services firm BDO expect their team’s investment in environmental, social and governance (ESG) programs to increase over the next 12 months, while 33 percent expect their support to remain the same. Just 22 percent anticipate a decrease, according to the 2025 CFO Sustainability Outlook Survey. 

The companies surveyed by BDO ranged in size from $250 million in annual sales to more than $3 billion, although they mainly reflect businesses in between those two sizes, according to the methodology.

Overall, 80 percent of the CFOs in BDO’s study said they expected their involvement in ESG matters to increase or stay the same during the next 12 months. Many were invited into their company’s ESG strategy because of regulatory requirements, including the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

CFO involvement was strongest in the tech sector, although it’s growing most quickly among healthcare companies, the BDO survey results showed.

Business growth and climate risks are both drivers

Concerns about business threats were a strong motivator among the BDO survey respondents: Close to half (48 percent) of the surveyed CFOs said ESG matters posed “significant” operational risks to their company. Many (70 percent) are responding to pressures from regulators and other external stakeholders.

But many CFOs also linked business growth and ESG. More than 90 percent of the CFOs at companies where ESG considerations are incorporated into business development planning indicated that they expect revenue to increase in 2025. That compares with 74 percent of all respondents — including those for whom ESG isn’t a priority.

Here are the top three business benefits that the BDO survey respondents linked to their corporate sustainability initiatives over the past five years:

• Increased innovation and new business opportunities (37 percent)
• Increase in revenue (36 percent)
• Access to favorable financing or investment opportunities (34 percent) 

“In 2025,” said the BDO report authors, “companies are moving beyond quick wins to realize lasting competitive advantages from the sustainability initiatives.”