NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While majorities of American business leaders are personally convinced of the grave risks of climate change and the benefits of pro-environmental policies, they are failing to fully translate those convictions into corporate action. This is a major finding of the 2008 Makovsky Green Gap Survey, conducted by Harris Interactive(r).
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"Overwhelming numbers of Fortune 1000 American business leaders believe personally that climate change is for real and threatens future generations," said Kenneth Makovsky, president of Makovsky + Company, the public relations/investor relations firm. "Yet, as a group, they are not driving their organizations to fully act on these convictions. This is what we call the `green gap.'"
The greening of America's executive ranks stands in clear evidence from the survey results. Strong majorities of American business leaders agree that:
* As consumers, they are personally concerned about climate change and its potential impact on the quality of life of future generations (80%); * Addressing climate change on a corporate level can help make businesses more competitive (73%); * Actions taken by corporations can, in fact, effect change on the environment (61%).
Contrary to the prevailing wisdom, a significant number of Fortune 1000 executives also see business success as an outcome of addressing climate change. 75% think their company should act on climate change issues to improve their corporate or brand reputation, 67% believe such action would strengthen sales and ROI, and 58% feel it would improve employee recruitment and retention.
The survey finds a contrast between the measures senior executives said their companies should take in response to climate change and what their companies have actually done. For example, 76% say that their companies should be collaborating with industry groups, suppliers and/or customers to address CO2 emissions standards, but only 57% say that their companies are doing this. While 71% say that their companies should be educating employees on climate change issues, only 49% say that this is currently being done.
The survey offers several possible reasons for this gap.
First, the survey suggests that more sweeping business action with respect to climate change is hindered for the moment by two traditional factors: resource allocation and cost. 60% and 47%, respectively, cite "more important business priorities" and "cost of implementation" as the barriers to their company taking action with respect to climate change issues.
Second, despite their convictions, executives believe it is unfair to single out business as the major culprit and the source of answers, and feel that the responsibility should be shared with individuals and government. When asked how much responsibility certain entities should bear for addressing climate change, a similar number of executives cited corporations (19%), individuals (19%), the federal government (27%) and foreign governments (21%) as having all or most of the responsibility.
"American business leaders as a group are deeply concerned about global warming and believe that responsible environmental policies make business sense," said Robbin S. Goodman, executive vice president and a partner at Makovsky + Company. "The challenge moving forward, however, is to unleash these convictions."
Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted by telephone within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of Makovsky + Company between March 11 and April 30, 2008 among 150 executives from a broad range of industries, services, locales, and sizes of companies using the Executive Omnibus, a nationwide survey of 150 leading executives at Fortune 1000 companies. Data from this sample are not weighted and are therefore representative only of the body of individuals surveyed. No estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
These statements conform to the principles of the National Council on Public Polls.
About Makovsky + Company
Founded in 1979, Makovsky + Company (www.makovsky.com) is one of the nation's leading independent global public relations and investor relations consultancies. The firm attributes its success to its original vision: that the Power of Specialized Thinking(tm) is the best way to build reputation, sales and fair valuation for a client. Based in New York City, the firm has agency partners in more than 20 countries and in 35 U.S. cities through IPREX (IPREX.com), the third largest worldwide public relations agency partnership, of which Makovsky is a founder.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is a global leader in custom market research. With a long and rich history in multimodal research that is powered by our science and technology, we assist clients in achieving business results. Harris Interactive serves clients globally through our North American, European and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.
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