IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Sustainability/ESG 2024 Predictions
This IDC study presents the top 10 predictions for sustainability/ESG for 2024."Worldwide, organizations are feeling the pressure to respond to changing sustainability requirements and new regulatory environments. They are doing this at different paces and are at different maturity levels regarding their sustainable transformation efforts, which poses unique challenges in terms of their strategy development, organizational and cultural changes, operational adjustments, and technology use," said Bjoern Stengel, global sustainability research lead, Sustainable Strategies and Technologies at IDC. "No matter where you are in your journey, IT is a critical enabler for that transformation and for value generation through corporate sustainability practices, and it is important to understand how to best leverage technology to move up to the next stage."
Please Note: Extended description available upon request.
- IDC FutureScape Figure
- Executive Summary
- IDC FutureScape Predictions
- Summary of External Drivers
- Predictions: Impact on Technology Buyers
- Prediction 1: By 2026, 60% of Large Organizations Will Require a Carbon Neutrality Strategy as a Standard Part of Enterprise Technology Procurements and RFPs as Compared with 40% Today
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 2: By 2028, 75% of Organizations Will Require OEMs/ODMs to Provide Detailed Circularity Metrics About Design, Manufacturing, Life Cycle, Repair, Reuse, and Disposal in Dashboards to Facilitate Reporting
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 3: By 2025, 80% of Companies Will Track Social Capital KPIs (e.g., Human Rights Management) in Real Time to Reflect the Increasing Demand from External Stakeholders to Address Social Sustainability Topics
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 4: By 2027, 40% of Organizations Worldwide Will Consider Biodiversity a Material ESG Issue for Their Business and Will Have Put in Place Concrete Impact Mitigation Strategies and Data Management Tools
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 5: By 2027, Due to Increased Focus on Climate Risk, 80% of All Sustainability-Related Services Engagements Will Include a Climate Risk Component, a 30% Increase from the Present
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 6: By 2024, 35% of Organizations Will Advance Their ESG Metrics and Data Management Beyond Reporting Capabilities, Using AI to Generate Sustainability-Driven Cost Benefits and Competitive Advantages
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 7: By 2027, 35% of All Datacenter Energy Consumption Will Be Powered by Renewables
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 8: By 2024, 40% of ESG Review Boards Globally Will Include Ethical and Responsible Oversight of AI Efforts in Their Purview
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 9: By 2027, Companies Most Advanced with Sustainable Business Transformation (~10–20%) Will Have Sustainability Embedded Across the Organization, and CSOs Will Have Only Coordination Role
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Prediction 10: By 2026, AI-Powered Demand Forecasting Will Reduce Excess Inventory Levels by 20%, Minimizing Waste and Lowering Carbon Emissions from Excess Production
- Associated Drivers
- IT Impact
- Guidance
- Advice for Technology Buyers
- External Drivers: Detail
- AI Everywhere — Generative AI Takes the Spotlight
- The Drive to Automate — Maximizing Efficiency and New Opportunities
- Geopolitical Turbulence — Sovereignty Under Emerging Fragmentation
- Global Supply Chain Resiliency — Push for Diversification
- The Digital Business Imperative — Competitiveness and Outcomes
- Shifting Tech Regulatory Landscape — Navigating Risk and Opportunity
- Operationalization of ESG — Measuring and Implementing Sustainability
- Learn More
- Related Research
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