This week, the U.N. Global Compact and Accenture released their third CEO Study on Sustainability (the last one was in 2010)--a look at how nearly 1,000 CEOs across the world view sustainability.  The survey, which represents 27 sectors (including utilities, automative, energy, and mining) and 103 countries, shows that despite the recognition the world and economies are in grave danger and in many ways related to a changing climate, business leaders do not believe the conditions are in place for them to meet the challenge aggressively. Like the definition of the word itself, CEO's view on sustainability is complicated, complex and often contradictory.

While the same survey three years ago saw corporate leaders expressing a "bullishness that business could lead the way in tackling sustainability challenges", they appear to have lost faith:  almost 70% of all respondents didn't think that business is doing everything it can to address sustainability challenges, yet only 32% believed that the economy will be able to handle the planet's rapidly growing population while keeping resource and environmental constraints in mind.  Still, CEOs are at least somewhat optimistic: some 76% think that making sustainability a core part of business drives opportunity and growth, and 63% think that sustainability will "transform their industry" in the next five years.

Another split in CEO opinion resides around using policy to drive action where the markets have plateaued. On the one hand, 85% of CEOs demand clearer policy and market signals to support green growth and only a slightly smaller percentage emphasize the need for governments to set a policy framework for economic development within the boundaries of environmental and resource constraints.  However, when asked about actual and tough regulations and standards, the majority opts out: 43% call for governments to adjust subsidies and incentives; and 31% seek intervention through taxation.

Perhaps most interesting, is that CEOs are finding it progressively harder to justify the business case for sustainability and measure how sustainability actions translate to an increase in business performance and value. In 2007, just 18% said they were unable to trace a link between sustainability and business value. In 2010, this rose to 30%, and this year it has gone up again to 37%. One reason may be that as sustainability moves out of the pilot phase in many companies, where it was once trapped in a small silo, a department or a one-off project, it has and continues to be pervasive across the organization. This makes measurement, metrics and analysis challenging for even the largest sustainability departments, yet is one of the best ways to continue to justify if not rapidly scale sustainability thinking across the organization.  Linking sustainability performance improvements and industry leadership to the fundamentals of business value remains an opportunity for nearly every company. For example, just one third of those running public companies believe their share price currently includes value directly attributable to sustainability initiatives and performance.

Nonetheless, the UNGC and Accenture claim to have discovered a deeper understanding of how sustainability can give companies a competitive advantage. "At its heart is a different approach, moving beyond reactive, incremental responses to external pressures and toward a new understanding of sustainability as an opportunity for innovation, competitive advantage, differentiation and growth."

 1. Realism and context 

Companies taking the most ambitious action on sustainability are also the most realistic about the scale of the risks and are more likely to admit that business is not doing enough. Understanding the challenge allows these companies to appreciate the opportunity for future growth in providing solutions to sustainability issues and to target strategies to achieve it.

2. Growth and differentiation 

There is the emergence of a two-speed world in sustainability, between those companies still reacting to external expectations and focusing on incremental mitigation, and those that see sustainability through a more expansive lens of growth. Many CEOs of leading companies say the urgency of global challenges provides an opportunity to differentiate products and services, to access new markets and to expand into new regions, countries and areas where their products can meet a pressing need.

3. Value and performance 

For companies seeking to go beyond incremental change and tackle global sustainability issues, the challenge is twofold: not just to measure and manage metrics of reduction and mitigation, but also to quantify the value of initiatives and more sustainable business models to the company, and to track their impact on the communities in which they operate.

4. Technology and innovation 

Leaders in the field are securing business advantage through innovative research and development, as well as the deployment of technologies in order to tackle environmental and social pressures. These range from investment in renewables and intelligent infrastructure enabled by machine-to-machine communications technology, to new closed-loop business models.

5. Partnerships and collaboration 

CEOs are more readily acknowledging the role of collaboration and partnerships in meeting their ambitions on sustainability. These partnerships go across all sectors of society and range from governments, policymakers and industry peers to consumers and NGOs. More than 75% of CEO's believe partnerships and collaboration across sectors will be instrumental in the way that their company delivers positive social and environmental outcomes over the next five years.

6. Engagement and dialogue 

There is an increasing recognition of the need to establish a constructive, two-way dialogue with all stakeholders; consumers and local communities, regulators, policymakers, investors, shareholders, employees and labour unions. Rather than simply acting and then communicating, CEOs are actively engaging stakeholders to negotiate the role of their business in addressing global challenges.

 7. Advocacy and leadership 

Progressive CEOs are clear that business efforts on their own are not sufficient to set the global economy on track. Instead, they believe business should lead the way toward defining and delivering a sustainable global economy, using the least the post-2015 development agenda as a key framework. They believe that business leaders' advocacy and public commitment will be integral to further progress.[/box]

The final section wraps up how leading companies are integrating these 7 steps well:

"...among sustainability leaders, we can see the beginnings of a collaborative, systems approach to sustainability, focused on the impact business can make. These companies are seizing opportunities at speed through building skills, measuring value and performance, and improving the dialogue with consumers, investors and governments. In the innovations of these leaders, we can see the seeds of a new approach to sustainability, with pockets of real innovation beyond the four walls of the firm: collaborating within and across industries and sectors, and working closely with stakeholders to develop the beginnings of transformational change that can unlock the full potential of business in contributing to global priorities."

With coverage support provided by Guardian Sustainable Business