This report is a summary of 640 studies over 10 years. That’s a LOT of data.
You already know most of what it says. Some of the numbers below might be a bit different than what you were expecting, but the overall message, which is that companies that can prove their environmental sustainability commitment are doing much better than their peers; and the value is far, far, far greater than the cost of becoming, maintaining and promoting your sustainability commitment (ie, certification and verification).
Further, the gap between certified sustainable companies and their non-certified peers continues to widen. As government compliance, Scope 3 mandates, consumer demand, corporate demand, lender demand, investor demand, and employee demand grow, you are falling further behind every year if you are not certified.
You have budgeted money for a variety of things for your business in 2026. None of them will deliver the combined ROI numbers you see below.
As you go through the bullets, think about what these performance numbers would mean for your company in 2026 and future years.
As to Performance against the stock market, environmentally sustainable companies:
- Outperformed the stock market by 206% – 1,681% over the ten-year period
As to Growth, environmentally sustainable companies enjoyed:
- 2x – 5x growth versus their competitors
- (Poor sustainability performance drives a loss in revenues by as much as 10% annually)
As to Products, environmental sustainability products:
- Grew 6x faster than their non-sustainable competitive peers
As to having a Sustainability Label or Badge, it can:
- Increase consumer demand 13 – 14% immediately after you start promoting it
As to what consumers are willing to spend, consumers are Paying (not just saying they will pay):
- 10% – 150% more for products from sustainable companies
Procurement managers will Pay:
- A 15% premium for sustainable products or services
Environmentally sustainable companies have a Cost of Debt that is:
- 42% lower than their non-sustainable competitive peers
Companies that can prove their sustainability claims enjoy a Cost of Equity that is:
- 29% lower than their non-sustainable peers
As to the cost associated with Negative Events, a company with a strong sustainability brand:
- Will lose an average of $1.14 billion less in market value when faced with a negative brand event than a peer that does not have a strong sustainability brand
As to using environmental sustainability as a Branding Tool to take business away from competitors, here is the annual dollar amount being taken by sustainability companies from their non-sustainable competitive peers:
- $9.4 billion annually switching in the food and grocery industry
- $8.4 billion annually switching in the general insurance industry
- $6.2 billion annually switching in the pension fund industry
- $3.9 billion annually switching in the retail grocery industry
- $3.6 billion annually in the energy provider industry
- $2.6 billion annually in the banking industry
- $2.6 billion annually in the automotive industry
- $2.5 billion annually in the telecom industry
- $1.9 billion in the fashion and retail industry
- $1.9 billion annually in the quick service restaurant industry
- $1.0 billion annually in the liquor industry
- $0.5 billion in the airline industry
As to Firm Value, environmentally sustainable companies saw a boost of:
- Enterprise value of 36% – 180%
As to a company’s Financial Performance, sustainability has the potential to boost:
- Profitability by as much as 21%
- Shareholder return by as much as 6%
As to a company’s Sales and Revenues, sustainability can increase:
- B2B sales by as much as 20%
- B2C sales by as much as 20%
As a Vendor, being sustainability can:
- Boost your sales by over 2.2x
- Increase share price by as much as 5.62%
- Increase profitability by as much as 3%
- Increase trade credit by as much as 17.6%
As to Risk and Financing Costs, sustainability can:
- Reduce the risk of investing in an asset by +30%
- Reduce the risk that impacts your company by 71% if you advertise
- Reduce the cost of equity by +14%
- Reduce the cost of debt by +10%
- Improve your credit rating by 4.5% per unit of improvement on your sustainability rating
- Reduce your loan default rates by as much as 0.3% for each unit increase in sustainability performance
As to Human Resources, sustainability can:
- Improve talent attraction by as much as 69%
- Decrease employee turnover by as much as 57%
- Improve employee morale by as much as 55%
- Boost employee productivity by as much as 21%
- Reduce employee wage costs by as much as 12.4%
As to Cost Reduction, sustainability can:
- Reduce operating costs by as much as 45%
- Reduce supply chain management by as much as 16%
- Lower overall COGS by 2.6%
- Lowers overall SG&A
Each of the above bullets, on its own, is greater than the cost of having your company become and maintain its sustainability certification. Added up, nothing you will do in 2026 will deliver more value.
Oh, and it helps the environment and future generations too!
So, will you continue to ignore the data, or will you act?
If you decide to act, read this on what you want in a sustainability program, watch this master class, and contact us.
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