Appetite for change - Accountancy Nieuws

Section 5What will new policies mean for business?Utilities, along with other heavily impacted industries,are more likely to report the influence of regulation andlegislation on their environmental policies (see fig. 26opposite). There also appears to be a relationship betweencompliance and reputation; heavily impacted firms are moreconcerned with reputational management and stakeholderpressure. One possible reason is that laws and regulationsestablish minimum standards, penalties and incentives thatimpact competitiveness and corporate reputations. Miningexecutives, for example, need to maintain a good reputationwith local communities in order to gain and retain access toresources. As Anders Lundkvist at LKAB in Sweden explains,“We need good relations with the authorities so we aresensitive to public opinion.”In the industrial products sector, many companies arerelatively energy intensive, and source natural raw materialsand create emissions and waste during production. As aresult, they are generally familiar with the need to complywith regulation and maintain a good reputation. This hasbeen the case for at least 20 years in most jurisdictions,and has increased significantly in the last few years as theclimate change debate has gathered momentum. In the nexttwo to three years, for example, proposed EU standardsPercentage of respondentsFigure 26Any aspect of environmental performance published?8080%7070%6060%5050%4040%3030%2020%1010%00TotalTelecommunications, Information,Communications, EntertainmentFinancial ServicesDo you currently publish any aspect of your environmental performance, forexample in an annual sustainability report? Base: Total (654); Telecommunications,Information, Communications, Entertainment (54); Financial Services (110); Retail(53); Consumer Goods (65); Utilities (41); Industrial Manufacturing (53); Engineering &Construction (50)RetailConsumer GoodsUtilitiesIndustrial ManufacturingEngineering & Construction38 Appetite for change. PricewaterhouseCoopers.