Form 1 Sustainability Management Module

Draft of Sustainability Management Module (07/2023)

2024 Annual Business Survey

Sustainability management addresses how the operation of your business is affected by demands from consumers, other businesses, and the government to meet the needs of present and future generations and the environment. These questions collect information on what your business is doing in response to or in anticipation of these demands. All responses are anonymized and will only be used for statistical purposes.

1. BUSINESS PRIORITY

Over the past 3 years, from 2020 through 2022, have any of the following been this business’s priority? Select one for each row.

	Yes	No
Improving profitability		
Increasing revenue		
Accelerating digital transformation activities/improving cybersecurity		
Implementing or maturing sustainability initiatives		
Improving the customer experience		
Improving resilience to competitive pressures		
Other (Specify) ________________		

If you reported ‘Yes’ for item d. ‘Implementing or maturing sustainability initiatives’, continue to ‘2. Sustainability Prioritization’.

All others skip to ‘4. Energy or Carbon Emissions Tracking’.

2. SUSTAINABILITY PRIORITIZATION

How important to this business were each of the following factors for prioritizing sustainability?

	Very Important	Somewhat Important	Not Important
Attracting customers who make purchasing decisions based on sustainable products or sustainable business values			
Integrating sustainable value proposition into the company’s brand			
Addressing stakeholder demand for climate risk disclosures and better sustainability management			
Employee recruitment/retention tied to sustainable business values			
Green procurement requiring life-cycle assessment			
Some other (Specify)			
_________________________________

3. SUSTAINABILITY OBJECTIVES

Has this business realized any of the following benefits from pursuing its sustainability goals? Select one for each row.

	Yes	No
Improved efficiency		
Improved regulatory compliance		
Improved employee recruitment and/or retention		
Reduced waste		
Improved brand reputation		
Decreased costs		
Improved customer acquisition and/or loyalty		
Increased revenue		
Other (Specify) ____________________		

4. ENERGY OR CARBON EMISSIONS TRACKING

Does this business track energy use or carbon emissions from the following sources?

	No, does not track either	Yes, tracks Energy Expenditures	Yes, tracks Carbon Emissions	Source is not applicable to this business or is inaccessible
Heating of buildings				
Cooling of buildings				
Fleet transportation				
Electricity (used for lighting, computing, HVAC, production, etc.)				
Thermal energy in production (for example, from natural gas, petroleum, coal, biomass, etc.)				

5. CARBON EMISSIONS SOFTWARE USE

Does this business use any carbon emissions reporting software?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

6. INDIRECT CARBON EMISSIONS TRACKING

Does this business track indirect carbon emissions that are a consequence of the activities of the business but from assets not owned or controlled by the business? For example, emissions from employee commuting, transporation and distribution, use of sold products, etc. Also known as ‘value chain’ or ‘Scope 3.’

• No, does not track - Skip to ‘8. Carbon Emissions Reduction Plan’

• Not yet, but some evaluation of major carbon hotspots

• Yes, major carbon hotspots tracked

7. INDIRECT CARBON EMISSIONS POTENTIAL CHALLENGES

Does this business expect to face any of the following challenges to measuring indirect carbon emission in its value chain (Scope 3)? Select one for each row.

	Yes	No
The company is not aligned internally on what to track and how.		
The company lacks data from suppliers or end users.		
The company lacks in-house expertise. The company lacks financial resources.	 	 

8. CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION PLAN

Has this business developed plans for reducing carbon emissions?

• Yes - Skip to ’10. Carbon Emissions Strategies’

• No

9. FUTURE PLANS FOR CARBON EMISSIONS

Is this business considering developing plans in the future for reducing carbon emissions?

• Yes

• No - Skip to ’13. Sustainability Alternatives’

10. CARBON EMISSIONS STRATEGIES

Will this business implement any of the following strategies to reduce carbon emissions? Select one for each row.

	Yes	No
Eliminating products or activities reliant on fossil fuel use by changing the company’s product or service mix		
Replacing fossil fuel using activities with zero or low emissions alternatives (for example, adding electric vehicles to the company’s fleet)		
Reducing carbon emissions by increasing the efficiency of activities using fossil fuels		
Offsetting carbon emissions that cannot be abated by supporting projects that reduce carbon emissions elsewhere (e.g., providing funds for reforestation or capping abandoned oil wells)		

11. CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION GOAL DATE

What is the target date for achieving this business’s carbon emissions reduction goals?

• No target date set

• No later than 2030

• No later than 2040

• No later than 2050

• After 2050

12. CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION GOAL OBJECTIVE

How much of a reduction carbon emissions is this business planning?

• No reduction goal set

• Less than 25% reduction

• 25-50% reduction

• More than 50%, but less than 100% reduction

• 100% reduction

13. SUSTAINABILITY ALTERNATIVES

If this business is not successful at improving sustainability, does the business foresee any of the following effects? Select one for each row.

	Yes	No
Fines for lack of compliance with regulations		
Inability to raise capital or secure credit		
A loss of customer trust		
A loss of brand reputation		
Hiring difficulties or lower employee retention		
Financial risks associated with future policy changes such as a carbon tax		
Lost sales due to inability to provide emissions or other environmental information to potential customers		

14. SUSTAINABILITY INVESTMENTS

Is this business making any of the following investments to improve sustainability? Select one for each row.

	Yes	No	Not applicable
Purchase power agreements for renewable energy			
Renewable energy generation on-site (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal)			
Battery storage or other means of saving renewable energy generation for later use			
Improved energy efficiency and management			
Engineering innovation to improve sustainability of our materials (e.g., innovating to produce goods with lower CO2 content) Redesigning processes to make similar products with less environmental impacts	 	 	 
Elimination of waste through circular economy or design for re-use strategies			
Recycling initiatives going beyond municipal mandates			

15. STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Does this business have strategic objectives that mention environmental or climate change issues?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

16. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGER

Does this business have a manager responsible for environmental and climate change issues?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

17. ENVIRONMENTAL CERTIFICATIONS

Do any of this business’s customers require environmental certifications or adherence to certain environmental standards as a condition to do business with them?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

18. CO2 EMISSIONS MONITORING

Over the last 3 years, from 2020 through 2022, has this business monitored CO2 emissions along its supply chain?

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

19. EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND IMPACT

Over the last 3 years, from 2020 through 2022, has this business experienced monetary losses due to extreme weather events? For example, hurricanes, floods, droughts, or heat waves.

Include:

• Incurred costs

• Losses of sales or assets.

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

20. INVESTMENTS TO MITIGATE RISK

Over the last 3 years, from 2020 through 2022, has this business undertaken investments to reduce the risk of damages caused by extreme weather events? For example, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, or heat waves.

• Yes

• No

• Don’t Know

21. FUTURE IMPACTS DUE TO EXTREME WEATHER

Over the next decade, how likely is this business to experience negative impacts from extreme weather events?

For example, hurricanes, floods, droughts, wildfires, or heat waves.

• Not at all likely

• A little likely

• Somewhat likely

• Very likely

• Extremely likely