Press

SUSTAINABILITY CLIMBS UP BUSINESS AGENDA FOR EUROPEAN CORPORATES

• More than two-thirds of companies in Europe consider sustainability to be an important issue
• For 90% of European businesses, the "green" credentials of a building play a role in their decision to buy/ lease

Sustainability is climbing up the business agenda, a survey of board directors in charge of location for the 500 largest companies in Europe by Cushman & Wakefield reveals. More than two-thirds (69%) of companies consider sustainability to be either "important", "very important" or "fundamental" issues for their business. Of the countries in which these companies are located, Spain placed lowest with 54%.

For the vast majority of European companies (90%), the "green" credentials of a building play a role in their decision to buy or lease a new space/ building. Of these, 42% view them as playing a "significant" role and for 8%, green credentials play a "fundamental" role. Spain ranked the lowest again, with 15% of companies viewing green credentials as playing no role at all.

Across Europe, more than two-thirds (68%) of all companies surveyed either currently own or occupy a "green" building or would like to. The UK performed well in this category with 75% of companies. Italy has the biggest percentage of businesses which do not occupy a green building and are not interested in doing so (45%).

When choosing a more sustainable building, the five most important factors for companies in order of priority are; "reduction in energy and water consumption in use" (29%), "saving in costs of running the building" (16%), "building location to maximise travel planning" (12%), "overall reduction in CO2 emissions" (12%) and "ability to switch to more environmentally friendly renewable energy sources" (9%).