Morgan Stanley: Most companies see climate change and sustainability as essential to future growth

International investment bank Morgan Stanley said in a new report that 88 % of companies worldwide see sustainability as a key long-term factor in their development. This is the case despite the relatively high investment costs typically associated with these measures. Morgan Stanley published its survey in the Sustainable Signals: Corporates 2025 report, which was covered by ESG News.

Morgan Stanley's report summarises corporate and investment trends in sustainable development. The study is based on a survey of 300 executives at public and private companies with revenues of more than USD 100 million, who are responsible for sustainability at their companies, among other things.

The report says that 53 % of companies consider sustainability a primary driver of profit, while another 35 % see it as one of their main attributes. In total, 88 % of the companies surveyed consider sustainability an important aspect of their business development, Morgan Stanley says. According to these companies, the main drivers of sustainability include technological progress (cited by 33 % of companies) and growing customer demand (cited by 28 % of those surveyed).

Most of the companies that took part in the survey are able to quantify the return on investment in sustainable projects, for both capital and operating costs. High investment costs in sustainability, as well as the risks associated with climate change, nevertheless remain a significant barrier to corporate growth, according to Morgan Stanley.

Both challenges were identified by 24 % of respondents as one of the three most significant factors affecting the future growth of their businesses. The survey also found that 65 % of companies are meeting or exceeding their sustainability strategies (compared with just 59 % in 2024).

The report also examined the impact of climate change on business. Nearly half of respondents (55 % of companies in total) said their companies had experienced operational disruptions due to extreme temperatures in the past 12 months, while 53 % cited more frequent storms as a reason for reduced operations. 54 % of companies reported that preparing for more extreme weather events involved significant costs.

Companies operating in Asia-Pacific are experiencing the situation most severely, with 73 % of these companies reporting significant weather-related impacts. According to the survey, companies in North America and Europe generally see sustainability as a source of value creation, while companies in the Asia-Pacific region are shifting towards viewing it more as a risk than an opportunity. Companies in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Latin America, also tend to see it as a source of value creation, even though they expect climate change to have a significant impact on their businesses.