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More than half of nearly 1,500 business leaders of medium and large companies plan to relocate their operations within five years to better access renewable sources, a survey carried out across 15 countries has found, and almost all of them backed a long-term shift away from fossil fuels.
The findings were based on interviews with about 100 C-suite executives from each of the countries since Donald Trump was voted back into the White House, which has triggered concerns about companies backing away from their commitments to a green transition. The countries included the US, UK, Germany, Brazil and India.
Liz Minné, director and head of global sustainability at Interface, the US flooring company, said the polling showed that “global businesses understand the urgent need to shift from fossil fuels to renewables.”
While participation in the survey was anonymous, Iberdrola, Natura and Schneider Electric were among those to lend their backing to the findings.
“A rapid shift from fossil fuels to renewable power and electrification makes strong business sense and ensures energy security and resilience,” said Iberdrola’s global director of climate change and alliances, Gonzalo Sáenz de Miera.
More than three-quarters of businesses surveyed supported a shift to a renewables-based electricity system by 2035 or sooner, according to the poll, which was carried out between December and February.
A similar number said they associated renewables with stronger energy security, while the majority wanted to bypass gas supplies in a shift away from coal, to instead move straight to renewables and electricity storage systems.
Some 52 per cent of those polled said they would move their operations and 49 per cent would shift supply chains to better access to renewables-based power systems within five years, if their home market lacked green energy. This figure jumped to 89 per cent of senior executives within ten years.
“If enacted, such measures could have huge ramifications for countries’ international competitiveness and domestic revenues,” the research said.
Additionally, according to the poll, nine out of ten said access to renewables-based electricity was a “top priority” when weighing up potential destinations for new investment.
More than 80 per cent said that the issue also influenced where they would opt to locate their business operations and which countries they turned to for the procurement of goods and services.
As many as 93 per cent of those polled said they were considering investing in their own on-site renewable facilities.
The results showed that despite the political and economic uncertainty, the executives “strongly support a rapid transition to renewable power”, said Nick Mabey, chief executive of E3G, a green think-tank that commissioned the research alongside climate-focused groups Beyond Fossil Fuels and We Mean Business Coalition.
The research said the while US policy emphasised fossil fuel expansion, 97 per cent of the American executives polled wanted to see the government expand renewable electricity in the grid.
Since taking office in January, Trump has launched a sweeping attack on climate policies in the US, while his threatened tariffs have sparked fears of a global trade war that could push the cost of the energy transition higher. Last week, his administration issued an order to stop the construction of a major offshore wind project in New York.
There are also concerns of green backtracking in Europe, as the continent rushes to pay for re-arming following Trump’s threats to leave Nato.
But 78 per cent of German business leaders in the survey said an accelerated renewable transition would reduce the country’s exposure to volatile energy imports.
In the UK, 55 per cent of executives said renewables would help drive economic growth, but flagged concerns about the high upfront costs with shift to renewable energy as a barrier to the transition.
In India, 84 per cent of executives backed a shift from fossil fuels to renewables-based electricity generation within the next decade, despite the country’s heavy reliance on coal power.
Overall, at least three-quarters of respondents linked renewables to economic growth and crucial to job creation.
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