IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Sustainability/ESG 2024 Predictions

IDC FutureScape Figure

• Figure: IDC FutureScape: Worldwide Sustainability/ESG 2024 Top 10 Predictions

Executive Summary

IDC FutureScape Predictions

• Summary of External Drivers

• Predictions: Impact on Technology Buyers

• Prediction 1: By 2026, 60% of Large Organizations Will Require a Carbon Neutrality Strategy as a Standard Part of Enterprise Technology Procurements and RFPs as Compared with 40% Today

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 2: By 2028, 75% of Organizations Will Require OEMs/ODMs to Provide Detailed Circularity Metrics About Design, Manufacturing, Life Cycle, Repair, Reuse, and Disposal in Dashboards to Facilitate Reporting

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 3: By 2025, 80% of Companies Will Track Social Capital KPIs (e.g., Human Rights Management) in Real Time to Reflect the Increasing Demand from External Stakeholders to Address Social Sustainability Topics

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 4: By 2027, 40% of Organizations Worldwide Will Consider Biodiversity a Material ESG Issue for Their Business and Will Have Put in Place Concrete Impact Mitigation Strategies and Data Management Tools

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 5: By 2027, Due to Increased Focus on Climate Risk, 80% of All Sustainability-Related Services Engagements Will Include a Climate Risk Component, a 30% Increase from the Present

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 6: By 2024, 35% of Organizations Will Advance Their ESG Metrics and Data Management Beyond Reporting Capabilities, Using AI to Generate Sustainability-Driven Cost Benefits and Competitive Advantages

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 7: By 2027, 35% of All Datacenter Energy Consumption Will Be Powered by Renewables

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 8: By 2024, 40% of ESG Review Boards Globally Will Include Ethical and Responsible Oversight of AI Efforts in Their Purview

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 9: By 2027, Companies Most Advanced with Sustainable Business Transformation (~10–20%) Will Have Sustainability Embedded Across the Organization, and CSOs Will Have Only Coordination Role

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

• Prediction 10: By 2026, AI-Powered Demand Forecasting Will Reduce Excess Inventory Levels by 20%, Minimizing Waste and Lowering Carbon Emissions from Excess Production

• Associated Drivers

• IT Impact

• Guidance

Advice for Technology Buyers

External Drivers: Detail

• AI Everywhere — Generative AI Takes the Spotlight

• The Drive to Automate — Maximizing Efficiency and New Opportunities

• Geopolitical Turbulence — Sovereignty Under Emerging Fragmentation

• Global Supply Chain Resiliency — Push for Diversification

• The Digital Business Imperative — Competitiveness and Outcomes

• Shifting Tech Regulatory Landscape — Navigating Risk and Opportunity

• Operationalization of ESG — Measuring and Implementing Sustainability

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• Related Research