IBM on how AI can help organisations meet ESG targets
If you think climate change does not affect your business, think again.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says the impact could be as much as 11% on the GDP of countries in Southeast Asia.
This is despite half of CEOs in the region, and globally, saying sustainability was a high priority – highlighting a lack of meaningful data as a top roadblock to meeting sustainability objectives.
That’s according to Agnes Heftberger, GM and Technology Leader, IBM ASEANZK, who discussed the topic at a recent media roundtable titled Road to COP 28: ASEAN ESG in Action – Planet, Profit and Purpose.
A recent IBM study says that 7 in 10 CEOs view ESG efforts as a source of revenue rather than cost. But that same report showed that while 95% of organisations have developed ESG goals and targets, only 10% have made significant progress – with data largely to blame.
"At the same time the trust that customers have in ESG data that is disclosed by companies is going down quite sharply," says Arun Biswas, Managing Partner, Strategic Sales & Sustainability Consulting, IBM Asia Pacific.
Agnes adds: "AI is the only way to process enormous amounts of data and help organisations achieve more concrete sustainability targets."
And she appears to be right, with two thirds of IT leaders surveyed saying their company is leaning on AI to provide better data handling and reporting.
"Our big belief at IBM is that we need to use AI to go about achieving sustainability goals, but we are only going to achieve sustainability objectives as organisations if we look at the whole 360-degree," says Agnes.
Three of the region’s biggest energy companies are already using AI to increase reliability and distribution, says IBM. Advanced analytic tools and IoT data is improving operational availability, extending asset lifecycles and optimising their performance.
The stakes could not be higher. The ASEAN region is particularly affected by climate change and related natural disasters, so the potential ‘losses’ go far beyond the economic impact.
