Honeywell, a global leader in energy and climate transition solutions, announced the launch of its Environmental Sustainability Index.

The index is the first quarterly indicator of key trends pertaining to global efforts in climate change mitigation and other sustainability initiatives. Two-thirds of the S&P 500 have set emission reduction targets of some kind, according to an August report from Harvard Business Review.

"At Honeywell, we have the privilege of serving customers around the world in every sector and industry," said Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and CEO of Honeywell.

"In 2021, over sixty percent of our annual revenue was from solutions that contribute to ESG-oriented outcomes, and approximately 60% of our R&D spend was directed towards ESG-oriented innovation. This gives us a unique position to help our customers and the world solve their biggest climate and environmental challenges, so that they can reach their targets by – or before – their committed deadlines. Our position also makes us an authority on monitoring sustainability trends progress across the market, which we're sharing with the world through the Honeywell Environmental Sustainability Index."

Approximately 97% of organizations plan to increase current year budgets in at least one sustainability category with nearly three quarters planning to increase current year budgets in all four categories and just over a third expecting to increase budgets by over 50% in at least one category.

On average across all four sustainability categories, 62% of respondents noted they will achieve their goals for the next twelve months primarily by modifying or eliminating operational processes or business behaviors. Alternatively, only 16% noted they will achieve their near-term goals primarily through technology-driven changes such as upgrading or replacing existing systems with newer, more efficient or more sustainable technologies.

"As environmental sustainability efforts take center stage, we were incredibly pleased to have the opportunity to partner with a global leader like Honeywell in developing a data driven index that can serve as a bellwether for tracking the sentiment, adoption, and intent of companies around the world in reducing their carbon footprint," said Daniel Newman, Principal Analyst and Founding Partner of Futurum Research.

"Over the next decade, we expect Sustainability to be further prioritized through not only policy, but increased investment by the world's leading companies to demonstrate the importance of sustainable practices, becoming a mandate from consumers, investors, and company boards around the world."