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Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - RIYADH: More than 80 percent of Saudis are frustrated with the lack of progress by businesses when it comes to sustainability, a new survey claims.

A study by Oracle shows as many as 98 percent of people in Saudi Arabia believe sustainability and social factors are more important than ever.

Some 89 percent said the events over the past two years have caused them to change their actions.

While 95 percent of Saudi respondents believe businesses would make more progress towards sustainability and social goals with the help of AI, 79 percent even believe bots will succeed where humans have failed.

The study took in the views of more than 11,000 consumers and business leaders across 15 countries including Saudi Arabia.

Pamela Rucker, chief information officer advisor and instructor for Harvard Professional Development who helped conduct the research, said: “The results show that people are more likely to do business with and work for organizations that act responsibly toward our society and the environment. 

“This is an opportune moment. While thinking has evolved, technology has as well, and it can play a key role in overcoming many of the obstacles that have held progress back.”

Human bias and operational challenges are holding businesses back in the Kingdom

Business leaders trust bots over humans alone to drive sustainability and social efforts, according to the study.

Almost all of business leaders, representing 97 percent, believe sustainability and Environmental, Social, and Governance, or ESG programs are critical to the success of their organizations.

While 45 percent of executives identified the top benefit as strengthening the brand, 44 percent identified it as increasing productivity and 42 percent identified it as attracting new customers.

As many as 94 percent are facing major obstacles when implementing sustainability and ESG initiatives. 

While 39 percent sees the biggest challenge is in obtaining ESG metrics from partners and third parties, 30 percent sees the challenge is in lack of data and 38 percent believe it is the time-consuming manual reporting processes.

Most business leaders in the Kingdom, representing 97 percent, admit human bias and emotion often distract from the end goal, and 92 percent believe organizations using technology to help drive sustainable business practices will succeed in the long run.

Some 98 percent would trust a bot over a human to make sustainability and social decisions, with 48 percent believing they are better at collecting different types of data without error, 42 percent believe they are making rational, unbiased decisions and 42 percent see bots predicting future outcomes based on metrics/past performance.

People in Saudi Arabia will cut ties with businesses not taking action on sustainability and social initiatives

Most people in Saudi Arabia — 98 percent — want to make progress on sustainability and social factors, with 55 percent aiming to establish healthier ways of living, 47 percent aiming at saving the planet for future generations and 50 percent who want to help create more equality around the world.

As many as 71 percent of people in the Kingdom would cancel their relationship with a brand that does not take sustainability and social initiatives seriously, the study showed.

Moreover, 76 percent would even leave their current company to work for a brand that places a greater focus on these efforts.

While 93 percent of respondents would pay a premium for their products and services if organizations can clearly demonstrate environmental and social progress, 92 percent would invest in their companies and 94 percent would work for them.