Sustainability will play an increasing role in organizations' financial and operational performance, according to Gartner, Inc. By 2015, improving sustainability related performance will become a top five priority for 60 percent of major Western European and North American CEOs.

Gartner analysts say sustainability is no longer primarily about risk mitigation, focused on compliance, reputation, philanthropy, the "triple bottom line" and being seen as doing good things.

In practical terms, for most enterprises today, the value in sustainability is actually derived from operational efficiency and business enablement.

Sustainability’s enhanced corporate value will be enabled by a maturing set of information systems and decision support tools that facilitate the engagement of the CFO and the finance team.

“Sustainability is no longer a ‘soft’ and tangential aspect to organization performance,” says Simon Mingay, research vice president at Gartner. “A sustainable approach to business activities is generating tangible business benefits for organizations today, through a combination of operational efficiencies and market growth opportunities.”

Improved financial and operational performance is achieved by optimizing the use of increasingly expensive natural resources, minimizing the value lost through waste and emissions, and exploiting the increasing fiscal incentives and tax breaks — particularly those for energy efficiency. Business enablement is achieved by exploiting the emerging market opportunities of a low-carbon economy.

As perspectives continue to evolve, it is also about meeting the expectations of investors, customers, employees and other key stakeholders, by making better-informed decisions that explicitly balance commercial, environmental and social performance standards and criteria.