The launch of the Sustainability Census has been announced, with the aim of creating the largest and most global report ever completed on the sustainability employment landscape. The survey aims to paint a holistic and global picture of the sustainability profession within business and finance, and targets to gather data and insights from more than 3,000 sustainability professionals across Asia, Europe, North America, and the UK. It will focus on topics including the demographic makeup of the sustainability profession, global hiring trends, compensation and working patterns, job functions, current challenges, and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI).

While sustainability professionals are working to drive immediate action around sustainable change, one challenge they face is the lack of a global snapshot of the true problems within the sustainability profession, along with the resource, funding, and talent needed to solve them. The survey was therefore developed to generate the most comprehensive data ever collected on the global sustainability employment landscape so that professionals can make sense of what really matters, highlight opportunities for creating an even greater impact, and move away from making assumptions about the profession to making data-informed inferences.

Andrew Cartland, the Founder of Acre & the key partner of the Sustainability Census said: “Since its inception, Acre has spent the past two decades supporting the growing ecosystem of sustainability professionals as we navigate the transition towards net zero together. We continue to be committed to this goal, and in order to continue doing that, we understand the need to bridge the knowledge gap around global hiring trends, growth within sectors, EDI trends and more. As the founding partner of the Sustainability Census, and the co-owner of the CR Salary Survey, which ran from 2007 – 2020, we believe that the survey will be able to provide a valuable platform for sustainability professionals to understand the true state of the profession at this historic time of change.”

Data gathered from the survey will be incorporated into global reports that will be produced in chapters with localised insights for Asia, Europe, North America, and the UK. The data collection phase of the Sustainability Census will take place over a one-month period following the launch, and the first regional chapter report release is estimated to be released in Summer 2023.

“While the sustainability employment landscape is changing every day, we know that change cannot happen in isolation. This is why we are making a call for the community to come together and take part in this survey to drive the highest response rate possible globally. This ensures we have the most meaning dataset available, so that we are able to provide both individuals and businesses with a blueprint for better, more informed decision-making as we work towards a low carbon economy together,” further commented Andrew Cartland.

Alongside YOUR BUSINESS, Eco-Business, Diversity in Sustainability, Carnstone, The ICRS, EcoVoice, The Purpose Business, Women in Sustainability, 3BL Media, and Reconsidered are also getting behind the Sustainability Census. Distribution partners will draw on their global networks and communities, and be key in raising awareness of the survey by sharing it with their database and posting it on their owned channels to encourage responses.

To participate in the sustainability census survey or to find out more, please visit sustainabilitycensus.com. Deadline is 14 april.