Nowadays, a company’s larger story is more than just its quarterly figures. New requirements—from both governments and those who do business—are putting more emphasis on sustainability. A new report from EY shows almost seven in 10 investors are asking more questions about sustainability metrics today than two years ago.

Since the responsibility for sustainability reporting almost always falls to the CFO, it’s time for financial teams to get comfortable with these metrics. However, there is a significant lack of confidence in them. Fewer than half of CFOs think it’s “very likely” their companies will meet time-based sustainability targets, like reaching net zero emissions by a specific date. And 55% of CFOs feel that any sustainability reporting they do will be seen as containing elements of “greenwashing”—using deceptive means to make a company seem more environmentally friendly than it actually is.

What should a CFO do about it? Bring strategy and scrutiny to the table, EY suggests. Many metrics CFOs are traditionally concerned with dealing with finances and numbers have been calculated since the beginning of business recordkeeping. Sustainability is much newer. And unlike many of the numbers that finance departments regularly crunch, in many cases, the best way to measure sustainability metrics and goals is still being determined. “As CFOs become more involved in sustainability reporting, their awareness of the immaturity of the reporting mechanisms used in the nonfinancial area has grown,” Matt Bell, EY global climate change and sustainability services leader, said in the report.

CFOs who dive into what’s behind sustainability reporting—what is being planned, what actual cost savings and ROI may come from it and the true environmental impact—can do a better job of showing how companies are meeting goals. For the most part, sustainability reporting in the past has had no standards and companies could say what they wanted. There are now disclosure rules in the EU, and the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new rules announced earlier this year are being challenged in court. But even without these guidelines, the CFO’s analytical mindset, as well as a focus on things like cost savings and ROI, can do a lot to improve the metrics that the public and investors see.

The IMA—Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business—recently issued a report about why CFOs are best suited for this job. I spoke with Brigitte de Graaff, chair emeritus of the IMA’s Sustainable Business Management Committee, about what CFOs need to do to make sustainability fit into their job descriptions and analyses. A portion of our conversation is later in this newsletter.

Boeing headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

Throughout 2024, almost every week has been another bad one for Boeing, but last week was particularly bad. On Wednesday, the company released its quarterly earnings, which were in the red across the board. And then Boeing’s latest contract proposal, offering 35% pay increases to the striking union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, was rejected by 64% of membership. The now-seven-week walkout has left the aerospace company at a standstill, leading Boeing’s new CEO Kelly Ortberg to quickly try to balance the budget with additional layoffs and furloughs. In remarks with the earnings report, Ortberg said it is time to shift Boeing’s culture, working to more closely integrate all employees with the company’s first mission and business, writes Forbes senior contributor Jim Osman. On Monday, Boeing said in regulatory filings it’s planning a stock sale to raise $19 billion—something Wells Fargo analysts said only covers Boeing’s near-term needs in a note reported by the New York Times.

Is that enough? Time will tell, though Forbes’........

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