A quarter of companies in Latvia and Lithuania, and a third in Estonia, have drawn up a specific climate transition plan, including the investment needed to meet their targets for reducing harmful emissions, according to a survey of the CFOs of large Baltic companies carried out by SEB banka [1]. A further third of companies in Lithuania and Estonia, and 45% in Latvia, have taken the first steps towards drawing up such a plan. 13% in Latvia and fewer than 10% of CFOs in Lithuania and Estonia said in the survey that they do not plan to work on such a plan in the coming year.

“Over the past few years, sustainability issues have entered and become firmly established on companies' agendas. Our survey data confirms this — year after year, these issues receive ever greater attention. It is surprising that a total of 70% of respondents in Latvia acknowledge that they already have climate transition plans in place, or that such plans are being drawn up. Another question is whether these plans are sufficiently detailed and tailored to real needs, and whether the funding required to implement them has been assessed, along with the suitability of the organisational structure for delivering the changes successfully. Given the entry into force of new European Union regulation on sustainability reporting, CFOs in the Baltic states name the accurate implementation of this regulation as their main and greatest challenge,” says Viktors Toropovs, Head of Sustainability at SEB banka, commenting on the survey data.

The CFO survey shows that companies' main investment focus in the field of sustainability is CO₂ emissions measurement (45% of respondents in Latvia), followed by developing a sustainability strategy (41% of respondents in Latvia) and embedding sustainability principles in the organisation's culture (34% of respondents in Latvia). Comparing companies across the three Baltic states, Lithuanian companies are the most determined to invest in sustainability.

Turning to the main challenges that will be relevant in the context of sustainability over the coming year, the largest number of CFOs cited the need to gain accurate knowledge and understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements (31% in Latvia). The second most significant challenge is developing their own sustainability strategy (24%), and the third is obtaining the funding needed for it (13%). In Lithuania and Estonia, too, the dominant challenge is the need to gain accurate knowledge and understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements.

Read more about the survey results

[1] SEB banka carries out its survey of the CFOs of the largest Baltic companies once a year, asking finance professionals for their forecasts on the business environment, the most significant challenges and other issues. The survey was carried out in September 2024 and involved 302 companies from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. SEB banka has been conducting this survey since 2014.