There's growing interest among financeexecutives in getting a handle on the value of sustainabilityinitiatives, instead of just using those efforts to meet regulatoryrequirements or generate good public relations. And some are takingthe next steps—prioritizing initiatives and allocating capitalbased on those decisions.

“They're moving away from looking at this as just a requirement,but rather as something that brings value to the table,” says HervéKieffel, a principal in PwC's sustainability valuationpractice.

At the same time, companies trying to put numbers on theirsustainability initiatives face significant challenges, and asubstantial number of businesses are far less advanced in theirapproach to measuring the results of sustainabilityinitiatives.