Three-quarters of businesses believe that complying with climate regulations will “significantly” increase their costs, a new survey has found.
Based on research by Amárach Research, the Huawei Outlook 2026 report found that 74 per cent of the businesses surveyed in Ireland expected compliance with climate regulations will have an impact on their costs.
The survey also found that nearly 80 per cent of businesses believed that climate compliance would require “significant capital investment”.
Huawei Ireland chief executive, Calvin Lan noted that sustainability was now ”front of mind for Irish businesses” with 57 per cent of decision makers rating sustainability as a critical or high priority in their business strategy.
READ MORE
Meanwhile, the majority of business leaders in Ireland believed that private enterprise should play more of a role in Government enterprise policy development, according to the report.
More than 90 per cent of 488 business decision makers surveyed as part of an economic report by tech giant Huawei called for their voices to have increased consideration in public policy development.
Following a challenging start to 2025, businesses are now “more optimistic about the future than they were a year ago”, according to Gerard O’Neill, the chairman of Amárach Research.
[ Tech giants’ indirect emissions rose 150% in three years amid AI growth, UN saysOpens in new window ]
Dublin Bus CEO on recruitment challenges, going electric, and stamping out anti-social behaviour
“The uncertainty that was experienced at the beginning of 2025 has apparently improved the ability for business leaders to navigate what is ahead,” he said.
Just 16 per cent of business leaders expect their turnover to lessen whereas 38 per cent expect it to improve. Similarly, 35 per cent of businesses expect their profits to grow in the coming year.
This comes despite 77 per cent of businesses projecting their costs to worsen or remain as high. Just 23 per cent expect their cost bases to improve.
Against that backdrop, increasing turnover and driving cost efficiency were among the three biggest priorities for nearly half of all businesses.
