Seventy-seven percent of business decision makers believe there is a need to expand the C-Suite to include a Chief Energy Officer to manage, implement and measure a company’s return on investment in environmental technology, the so-called Return on Environment, according to a new global survey (PDF) released by Hill & Knowlton.

And while 82 percent of senior technology leaders from around the globe closely monitor the issue of global warming, 65 percent of those surveyed do not have a defined energy strategy to deal with it, according to a new global survey (PDF) released by Hill & Knowlton.

“While the overwhelming majority looks to the CEO to own the issue, nearly two-thirds of those polled said no one within
their organizations is tasked with defining the company’s energy strategy,” said Joe Paluska, head of Hill & Knowlton’s
Worldwide Technology Practice. “We expect reputation, risk and return to suffer until companies really stand up and take charge and industry as a whole sets the standard for measuring return on environment.”

When asked how best to measure Return on Environment, 52 percent of the survey respondents identified improved corporate reputation as the most important return on investment for environmental programs.