Some 94 percent of private equity houses expect environmental, social and governance issues to become more important to their business in the next five years, according to research by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Investor pressure on such firms is the main, or in some cases the only, driver for this change of tack, according to Responsible Investment: Creating Value from Environmental, Social and Governance issues.

But 94 percent of private equity firms also believe that ESG activities can create investment value, with many identifying cost savings, incremental revenue generation through new products, or enhanced reputation, the survey says.

Despite this increasing pressure from investors and a the wide acceptance of profit in ESG activities, only 20 percent of the private equity houses surveyed have put systems in place to measure value created from ESG activities, PwC says.

Earlier this year, Andrew Malk and Zach Goldman of Malk Sustainability Partners authored a two-part piece for Environmental Leader on how sustainability can boost returns for private equity funds. Click through for part one and part two.