Sustainable business spending in the oil and gas industry will grow from $5.4 billion in 2012 to $6.5 billion in 2017 at a CAGR of 4 percent, Verdantix reports.

The Verdantix Critical Moments analysis finds that environmental remediation, pollution control and prevention, and industrial energy management comprise the largest areas of investment, while on-site renewable energy is the fastest growing.

The analysis covers 87 oil and gas firms with revenues of more than $1 billion, and 29 sustainable business initiatives, ranging from water management to sustainability risk assessment.

The environment, health and safety (EHS) category will comprise two-thirds of sustainability spending in 2014, while environmental remediation initiatives comprise 38 percent of sustainable spend this year, the report says. Meanwhile, pollution control and prevention initiatives total 17 percent and industrial energy management initiatives make up 13 percent of sustainable spend in 2014.

An earlier Verdantix survey forecast corporate spending on energy, environment and sustainability management in 2013 would grow by less than 10 percent.