An article in the Dominion Post and The Press by Romy Udanga entitled 'Focus on Sustainability Survives' discusses the impact of the recent crisis on businesses committment to sustainability.

Below is an excerpt from the Article on www.stuff.co.nz;

Timothy Allan, managing director of Locus Research which was a 2009 Sustainable60 awards winner, said the survey results reflected the challenges to companies brought about by the global financial crisis.

Locus Research provides product development services including helping businesses understand sustainability and product life cycles.

"Companies in the programme are endeavouring to integrate sustainability but you can certainly see through the context of that [crisis] experience the challenge to businesses.

"People are saying that they are for sustainability but the reality is people have probably been very directly confronted with issues of cost and how to reduce cost effectively."

Companies that "utilised their pre-existing orientation with sustainability" most likely did well during the crisis. His view matches the survey results.

While a high percentage of decision makers are sure their organisations are behaving sustainably, the numbers are down this year - 62 per cent compared to 66 per cent last year.

The number of those who do not know is up at 20 per cent from last year's 15 per cent.

Some 38 per cent of decision- makers have a sustainable development strategy - similar to last year's 39 per cent but 41 per cent say they don't have one.

The nationwide ShapeNZ online poll commissioned by Fairfax Media and the New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development opened on June 17.

The ShapeNZ panel represents New Zealand's population at the 2006 census.