It is fair to say that 2024 has been a formative year for corporate sustainability. Instances of businesses watering down their commitments, governments climbing down from pledges, and of a so-called “ESG backlash” have combined to create a sense that the topic is under assault and its future uncertain. But is this narrative overblown?
The consensus from the Sustainability Leaders community, as well as data from our research, suggests that it is. While acknowledging the conversation around sustainability is changing, CSOs I have spoken to predominantly say that political discourse is not affecting their planning for the year ahead. They remain determined to deliver their businesses’ sustainability strategies.
For 2025, those strategies will concentrate on a number of priority areas. Our research shows that accelerating supply chain initiatives remains a distinct area of focus, owing to suppliers’ huge impact on myriad ESG topics. Leveraging data and technology platforms is another area in which CSOs are targeting improvement – particularly on social- and human rights-related topics, where companies are finding their metrics are not robust enough. In addition, leaders continue to inject time and resource into compliance as the regulatory landscape evolves.
But while leaders remain optimistic that they can deliver on their plans, it’s important to acknowledge the challenges that we face. Several CSOs I have spoken to have said their budgets have remained stagnant. Some have even been cut, leading to a reduction in resources. From a data perspective, our research shows sustainability team sizes have remained the same for three years in a row, at seven full-time equivalents. This is despite leaders continually expressing their desire to hire more staff.
With an ever-growing workload, the need for teams to engage the rest of the business and operationalise sustainability into different functions has never been greater. That is why our community is built on cross-functional collaboration: for targets to be met, stakeholders from procurement, design, finance, and a host of others must be fully committed to the business’s ESG strategy.
As we usher in a new year, that will remain our commitment for the next 12 months.
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