14 November, 2025

The Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) role is under pressure. As the FT recently pointed out, the role is being restructured, merged, or in some cases, quietly retired, with Unilever, Salesforce and Nestlé among those who have made changes to the role in some form. On the surface, this could be taken as a wide-scale retreat from sustainability. But the reality might be more nuanced.  

The article references the end of the CSO’s “strategic storytelling” era, suggesting that this is giving way to a greater focus on technical fluency. In addition, there is a rise in what the article terms ‘double badging’ – with sustainability responsibilities being added to the role of the chief strategy or chief operating officer jobs.  

While we’d argue that storytelling remains an important part of communicating sustainability internally and externally, sustainability teams are increasingly being asked to deliver robust data, navigate complex reporting requirements, and act as changemakers within their organisation – closer alignment with functions like finance, legal, risk and (critically) strategy can help make this happen.  

The need for sustainability to be effectively integrated with critical parts of the business is an oft-repeated mantra, but that doesn’t make it any less true or important. Putting these jobs together can therefore be seen as a positive and progressive way forward.  

Of course there’s an obvious risk that if these changes are made without the right intentions or if sustainability is absorbed without clear accountability or influence, it falls down the agenda. But if handled well, this evolution could mark a step-change, embedding sustainability more deeply into decision-making, budgets, and boardroom conversations.  

So yes, the CSO role may be changing. But if, and it’s a big if, this shift is done with care and ambition, it could be exactly what’s needed to turn good intentions into real business action. 

By Budd Nicholson