5 December, 2025

The Sustainability Leaders Panel, which we run in partnership with our friends at Echo Research and Mishcon de Reya, provides a forum to explore and share the highs, and lows, of managing sustainability in large companies. Twice a year, we invite senior sustainability leaders working in-house to share their experiences via the panel.  

On Tuesday, we were delighted to host our fourth SLP event at Rathbones, where we explored findings from the latest wave of research and engaged in lively roundtable discussions. These conversations revealed what is really happening on the ground and how organisations are moving beyond the fundamentals of sustainability to create meaningful change.  

The latest research and discussions confirmed what many of us already know: progress isn’t neat. It’s iterative. It takes engagement, education, and cultural change. But here’s the kicker: when sustainability is woven into the fabric of the business, everything accelerates, and for the better. Companies that achieve this integration are 4.5 times more likely to report significant progress, four times more likely to align that progress with strategy, and 2.5 times more likely to earn strong external approval. 

One message came through loud and clear: sustainability cannot sit in a silo. Today’s professionals need to operate like “sleeper cells” with agents embedded across every function (finance, operations, marketing, procurement), speaking the language of each team, not sustainability jargon. As one panellist put it, the modern sustainability leader is a “chameleon”: adaptable, multi-functional, and tuned into what motivates different stakeholders. 

We heard about top-down approaches like acceleration squads – cross-functional senior teams unlocking opportunities – and bottom-up tactics such as ESG working groups and engagement campaigns. Both matter. Both require upskilling and nuance. And let’s not forget the informal influence of those watercooler conversations, which often connect the dots in ways formal structures can’t. 

The best part? Despite headlines about stalled progress and political pushback, businesses are pressing ahead with sustainability. 61% report continuing work on climate initiatives, 78% say this of human rights activities and 53% of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). The commitment to managing social and environmental impact isn’t slowing down, it’s evolving into tangible actions. And we think that’s something worth shouting about. 

Want to dig deeper? Read the full report here or drop us a message if you’d like to join the panel. 

By Charlotte Pounder