2 October, 2026

When the World Economic Forum published its inaugural Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook, we were curious to see how its findings compared with those from our latest Sustainability Leaders Panel research. Both paint a surprisingly consistent picture of what comes next.

At a time when headlines often focus on political pushback, economic uncertainty and sustainability backlash and fatigue, both studies suggest leaders remain optimistic about their ability to create change, even if sustainability is showing up in different ways, as risk-led rather than as voluntary action. The WEF found that 63% of chief sustainability officers expect sustainability progress to either hold steady or accelerate over the next year, which is a hugely encouraging data point. Our findings point to a similar trend over the longer term, with more than half of respondents expecting sustainability to become a primary driver of corporate strategy over the next five years.

There are other notable areas of alignment too. Both reports highlight resilience, competitiveness and risk management as increasingly important drivers of action, while AI and data are expected to play a bigger role in future sustainability efforts. Perhaps most tellingly, both suggest that sustainability leaders are becoming organisational change-makers, embedding sustainability across the business rather than operating at its edges.

The takeaway? The sustainability landscape may be evolving, but the direction of travel still appears to be forwards.

By Bertie Bateman