An overwhelming 97% of business leaders believe that sustainability remains important to their organisations, despite “perceptions” that business is in retreat from the issue.

A survey of senior executives and sustainability officers at multinational corporations, including those in the FTSE 100 and S&P 500, challenges the idea that sustainability as a policy issue for business is in decline.

However, almost two-thirds, 61%, believe their organisations “underinvest” in sustainability, given its strategic importance, while 82% of sustainability teams do not “speak the same language as the business”, suggesting a “disconnect” from business strategy.

Nick Pye, managing partner of Mangrove Consulting, the organisation behind the survey, says business is entering a “third age” of sustainability which is shifting focus from “altruism or compliance” to “resilience” and sustainability becoming a “driver of innovation and growth”.

“The organisations that will lead on sustainability over the next decade won’t be those with the ambitious targets,” he says. “They’ll be the ones who can build credibility within teams and integrate sustainability into everyday business decisions.

“This will require difference skills, different metrics and fundamentally different conversations between sustainability teams and the rest of the business.”

Results from the survey also show that 51% believe they will hit 2030 climate targets, although 39% are “apprehensive”.

Not-so-quiet American

Sustainability has been under pressure since Donald Trump returned to the White House last year. In 2023 in the UK, the government under Rishi Sunak had softened its approach to climate commitments by extending deadlines for move the ban on petrol and diesel cars and reducing targets for phasing out gas boilers.

The Labour government has announced a plan for clean energy by 2030 and published a revised plan for meeting the UK net zero target.

In broader sustainability issues, however, it is understandable that UK companies doing business in the US or with the US have been persuaded to adjust their approach to diversity and inclusion. Most have modified their policies or reduced their prominence so as not to attract attention.

The UK is also still in the process of introducing new sustainability reporting standards, based on those developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board.

The EU has faced criticism in some quarters for reining back its own sustainability reporting standards. Changes that were green lit last year focus mainly on dramatically reducing the number of companies subject to mandatory reporting and cutting back the number of measures they need to disclose.

The US has attacked the EU for its sustainability due diligence rules, particularly because they have an extraterritorial component.

Sustainability is an evolving issue and subject to intense political pressures. However, it is clear that many businesses, and their investors, continue to believe it is vital to the future—whatever the politics.