How Sustainability Transformations Quietly Lose Their Edge
Whether a corporate sustainability initiative slides back toward business as usual may depend on how the transformation team frames seemingly competing objectives.
Manuel Reppmann and Eduard EsauSeptember 21, 2026Reading Time: 9 min
Summary:
As economic headwinds put pressure on sustainability and other social impact initiatives, reconciling profit and purpose is becoming ...
Corporate sustainability is facing headwinds. Net-zero pledges are being quietly walked back. Regulatory pressure is loosening in some parts of the world. Shareholders are demanding stronger business cases. Inside companies, sustainability leaders sometimes spend more time defending their function than expanding it. The familiar question “Where is the value?” has returned with a sharper edge, often accompanied by an implicit either/or framing: profit or purpose.
In most organizations, sustainability transformations don’t dramatically fail. Rather, they lose their edge. Goals get softened; ambition narrows. The original aspiration is often still in the strategy...
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