6 strategies for finding corporate sustainability’s lost narrative in 2025
The corporate sustainability movement faces its greatest test yet in 2025—finding a new narrative. After riding high during the "ESG Golden Age" of 2020-2023, implementation struggles, political headwinds, and shifting public priorities have eroded the once-dominant narrative that sustainable business practices were inevitable and painless.
The reality is more complex. Nearly a third of companies are missing their direct emissions targets, while over half are behind on supply chain goals, according to Bain. The year 2024 was the hottest on record and the first to top 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, Scientific American reports, and 10 of the hottest years have been in the past decade. Meanwhile, economic pressures like inflation have pushed environmental concerns down the priority list for many stakeholders. The disconnect between long-term sustainability goals and immediate financial pressures has never been starker.
This challenge goes back to corporate sustainability's roots. Historically, corporations had to demonstrate clear public benefit to receive their charters. Today's voluntary sustainability initiatives echo this heritage, but without the same regulatory force. As companies grapple with competing demands from shareholders, customers, and society, many are struggling to maintain their sustainability commitments.
To rebuild influence in 2025, corporate sustainability needs a more nuanced narrative that:
Acknowledges Trade-offs:
Move beyond claims that sustainability is always profitable and requires no sacrifices. Instead, make honest cases for necessary long-term investments. Transitioning to renewable energy, for example, often requires significant upfront capital expenditure before delivering returns. Being transparent about these trade-offs builds credibility and sets realistic expectations.
Focuses on Material Impact:
Rather than trying to solve every social issue, concentrate on areas where businesses can make meaningful environmental and social progress. A retailer might prioritize supply chain emissions and packaging waste over broader social issues that, while important, lie outside its core business impact or create controversies that distract from its ability to address more existential threats like the climate crisis. Strategy is about choices, and trying to solve every social and environmental problem simultaneously—especially when they aren’t material to the business—serves no one.
Bridges Economic and Environmental Concerns:
Address how sustainability initiatives intersect with immediate economic pressures facing consumers and businesses. Companies must show how environmental investments can help address cost concerns, such as how energy efficiency programs reduce both emissions and operating expenses. Programs like HP's printer cartridge recycling demonstrate how circular economy initiatives can offer customers cost savings while reducing waste. This connection becomes especially crucial during periods of high inflation and economic uncertainty.
Emphasizes Practical Solutions:
Balance ambitious goals with realistic implementation timelines and transparent discussion of challenges. Instead of just announcing a 2050 net-zero target, companies should outline concrete five-year milestones and specific action plans. The Mars Net Zero Roadmap, which I worked on, clearly outlines the company’s action plan for bringing its emissions down to zero.
Engages Beyond Echo Chambers:
Develop messages that resonate outside sustainability circles and connect with broader business and social priorities. This means translating environmental goals into terms that matter to different audiences—discussing job creation for local communities, cost savings for procurement teams, or risk reduction for investors. Patagonia effectively bridges this gap by connecting environmental advocacy with product quality and durability, appealing to both sustainability-minded consumers and those primarily interested in performance.
Embraces Humility of Scope:
Acknowledge that the private sector can't single-handedly solve all of the world's social and environmental ills. It needs strong partnership with the government to address market failures that perpetuate these problems. Companies should advocate for smart regulation that levels the playing field and creates market conditions for sustainable business practices to thrive. Interface's leadership in pushing for carbon pricing while also reducing their own emissions exemplifies this balanced approach—showing how businesses can lead by example while acknowledging the need for systemic change through policy.
These evolved strategic narratives require companies to be more honest, focused, and practical in their sustainability communications while maintaining ambitious long-term vision. Success depends on balancing transparency about challenges with clear commitment to progress, all while engaging stakeholders across the economic and political spectrum.
This reset comes at a crucial moment. As environmental pressures mount and social challenges deepen, the need for business leadership on sustainability has never been greater. The fires currently devastating Los Angeles are but a preview of what’s to come if we don’t act. And a clear majority of people in the United States are actually dissatisfied with climate action from the private sector, with more than two-thirds (69%) believing that major businesses and corporations aren't doing enough to address the climate crisis, according to a recent Pew poll.
The question isn't whether corporate sustainability will continue, but how it will adapt to meet this pivotal moment with renewed relevance and impact. The path forward requires moving past both blind optimism and cynical retreat.
Success in 2025 means building a more mature narrative that acknowledges difficulties while maintaining commitment to necessary change. Corporate sustainability must evolve from a movement built on inevitability to one driven by clear-eyed determination and practical action.
This originally appeared in the January 2025 ENGAGE newsletter. Subscribe to have articles like this and other sustainability communication content delivered directly to your inbox each month.
