Despite headlines signalling a sustainability pullback, the reality is more nuanced: Many companies are quietly doubling down, investing more strategically than ever before. Josh Raglin has been closely watching how the sustainability shift has been playing out. Raglin talks about five predictions for 2026:
- Sharper Focus on Materiality: Companies will concentrate resources on areas where they can make the greatest impact, such as plastics, water, and clean air -guided by materiality assessments and stakeholder priorities.
- Sustainability as a Business Driver: Sustainability is no longer just a moral imperative; it’s an economic one. Organisations will increasingly showcase measurable financial benefits - fuel savings, scrap recycling, and nature-based solutions - to justify investments and strengthen board-level support.
- From Ambition to Action: Firms that set science-based targets and net-zero goals will move aggressively into implementation. Expect operational shifts like transitioning freight to rail for carbon savings, even when costs rise, because corporate mandates prioritise emissions reduction.
- Pragmatic Net-Zero Strategies: Updated standards will embrace carbon insets and offsets, signalling a more realistic approach to achieving net-zero. This will accelerate investment in forest carbon credits and value-chain carbon insetting.
- Growing Need for Collaborative Action: Meeting sustainability goals increasingly requires deep collaboration with vendors and customers to align strategies, share data, and improve efficiencies across the supply chain. Organisations that fail to engage partners in joint environmental initiatives risk falling short of expectations and losing competitive advantage.
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