The inaugural Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook held by the World Economic Forum revealed that two-thirds (63 per cent) expect sustainability progress to hold steady or accelerate over the next year.

At the same time, policy uncertainty, short-term pressures and geopolitical volatility are making progress more uneven across markets and sectors. In total, 78 per cent of respondents expect these conditions to drag on sustainability progress, citing conflict, uneven policy signals and weaker multilateralism.

Roughly two out of three CSO respondents say that C-suite leaders still view sustainability primarily through a compliance lens, but there are signs that its role in value creation is gaining recognition. The execution challenge is to embed this opportunity in operational decision-making, as short-term performance pressures intensify.

Over the next three years, momentum is expected to come more from commercial, technological and resilience imperatives than from multilateral coordination or political alignment. The strongest accelerators will be a clear business case for sustainability measures (64 per cent) and cheaper, more available technologies (56 per cent). Yet progress is likely to diverge across sectors, markets and geographies, shaped by policy uncertainty (68 per cent), short-term performance pressures (61 per cent) and deepening international tensions (54 per cent). Emerging markets are expected to play a growing leadership role.

Nearly three-quarters of CSOs surveyed expect AI and other digital technologies to support progress on sustainability goals over the next year, particularly through risk modelling, process and resource efficiency, measurement and reporting. Unsurprisingly, 77 per cent identify AI infrastructure’s energy and resource intensity as its most significant negative impact, highlighting the trade-offs organisations must navigate as AI deployment accelerates.

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