In the News
NEW report - The impact of sustainability: working hard or hardly working?
02 December 2025
The Sustainability Leaders Panel is an initiative from Echo Research, Good Business and Mishcon de Reya.
Twice a year, we survey an international, cross-sector group of senior sustainability executives to explore and provide peer-to-peer insights on how they are managing emerging issues and challenges.
Our latest survey of 100 sustainability leaders, from more than 20 countries, examines whether sustainability is an effective agent of change in a world where delivering change is harder than ever, and the extent to which sustainability professionals are helping their businesses to deliver sustainability.
- What is holding back progress, and what is helping move it forward?
- What elements work most effectively together and what are the brakes and accelerators to driving real change? How can it create real business value?
Highlights include:
- 2 in 3 say that stronger evidence of bottom-line impact would be the biggest accelerator of sustainability change.
- 28% believe their sustainability efforts enhance corporate reputation among external audiences. But nearly a quarter say the reputation impact is mixed, with both support and scepticism.
- 2 in 3 say they have to be more careful in the language they use around sustainability and DEI, slightly higher than our last survey in May 2025.
- 58% expect sustainability change to speed up in their organisation, driven by stricter regulatory/compliance requirements. Customer and consumer pressure, strategic clarity and the efforts of sustainability teams will also play a role.
Find out more about the Panel and Echo’s wider sustainability and ESG research: matt.painter@echoresearch.com
Download the report here
