Article

Sustainability in 2026: What we learned from a year of disruption

Janna Irons

December 11, 2025

Sustainability in 2026: What we learned from a year of disruption

What a wild year for sustainability.

It started with lots of momentum, as companies scrambled to prepare for (what was supposed to be) imminent sustainability regulation in both the EU and California.

Then came the new administration and the anti-ESG crackdown that accompanied it. We saw companies with government contracts quickly removing words like “diversity” from their websites, cutting entire sections from their sustainability reports, and striking the acronym “ESG” from anywhere it appeared.

Then came the Omnibus in Europe, which put on hold (and minimized) the reporting obligations that were driving rapid action for many global companies.

The buzzwords skittering through nearly every conversation were “business integration,” “value creation,” “resilience," and “risk mitigation.”

Then, about mid-year, we saw something curious happen.

Many companies took this as a moment to step back and examine what they were doing and how they were talking about it, asking important questions: Are we focused on the right things? Are we driving progress on the issues that matters most to our stakeholders and the future of our business, people, and the planet? And how can we better communicate that?

The optimist in me wants to believe this year’s chaos had at least a bit of an upside: it helped companies strip the fluff, focus on the issues that matter most, and reinforce the value that this work is creating for both business and society.

As an agency, we have the privilege of working with some of the smartest people in sustainability, and we have a bird’s-eye view across industries and companies spanning the full spectrum of sustainability maturity.

Below is what we are seeing, and the trends we’re expecting to continue into 2026.

What leaders are thinking about

Preparing for CSRD and IFRS: Developing a strategy and continuing to progress (i.e. conducting a double materiality assessment and an ESRS gap assessment) to be prepared for any outcome of upcoming EU developments.
How to evolve to financial grade sustainability disclosures (in line with ESRS and IFRS) without losing storytelling: Creating a suite of targeted communication materials that include investor-focused disclosures, as well as customer- and employee-focused summaries, websites, and other materials.
How to communicate challenges transparently without backlash: Fostering better alignment between sustainability, comms, legal, and risk teams to create narratives that align and support business priorities.
Tackling Scope 3: Not just requirements of suppliers but building supplier “enablement programs” (i.e. training on climate accounting, templates for transition planning, or co-developed science-based targets).
Overcoming global regulation fragmentation: Creating better systems and oversight of rapidly evolving regional demands and ensuring consistency in communication.
Data integrity and preparing for assurance: Integrating technology and stronger data governance practices and conducting pre-assurance assessment (while figuring out how to budget for these increasing expenses).

What earlier-journey companies are thinking about

Complying with (evolving) California Climate Legislation (SB 253 and SB 261): Quickly conducting a climate risk assessment and creating/documenting climate strategies, measuring and baselining emissions, and producing a climate disclosure report (and figuring out who will take on this work internally when they don’t have a sustainability leader in-house).
Refining sustainability strategy: Realizing that a generic list of sustainability topics and targets isn’t useful, and many companies are focusing their efforts on fewer things and doing them better.
How to respond to increasing demands of customers: Companies that sell to big buyers like Walmart, Amazon, and Microsoft are being pushed to show real action and detailed progress on issues like climate, leaving internal teams scrambling to keep up with constant questionnaires and expectations they weren’t built to handle.

Trends we’re seeing across our clients and the industry

Layoffs and smaller teams tasked with the same amount/more work.
Continued focus on strengthening the business case for sustainability in corporate communications and reporting messaging.
Shift in reporting formats (increasing interest in digital reporting to allow for real-time updating and suites of materials to meet different audience needs).
Cross-functional sustainability steering team alignment/integration is more crucial than ever to enable change management, to adapt quickly to the continuously evolving landscape, and to ensure strategy and message is right.
Many companies are walking back their goals (and getting in hot water for it)or developing new, less ambitious goals with shorter timeframes.

Emerging topics

Refreshing material topics to align with our changing world (and to guide reporting) will be big in 2026.
AI and climate goals (i.e. Google’s investment in AI and needing to walk back climate goals).
Being more human and transparent (ie. Patagonia).

Looking Ahead

As we head into 2026, the regulatory landscape will continue to shift and the deadlines and goal posts will probably move…again. Political absurdity will likely continue. And the media and public will direct attention toward companies who are backpedaling, greenwashing, or falling behind.

It might just be another wild year.

And so all we can do is put our heads down and continue making our businesses more resilient and impactful. We can ensure our sustainability efforts support our business strategy, are aligned with our brand, and matter to our stakeholders. If we’re doing that right, we can endure any shitstorm 2026 sends our way.