Recently, a small team from tPX traveled to Seattle to carry on a very niche annual tradition: picking apart our sustainability report process. Over bubbly water on a veranda overlooking Green Lake, we had one goal: evolve our process to keep pace with what we’re seeing across the industry. From content collection to outlining and writing, wireframing, and design rounds, everything was on the table. The immediate result that came out of that meeting is a sharper process for us, built to deliver the results our clients expect.
But what always strikes me in these conversations is the depth of knowledge our strategists and designers bring. Each of these colleagues have developed anywhere from 20 to 40 sustainability reports, and it shows. This team doesn’t just intimately understand our own process — they see first-hand the sustainability reporting trends emerging among some of the world’s biggest companies.
So as we head into another reporting season, I went to the people who know corporate sustainability reporting best and asked them a simple question: What are you seeing?
Here’s what they said.
Creativity and storytelling is migrating to new channels
Anna Seskind, Operations Director
As reporting becomes more disclosure-focused, our clients are finding new ways to bring creativity and brand personality to their work. Many are producing their sustainability reports more efficiently, keeping the PDF simple and transparent. That frees up time and budget for content that connects with stakeholders in more memorable ways: video, animation, interactive web experiences, and detailed infographics.
The numbers are doing more of the talking
Tyler Brewer, Senior Strategist
Companies are increasingly building their reports around specific metrics they can track year over year. More attention is going to numbers and KPIs that have been assured or verified by a third party, especially as more ESG data regulations take effect. Narrative still matters, but more companies now publish data tables or other quantitative summaries of their ESG performance.
The gap in how companies communicate is widening
Jean Okamoto, Project Director
The biggest change I’ve noticed is a widening gap in how companies communicate. Some, mostly larger companies subject to CSRD or responsive to international audiences, are moving toward reporting suites. These pair disclosure-focused reports with narrative pieces tailored to other audiences. Others are going the opposite way, either skipping a report this year or moving it from a featured spot to a page that’s harder to find.
Neither direction is right for everyone; these companies have different priorities and stakeholders. But in prior years, peer benchmarks pointed in a clearer direction, whether that meant more communication about climate or less about DEI. This year, the findings feel more scattered.
Two tiers, told visually
Adam Tapley, Design Director
Clients want more interactivity and more engaging content types. They also want reports that feel authentic and editorial, without the generic language that reads like greenwashing. That means more visual storytelling, especially around the data.
More and more, the storytelling and the data are splitting into two distinct tiers. The narrative becomes a short, highly digestible editorial piece. The data and technical content get a simpler build and design focused on compliance and the audiences who need it: investors and regulators.
From a single report to a broader set of tools
Christine McElhinney, Project Director
Companies are separating regulatory disclosure from narrative reporting. ESRS reports and data indices carry the compliance detail, while shorter narrative reports focus on progress and stories for employees, customers, and communities.
Reports are also becoming commercial assets. B2B buyers use them to vet suppliers on Scope 3 data and ratings like EcoVadis. B2C brands use them to build trust and back up product claims.
Nature is next. Biodiversity is following climate’s path from voluntary to expected, with ESRS E4 and GRI 101 setting new requirements. TNFD-aligned disclosures roughly doubled in 2026, to more than 1,150 organizations.
Finally, web-based hubs are replacing the static PDF. They offer interactive data, video, and modular content readers can explore by topic, as in Alaska Airlines’ and J&J’s latest reports. Evergreen content stays online, with annual updates for new highlights.
Leaner, regulation-aligned reports, built for people and machines
Shara Narsipur, Senior Strategist
Reports are getting leaner and sticking to material information. Storytelling and brand communications are moving to other channels, like the web, social media, and campaigns, so the report can do its job as a disclosure document.
AI is changing who, and what, reads the report. More AI tools now aggregate and summarize this data, so a report needs to be readable by machines as well as people. That’s driving new attention to clean structure, clear data tables, and consistent labeling. It’s also one reason interactive formats and web-based hubs are growing: they make it easier for readers to find their way around.
The conversation around AI governance keeps getting louder, too. Companies face growing pressure to explain how AI affects their business and how they’re governing it responsibly. That covers infrastructure needs, emissions, workforce development, data integrity, cybersecurity, and regulatory change.
More of my clients are also positioning around regulation. Their report narratives describe how they’re preparing for upcoming rules, even before those rules apply to them. That includes SB 253 and SB 261 in California, CSRD in the EU, and IFRS S1 and S2, which are gaining traction globally. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) remains a big one, especially for packaging-heavy companies.
Proof behind every claim
Cam Hotto, Strategist
Every sustainability claim needs proof behind it. Greenwashing scrutiny has expanded from product claims to fund marketing, so sustainability language has to be substantiated at every level, from a product label to an investment pitch.
The same pressure runs down the supply chain. Corporate Scope 3 targets depend on supplier progress, and companies that can’t supply emissions data risk losing contracts and preferred-supplier status.
John Davies is the Director of Content at thinkPARALLAX. With more than 15 years of experience in journalism, editorial leadership, and sustainability communications, he specializes in sustainability reporting, thought leadership, and brand storytelling.
