Five trends that will shape the Chief Sustainability Officer’s agenda in 2025
Instead of looking into our crystal ball, we asked sustainability experts within the CSO Futures network to share their informed predictions for the year ahead.
2024 has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride for enterprise sustainability leaders. From the implementation of the Corporate Sustainability Directive (CSRD) – with jail penalties for non-compliance in certain jurisdictions – to a wave of layoffs and demotions that continues to shake sustainability departments, the year has brought its lot of challenges. On top of that list, of course, is the continued difficulty to decouple business growth from emissions, as experienced by the likes of Volkswagen and Yum! Brands.
On the positive side, climate disclosures have become more harmonised – largely thanks to the ISSB – renewable energy records were broken again, and work around nature impact management and mitigation matured tremendously.
We are now edging ever closer to 2025 – a crucial year for climate action, with the expected ratification of new national decarbonisation goals before what could be a bumper COP in Brazil in November. So what awaits sustainability leaders on the other side of the holiday season?
