How Is Leadership Leading To Sustainability By 2026?

By the year 2025, sustainability is a fixture within boards. Formerly regarded solely as the "Chief Sustainability Officer's" domain, today it resides at the heart of every senior executive's (C-Suite) responsibilities as one of their core strategic priorities.

As a testament to this evolution and the growing recognition of climate resilience as key, the 2025 CEO Study from the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), released in September 2020, shows that 88% of CEOs consider the business case for sustainability more compelling today compared to five years ago. Furthermore, the findings highlight how executives now view sustainability not only as a moral issue, but also as a key component of their overall corporate strategy.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated that "progress will require stronger cooperation between governments and throughout society and sectors," with Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and Executive Director of the UNGC, confirming the change amongst CEOs in thinking about sustainability transitioning from something moral to being viewed as an essential business necessity.

Deloitte Global's 2025 C-Suite Sustainability Report supports this assertion and shows that approximately 45% of the 2,100 executives surveyed identified climate change and sustainability as two of their top three business issues heading into 2026.

Fashion’s Commitment to Sustainability
2025 was a year of transformation and advancement as Prada purchased Versace and Francesca Bellattini became CEO of Gucci, which were both important milestones in the development of high fashion and leadership. As LVMH, through its Social and Environmental Responsibility Report for the year ending in August 2024, demonstrated that it has made real strides in the sustainability area by setting forth plans to realise LIFE 360 targets that have deadlines of 2026 and 2030, and that the Group has met its Scope 1 and 2 Greenhouse Gas emissions reduction targets two years early, achieving a 55.1% reduction in GHG emissions.

Chairman and CEO of LVMH Bernard Arnault demonstrates in his assertion that collective actions yield results. In his words, "The ethical principles and the underlying commitment we have towards our social, environmental and cultural responsibilities are founded on the conviction that working with others - such as our employees, institutions, suppliers, partners, various NGO's and peers in other sectors - gives us the best chance of converting challenges into opportunities and advancing society."

Hermès also demonstrated to its shareholders and stakeholders that they have made continued progress and improvements toward its safeguarding of the Earth through the processes and practices employed to manufacture its products responsibly, use sustainable materials, reduce resource use, employ a business model based on the principles of craftsmanship and circular economy and develop their production systems with these principles as guiding lights.

Leadership Is Key to Achieving Measurable Sustainability Outcomes
To achieve measurable results on sustainability efforts, Leadership remains a key factor. In 2025, Jesper Brodin, former CEO of IKEA’s Ingka Group, was vocal about how Leaders influence changes in sustainability efforts.

On Trellis’ Two Steps Forward Podcast during Climate Week in October, Brodin stated that all Leaders must possess ‘sustainability competence.’ As Brodin puts it, "To effectively address Climate Change, Leaders must make economic and technological changes, and they must work together to accelerate progress."

The means by which Ingka Group’s results demonstrate this approach are evident. Between 2015, following the Paris Agreement, with a 24% increase in Revenue and a reduction in Absolute Carbon Emissions across Scope 1, 2 and. By 2023, the company had decreased Carbon Emissions by greater than 30%.

Brodin states that, "There continues to be an assumption that Sustainability is expensive. In reality, it is usually the reverse." “In reality, it’s often the opposite.”

Walmart is another case study of how continuity of leadership supports long-term effects. In 2005, with Lee Scott as the CEO, the company established a commitment to 100% renewable energy, zero waste, and products that preserve the environment as part of its sustainability commitment.

Doug McMillon is the current CEO of Walmart, and he continues to carry out the vision created by Mr. Scott. In a speech made in October, Mr. McMillon stated that Mr. Scott “made us think differently about leadership,” and “encouraged” Walmart to use its power and resources “to help everyone on the planet.” The company’s most current numbers on ESG show that 48.5% of all its global electricity is now derived from renewable resources, and its Scope 1 and 2 emissions have decreased by 18.1% from the starting point of 2015.

As a result of these leadership-driven goals from multiple industries, we anticipate that 2026 will be a defining moment in history for sustainability and achieving climate change objectives; it will also be a year when new sustainability objectives will continue to emerge.