Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook

The report identifies a trend of "green divergence," where sustainability progress is driven by commercial and technological momentum rather than global policy alignment. While 63% of surveyed CSOs expect global progress to remain stable or accelerate, they cite geopolitical tensions and policy volatility as significant headwinds. Sustainability is increasingly viewed as a core business capability linked to value creation, though a gap remains in C-suite perception, with 65% still seeing it primarily as a compliance obligation. AI is identified as an operational accelerator for risk modelling and efficiency, though 77% of respondents warn of the energy and resource intensity of AI infrastructure. Additionally, 85% of CSOs expect adaptation to become a greater global focus, though 62% cite uncertain cost-benefit assessments as a primary barrier to private investment.

• The global sustainability transition is experiencing "green divergence," where progress is uneven across sectors and regions, driven more by commercial and technological advantages than by coordinated international policy.
• CSOs expect the primary drivers of sustainability acceleration over the next three years to be a stronger business case (64%) and lower costs and greater availability of sustainable technologies (56%), while only 7% expect international agreements to be a driver.
• There is a disconnect between the operational integration of sustainability and C-suite perceptions; 65% of C-suite leaders view sustainability as a compliance obligation, while only 41% see it as a source of business growth or value.
• AI is viewed as an operational tool rather than a transformational solution, with the highest expected impacts in environmental risk modelling and forecasting (66%), resource and energy efficiency (61%), and measurement and reporting (52%).
• The energy and resource intensity of AI infrastructure is the most significant negative environmental impact of AI, with 77% of CSOs identifying it as a primary risk.
• Adaptation is becoming a critical operational priority, with 85% of respondents expecting it to become a greater global focus and 77% agreeing that private sector investment will be decisive.
• The primary constraint on business investment in adaptation is the difficulty of quantifying the value of resilience, with 62% of respondents citing uncertain cost-benefit assessments.
• Emerging markets are expected to play an increasing leadership role in global sustainability, with approximately two-thirds of surveyed CSOs anticipating this shift.

APA

World Economic Forum (2026). Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Sustainability_Officers_Outlook_September_2026.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook. 2026. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Sustainability_Officers_Outlook_September_2026.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook |date=September 2026 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Sustainability_Officers_Outlook_September_2026.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2026chief, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2026}, month = sep, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Chief_Sustainability_Officers_Outlook_September_2026.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }