Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability

This research paper by the World Resources Institute explores why 'win-win' outcomes for corporations and the environment are not scaling, drawing on interviews with sustainability managers from eight multinational companies.

• While many large companies have set sustainability goals addressing climate change and resource efficiency to reduce costs and meet consumer preferences, strategies that benefit both business and the environment are failing to scale.
• Research involving a cross-sector sample of eight multinational companies indicates that applying a "sustainability lens" to business opportunities has enabled companies to increase revenue and achieve a competitive advantage.
• The study identified four primary barriers that hinder the scale-up of environmentally sound business practices and proposed four corresponding actions to overcome these obstacles and increase financially-sound corporate investment in sustainability.

APA

World Resources Institute (n.d.). Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability. https://www.wri.org/research/aligning-profit-and-environmental-sustainability

Chicago

World Resources Institute. Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability. n.d. https://www.wri.org/research/aligning-profit-and-environmental-sustainability.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Resources Institute |title=Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability |url=https://www.wri.org/research/aligning-profit-and-environmental-sustainability |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldresourcesinstitutendaligning, author = {{World Resources Institute}}, title = {{Aligning Profit and Environmental Sustainability}}, institution = {World Resources Institute}, url = {https://www.wri.org/research/aligning-profit-and-environmental-sustainability}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }