CSOs back commerce and tech to deliver on climate

Colour filtered image of ground-level solar PV panels in foreground, with high-rise cityscape behind, plus trees and greenery between.

Despite geopolitics, Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs) surveyed worldwide see clear signs of progress on a global transition backed by commercial and technological momentum, but forecast ‘green divergence’, too.

Their high-level feedback informs key takeaways found in the Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook, published for the first time this week by the World Economic Forum (WEF). This new publication has been designed to track how the CSO role is evolving and what is driving, or blocking, progress on global sustainability.

The inaugural report draws on findings from a survey of 103 leading CSOs across five continents, members of the Forum’s CSO community, convened by the Forum’s Centre for Nature and Climate.

The survey – conducted as escalating conflict in the Middle East disrupted the Strait of Hormuz and rattled global markets – sees CSOs navigating the geo-economic volatility with more conviction than caution:

78% predict geopolitical and macroeconomic headwinds; but
63% expect global sustainability progress to hold steady or accelerate over the next 12 months.

So, despite geopolitical volatility and macro challenges – from conflict to inconsistent policy and weakening multilateralism – the majority still suggest momentum has not stalled. It has, however, fragmented.

Risk of ‘green divergence’

Horizontal bar chart shows 'Progress despite headwinds on global sustainability', with 63% CSOs expecting same or better.

Horizontal bar chart showing why 'Adaptation is essential for businesses' continuity, with 85% CSOs expecting greater focus but investment lag.

Rather than a uniform slowdown, CSOs describe a ‘green divergence’ where some sectors and markets pull ahead on the strength of clear economics, while others stall under policy uncertainty or unconvinced boards.

The result, according to the report, is a transition splitting into different sectors and regions moving at very different speeds. Raising questions about a just transition, this divergence is happening even as the fast-growing global green economy, now worth more than $5tr annually, is on track to top $7tr by 2030.

Execution is the differentiator, says Sebastian Buckup, Managing Director, World Economic Forum:

“Chief Sustainability Officers are telling us the transition is no longer a question of ambition, it’s a question of execution. As companies deliberately anchor sustainability strategies in growth, security and resilience needs, execution speed and priorities increasingly diverge across regions and sectors.”

Good and bad impacts of AI

The report findings also highlight both positive and negative potential impacts of artificial intelligence (AI).

Almost three-quarters of all CSOs surveyed (73%) expect AI to meaningfully accelerate sustainability progress over the next year, particularly in measurement, reporting, efficiency and risk modelling.

Yet, even more (77%) flag the energy and resource intensity of AI infrastructure itself as a major concern, with data centres already accounting for roughly 1.5% of global electricity demand:

73% expect AI to meaningfully accelerate sustainability progress; but
77% flag AI infrastructure’s energy and resource intensity as its most significant negative impact.

Arguably, there even exists the prospect of a green divergence playing out within a single technology.

Adaptation sets new agenda

Importantly, survey analysis also identifies adaptation as an emerging priority for the C-suite, with more than 8 out of 10 CSOs (85%) forecasting it will become a focus for action and investment in the near term:

85% expect adaptation to become a bigger global priority over the next three years; but
77% say private-sector investment will be decisive in scaling adaptation; and
62% cite uncertain cost-benefit assessments as the main barrier to investment.

According to the Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook, the challenge is no longer recognising physical risks but demonstrating the value of investing in resilience. This shift was effectively laid bare this year as extreme heat and wildfires forced companies and insurers alike to confront the cost of being unprepared.

The clearest signal comes from California. By early 2026, insurers had paid out $22.4bn in claims from the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. At the same time, new analysis suggests that rebuilding affected communities to wildfire-resilience standards could cut projected future losses by around one-third.

Growth opportunity, not compliance exercise

This means companies already managing resilience proactively are seeing adaptation bets paying off.

CDP, the global non-profit that runs the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system, estimates that businesses actively managing supply-chain risk have generated $13.6bn in savings to date. Moreover, an additional $165bn in potential financial benefits is still on the table.

Going forward, the sustainability agenda has changed for both companies and their CSOs, concludes Katharina Beumelburg, Chief Sustainability and New Technologies Officer, Heidelberg Materials:

“The conversation is shifting from whether to act on sustainability to how fast we can prove it pays off. CSOs today are expected to deliver a business case as rigorous as any other investment decision, on resilience, on AI, on the transition as a whole. The organisations that treat this as a growth opportunity, not a compliance exercise, are the ones that will be ahead when the numbers are finally called in.”

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