Corporate Sustainability in 2026: The Hard Question Is No Longer “Why”, but “How”

Corporate sustainability has crossed an important threshold. Companies no longer need to be convinced that it matters; the difficulty now is working out how to embed it into everyday decisions. That is the central message of BDO’s 2026 sustainability survey, which gathered responses from 251 sustainability professionals and C-suite executives across 41 countries in the spring and summer of 2026.

The picture is two-sided. Intent and foundations have strengthened noticeably: organisational structures, governance and stakeholder management are becoming more mature. At the same time, significant gaps remain in strategic integration, implementation capacity and data-driven programme management. Companies know what needs to be done – the challenge is building it into procurement, production, investment decisions and day-to-day steering.

What did the BDO 2026 survey look at?

The research ran between 29 April and 26 June 2026, using the Sustainability Impact Scan developed by BDO in the Netherlands. Respondents assessed their organisations across three dimensions: how mature their sustainability approach is, which topics matter most to them, and how much capacity they have to implement the changes required.

One caveat is worth keeping in mind, and the report itself stresses it: because the number of responses differs by country and the regulatory settings vary enormously, the findings should be read as indicative trends rather than statistically representative conclusions. The regional mix also shifted compared with the previous year: Europe fell from 68% to 56% of responses, while Latin America & the Caribbean rose from 6% to 18% and the Middle East & Africa from 4% to 11%.

The biggest obstacle to corporate sustainability today is data

The stand-out finding is that 43% of respondents named difficulties in measuring and tracking impact as their biggest challenge. That ranked ahead of limited financial resources (37%), limited staffing capacity (34%), lack of knowledge or expertise (26%) and low prioritisation by leadership (24%).

The ordering is telling in itself. A few years ago organisations were still wrestling with how to build the business case for sustainability; that phase has largely passed, and attention has moved to operational discipline. The measurement problem also does not simply disappear with maturity: the report notes that capability barriers ease as organisations mature, but structural challenges – data architecture, impact measurement, Scope 3 quantification – can test even the most advanced companies.

The leading constraint varies by sector. Service-oriented industries such as professional services, financial services, construction and retail are mainly challenged by measuring and demonstrating impact. Asset-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, transport and healthcare are more constrained by the investment required. Tech, media and telecoms is the only sector where staffing capacity leads, suggesting sustainability duties are often added to existing roles.

Governance came first – surprising and not surprising at once

Governance and ethical business practices top the priority list: 96% of respondents rated them important or extremely important. Social topics – labour practices, diversity, community impact – follow at 96%, then CO₂ and other emission reductions at 89%, and resource use (energy, water, materials) at 85%.

The result is logical. Without clear leadership accountability, decision-making processes, risk management and board oversight, no sustainability target is deliverable. The report also raises the opposite reading, though: companies may be falling back on the safer ground of compliance and governance in the current geopolitical climate, pushing environmental topics down the list. Given the rising temperatures and severe weather events experienced in many of the countries surveyed, the authors find it surprising that environmental issues do not rank higher.

Support is needed almost everywhere

At least three quarters of respondents would welcome external support in nearly every area surveyed. The order of need: collecting and reporting data 79%, engaging employees and stakeholders 78%, compliance with regulations and standards 77%, identifying financing and investment opportunities 76%, developing or refining strategy 75%, developing policies, goals and KPIs 72%, and conducting a double materiality assessment 68%.

Two items deserve attention. The first is stakeholder and employee engagement, often seen as the “softer” side of sustainability compared with reporting – yet a small central team cannot deliver the behavioural change required on its own. The second is financing: its high placement suggests the question has shifted from whether to do sustainability at all to how to pay for it and create value from it.

Leadership is the weakest link in implementation

Within the implementation capacity dimension, leadership emerged as the weakest category overall. Most organisations have the knowledge and ability to define concrete actions, but ambitions are not consistently translated into day-to-day behaviours, collaboration and initiative. The pattern repeats across all four regions, even where the foundations are strong.

Viola Möller, sustainability partner at BDO in Germany, adds that companies clearly understand that real impact only comes when a sustainability perspective is built into every decision and every action – while implementation nonetheless remains difficult. On the German reading, what is missing is not technical knowledge but clear accountabilities, working steering mechanisms and a corporate culture that translates sustainability into daily choices. The debate has shifted from a question of strategy to a question of execution.

By region:

• Europe (141 responses, 14 countries): the most mature region, driven by its regulatory reporting environment, with 97.8% rating governance and ethical business practices as important. Two thirds (66.7%) need support with compliance and 53.8% with developing strategy. The biggest practical gaps are financing and building investable business cases.
• Asia Pacific (39 responses, 7 countries): support needs are the highest here – 89.8% need help with compliance and 84.6% with strategy and data/reporting. Mandatory climate reporting in Australia and climate-related disclosure requirements for Singapore Exchange-listed companies from FY2025 are driving the agenda.
• Latin America & the Caribbean (44 responses, 11 countries): implementation foundations are relatively strong, yet 91% need support with strategy, 90% with engaging employees and stakeholders, and 87% with financing. Visible leadership support is the key issue.
• Middle East & Africa (27 responses, 9 countries): 100% of respondents named resource use as their top priority. Alongside water scarcity, land degradation, food security pressures, biodiversity loss and energy security are daily business risks.

Will AI close the data gap – or widen it?

The report devotes a separate chapter to whether AI will solve the measurement problem. The answer is a cautious yes, with serious qualifications.

AI can meaningfully speed up the extraction of data from invoices, utility bills, supplier questionnaires and contracts, help analyse large datasets, assist in preparing reports, improve supply chain visibility, and support forecasting and scenario modelling. What it does not fix: incomplete or poor-quality source data, inconsistent methodologies, missing internal ownership and accountability, weak governance processes, and the difficulty of obtaining supplier data. As the report puts it, AI can process data but cannot automatically make unreliable data credible.

Two further points are worth noting. Scrutiny of data accuracy and auditability will increase, alongside questions about the transparency of AI-generated outputs and the need for human oversight. And AI carries its own environmental cost: high energy and water demands mean that working faster can also mean a larger ecological footprint.

Where does your organisation stand? Learning, mature or expert

BDO distinguishes three maturity levels. At the learning stage, initiatives have started but remain ad hoc, inconsistent and without formal governance. At the mature stage, sustainability is managed through structured processes, with defined governance, targets and integration into business operations. At the expert stage, it is embedded across the organisation, characterised by leading practices and innovation.

Most organisations sit between learning and mature, while aiming considerably higher within two years – across all four dimensions (strategy, sustainability management, structure, stakeholder management) they want to move from roughly 6 points to above 8.5–9.

Practical steps differ by level. At the learning stage: define what sustainability means for your organisation, hold a strategic discussion at executive or board level, start measuring energy consumption or run a carbon footprint analysis, appoint someone responsible even part-time, and launch pilot projects on waste separation or energy efficiency. At the mature stage: formulate SMART objectives, translate strategy into policy with KPIs, build a performance dashboard and establish a regular reporting cycle. At the expert stage: consolidate data on a proper platform, integrate sustainability into procurement, innovation and HR processes, run external audits, and include a sustainability KPI in executive compensation.

What does this mean for a mid-sized company?

The findings translate well to smaller markets too, mainly because of supply chain pressure. Any company supplying a large exporter or an international customer will eventually have to provide data, whether or not reporting obligations apply to it directly.

Four things worth sorting out first:

1. Data before reporting. Before anyone picks a reporting format, clarify what data is generated, from where, how often and under whose responsibility. Consistently recording energy, water and waste figures is the cheapest way in.
2. Give it an owner. A dedicated team is not always necessary, but a named person is – and not as a footnote to their job description.
3. Leadership should ask questions, not just approve. What distinguishes more mature organisations is that sustainability indicators appear on the management agenda alongside financial figures.
4. Don’t skip the business case. One of the report’s strongest signals is that most companies have moved past “why do this” to “how do we pay for it and create value”. Energy efficiency and material recovery projects are usually the easiest to defend at this point.

The summary of BDO’s 2026 survey fits into a single sentence: organisations understand why sustainability matters and mostly have the knowledge and capability, but they need stronger leadership accountability, clearer ownership and better data to turn ambition into measurable outcomes.

---

Frequently Asked Questions About Corporate Sustainability

What is the biggest barrier to corporate sustainability in 2026?

Measuring and tracking impact. In BDO’s 2026 survey, 43% of respondents named it their main challenge, ahead of limited financial resources (37%), staffing capacity (34%) and lack of expertise (26%). The problem does not vanish with maturity, because data architecture and Scope 3 quantification remain structural issues even for advanced organisations.

How many companies took part in BDO’s 2026 sustainability survey?

The research gathered responses from 251 sustainability professionals and C-suite executives across 41 countries between 29 April and 26 June 2026, using the Sustainability Impact Scan developed by BDO in the Netherlands. The report stresses that findings should be read as indicative trends rather than statistically representative conclusions.

Which sustainability topic ranked highest as a priority?

Governance and ethical business practices, rated important or extremely important by 96% of respondents. Social topics follow, then emission reductions (89%) and resource use (85%). The report itself raises the possibility that environmental topics rank lower partly because companies are falling back on compliance and governance amid current geopolitics.

Where do organisations need the most support?

At least three quarters of respondents want external support in nearly every area surveyed. The order: collecting and reporting data 79%, engaging employees and stakeholders 78%, regulatory compliance 77%, identifying financing opportunities 76%, developing strategy 75%, policies and KPIs 72%, and double materiality assessment 68%.

Will AI solve the sustainability data problem?

Partly. It can speed up extraction of data from invoices, supplier questionnaires and contracts, and assist with analysis and report preparation. It does not fix incomplete source data, inconsistent methodologies or weak governance processes. AI also carries a significant environmental footprint of its own, given its high energy and water demands.

---

Sources:

• BDO: Sustainability Survey 2026 – From Intent to Impact (global report, September 2026)
• BDO Germany press release on the 2026 sustainability survey