Strategic Focus: Organizations And The Rise Of ESG
Access this research
Access all Corporate Sustainability Leaders content with a strategic subscription or buy this single report
Need help or have a question about this report? Contact us for assistance
Executive Summary
A growing number of firms are taking steps to improve their ESG and sustainability performance, setting ambitious goals and ensuring alignment with standards and frameworks. However, recent greenwashing accusations illustrate the gap between ESG commitments and action, and showcase firms’ limited integration of ESG principles into business operations. In this light, this report offers an overview of firms’ diverse ESG strategies and the organizational challenges holding back ESG and sustainability progress. Our study provides seven recommendations to help firms embed ESG into their businesses, to drive long-term value generation.Firms' Approaches To ESG Range From Compliance To Leadership
ESG Integration Faces Data, Skills And Organizational Challenges
Seven Steps To Integrate ESG And Ensure Sustainable Business Value Creation
Figure 2. ESG Maturity Framework
Figure 3. Executive Moves Into ESG And Sustainability-Related Positions
Figure 4. Decision-Makers Responsible For Funding ESG Strategies
Figure 5. Seven Actions To Strengthen ESG Integration
About the Authors
Elisa Molero
Senior Analyst
Elisa is a Senior Analyst at Verdantix, specializing in supply chain sustainability. Her research covers 100 vendors in the supply chain sustainability market, supporting buye...
View Profile
Kim Knickle
Research Director
Kim Knickle is a Research Director at Verdantix, bringing more than two decades of analyst experience to the evolving world of sustainability. Her current research spans ESG a...
View ProfileOther related content
The beginning of 2025 saw significant uncertainty surrounding sustainability regulations. Twelve months later, that uncertainty hasn’t disappeared – in fact, the year has highlight...
27 November, 2025
November 18, 2025 was a notable – and unusually eventful – day for California’s climate disclosure laws, SB 253 and SB 261. Two major developments unfolded simultaneously: CARB hel...
27 November, 2025
After the rapid surge of ambitious policies in 2024, and the abrupt reversals, cancellations, and turbulence that followed in 2025, many organizations expected momentum to stall. I...
Upcoming / 21 January, 2026
At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, negotiations focused on how to rein in climate change and protect natural resources. Like previous COPs, the formal agenda was dedicated to finance, emis...
24 November, 2025
On October 20, 2025, a new carbon accounting coalition, Carbon Measures, hit the market. Supported by prominent organizations across industry and finance – including BlackRock, BAS...
11 November, 2025
On October 13, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences recognized the work of Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt “for having explained innovation-driven economic growth” by...
10 November, 2025