Key Takeaways
- Rise of regulation: The most pronounced change over the past decade is the rise of regulation as a driver of corporate sustainability, increasing substantially relative to 2016 and standing out as the single largest shift.
- Rise of demand: Customer-facing pressure has also strengthened meaningfully, with consumer demand and buyer requirements becoming more influential, while investor interest has remained broadly stable, indicating uneven change across external stakeholders.
- A weakening business case: At the same time, a range of traditional business drivers have weakened compared to 2016, including growth opportunities, innovation, operational benefits, and cost reduction, pointing to a clear rebalancing in how sustainability is being justified inside companies.
A Decade of Change in What Drives Corporate Sustainability
New research from BSR and GlobeScan shows that the motivations behind corporate sustainability efforts have shifted significantly over the past ten years, with regulation becoming significantly more important for driving initiatives. In April and May 2026, GlobeScan and BSR conducted an online survey of 124 BSR members and other corporate sustainability professionals working at companies with $1 billion or more annual revenue to understand the state of sustainable business today and its evolution over the last decade.
The findings highlight how the relative importance of different drivers has changed since 2016.
The most striking development is the rise of regulation. Over the past decade, regulatory requirements have increased more than any other driver, reflecting a global environment in which sustainability is increasingly shaped by formal rules, standards, and reporting expectations and where growing levels of regulation have pushed companies to focus more on compliance than on other motivations.
Consumer demand has also gained ground over this period, emerging as another area of increasing influence. This suggests that external pressure is not limited to regulation alone but is also being reinforced by expectations from consumers. By contrast, investor interest has remained largely unchanged, indicating that not all stakeholder pressures have evolved at the same pace.
Running in parallel with these increases is a broad decline in several traditional business-oriented drivers of sustainability. Compared with 2016, factors such as market growth opportunities, product and process innovation, operational benefits, and cost reduction have all lost influence. Internal drivers such as CEO interest and talent recruitment, engagement, and retention have also weakened relative to a decade ago. The research specifically highlights the decline in growth, talent, innovation, and cost-related motivations as notable changes over time.
Taken together, these shifts point to a clear rebalancing in motivations behind corporate sustainability. A decade ago, sustainability was more strongly associated with forward-looking business value, including growth, efficiency, and innovation. Today, the emphasis appears to have moved more toward responding to external expectations, particularly regulation and, to a lesser extent, customer demand.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The changing drivers of corporate sustainability suggest a shift in how sustainability is understood within companies. As regulatory pressure has intensified and traditional business-case drivers have lost influence, sustainability appears to be increasingly framed through the lens of compliance and external accountability rather than opportunity and value creation. While growth, innovation, talent, and cost efficiencies remain important outcomes, they seem to play a less prominent role in motivating sustainability efforts than they did a decade ago.
This creates an important challenge for sustainability leaders. Compliance can drive action, but it rarely inspires transformation. Regulation can establish the floor, yet it is unlikely on its own to generate the investment, innovation, and cross-functional commitment needed to deliver meaningful change. As sustainability becomes more shaped by external requirements, organizations may need to work harder to demonstrate how it contributes to growth, resilience, competitiveness, and long-term value creation. The companies best positioned for the future may be those that can meet rising regulatory expectations while continuing to treat sustainability as a strategic opportunity, not simply a compliance exercise.
How This Insight Was Generated: This analysis draws on an online survey conducted by GlobeScan and BSR in April and May 2026 among 124 corporate sustainability professionals working at companies with annual revenue of $1 billion or more, spanning sectors and global headquarters regions.
Survey Question: Which of the following are the most important drivers for your company’s sustainability efforts?
Headquarters represented: North America, Europe, and Other regions.
