Key Takeaways
- Sustainability professionals perceive a significant internal alignment gap. More than three-quarters of sustainability professionals (77%) view sustainability as a core driver of long-term business strategy, compared with only 39% who believe senior leaders see it the same way.
- Senior leaders are perceived to prioritize risk and compliance. Sustainability professionals believe senior leaders are more likely than sustainability teams to view sustainability primarily as a risk management and compliance function (74% vs. 52%)
- Closing the value creation gap is critical. While both sustainability teams and senior leaders are perceived to see sustainability as important for protecting corporate reputation, bridging the perceived gap around sustainability’s role as a driver of long-term value creation will be critical to securing leadership support, investment, and organizational alignment moving forward.
Why Sustainability Teams and Senior Leaders Increasingly View Sustainability Differently
Recent GlobeScan and BSR research suggests that corporate sustainability may be facing an internal alignment challenge. Sustainability professionals increasingly perceive a gap between how sustainability teams and senior leaders view the role of sustainability within their organizations. This finding builds on our previous insight showing that regulatory requirements have become the dominant driver of corporate sustainability efforts, while business-oriented drivers such as innovation, growth opportunities, and operational benefits have become less prominent than they were a decade ago.
The research reveals a significant disconnect in how sustainability professionals say that sustainability is understood inside large organizations. More than three-quarters of sustainability professionals (77%) view sustainability as a core driver of long-term business strategy, compared with only 39% who believe senior leaders see it the same way. Sustainability professionals are also three times more likely to associate sustainability with innovation and growth than they believe senior leaders are (48% vs. 16%).
By contrast, respondents say that senior leaders are much more likely than their sustainability teams to characterize sustainability as a risk management and compliance function (74% versus 52%).
Despite the perceived differences, both groups continue to recognize the importance of sustainability for protecting corporate reputation, creating a shared foundation from which organizations can build.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
The findings point to a growing need to make sustainability strategically indispensable. While both sustainability teams and senior leaders are perceived to recognize sustainability’s value in protecting corporate reputation, providing a common foundation from which organizations can build, the greater challenge appears to be strengthening alignment around sustainability’s contribution. Closing this gap will be critical to maintaining executive support, organizational alignment, and investment over the long term. As expectations around sustainability continue to evolve, organizations that can clearly demonstrate how sustainability contributes to growth, resilience, competitiveness, innovation, and performance will be better positioned to secure leadership buy-in and sustain momentum over time. The imperative is not to choose between managing risk and creating value, but to demonstrate how sustainability can do both.
To find out more about how large companies are shifting from ambition to implementation, the GlobeScan BSR State of Sustainable Business 2026 report provides a snapshot of how corporate sustainability is evolving today based on insights from 124 senior sustainability professionals at large global companies.
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, regions, and seniority levels.
Survey Question
We’re interested to know how sustainability is viewed by sustainability teams and by wider leadership at your company. From the list below, please select up to three that best reflect how sustainability is seen by your company’s sustainability team and senior leadership team.
