Key Takeaways
- Sustainability experts call for new voices to advance sustainability: Fifty-five percent of experts say the sustainability community needs greater generational change, while only 8 percent disagree. The remaining 37 percent are neutral.
- Leadership needs a broader geographic base: Half of the experts also say sustainability is led too much from the Global North rather than the Global South, compared with 15 percent who disagree and 35 percent who are neutral.
- The balance of priorities also faces scrutiny: Nearly half (49%) say sustainability focuses too much on environmental aspects and not enough on social and economic aspects, 19 percent disagree, and 32 percent are neutral.
Sustainability’s Rethink Starts with Who Leads
Our recent insights from Sustainability at a Crossroads 2026 have explored the spread of backlash, demands for revised approaches, and the growing role of crisis and disruption in driving change. This week, the focus turns inward. Sustainability experts are questioning who leads the sustainability community and whose priorities shape its agenda. Their responses suggest that renewal should reach beyond the tools practitioners use to the people who influence decisions.
The research, conducted by GlobeScan, ERM, and Volans among 610 sustainability experts across 57 countries, finds that 55 percent agree the community needs greater generational change. Only 8 percent disagree, while 37 percent remain neutral. Half of the experts say sustainability is led too much from the Global North rather than the Global South, against 15 percent who disagree. Nearly half (49%) also believe the agenda focuses too much on environmental aspects and not enough on social and economic aspects, compared with 19 percent who disagree.
These findings extend the call to rethink sustainability in a distinct direction. Our earlier finding that most experts want the agenda revised concerned the approach itself. Here, experts also question the composition of the community setting that approach. Generational renewal and a stronger role for the Global South could bring different experiences into decisions about what matters and how to act.
The call for generational change is particularly strong among experts in Asia-Pacific, where 71 percent agree, followed by Africa and the Middle East at 65 percent and Latin America and the Caribbean at 56 percent. Experts in Latin America and the Caribbean are also particularly likely to say that we are focusing too much on environmental aspects and not enough on social and economic aspects (73%), especially compared to their peers in North America (40%). North American experts are also significantly less likely than their peers in other regions to agree that sustainability is led too much from the Global North rather than the Global South (41%).
WHAT THIS MEANS
The sustainability community may need to rethink not only its agenda, but also who shapes it. Bringing in younger generations and stronger perspectives from the Global South could broaden the experiences and priorities informing sustainability, including greater attention to its social and economic dimensions.
How This Insight Was Generated: This analysis draws on Sustainability at a Crossroads 2026, a survey of 610 sustainability experts in 57 countries conducted between June and August 2026.
Survey Question: Please indicate if you agree or disagree with each of the following statements.
“We need greater generational change in the sustainability community.”
“Sustainability is led too much from the Global North rather than the Global South.”
“We are focusing too much on environmental aspects and not enough on social and economic aspects.”
