Will sustainability rise again?
The concept of sustainability is facing a profound identity crisis. In recent years, much has gone wrong: greenwashing scandals, broken promises and growing scepticism among consumers, companies and policymakers. Trust has eroded, and many are now questioning whether sustainability still holds the promise it once did. Regulations like the CSRD – and an excessive focus on compliance – have flattened and standardized sustainability efforts, leading to a rigid, one-size-fits-all approach. Rather than inspiring innovation or driving meaningful change, sustainability risks becoming static and burdensome, deepening scepticism about whether it truly makes a difference. Can this trend be reversed? Can sustainability rise from the ashes – like the mythical phoenix – reborn stronger through the hard-earned knowledge and experience of these difficult times?
From ashes to ability
We believe it can. In fact, we believe it must. Sustainability deserves a second chance – or more accurately, it is our second chance. A chance to get it right – not only for businesses but for the world we all share.
More than anything, sustainability needs hope and new guidance. The hope that we can recover, rebuild, and begin again. And in terms of guidance, this issue of Lundquist Quarterly lays out how the next era of sustainability must centre around a new core idea: Ability.
- The ability to define a unique, authentic approach to what sustainability means for each company.
- The ability to demonstrate where and how it creates real value, what we call a Sustainability Value Proposition (SVP).
- And the ability to engage people
– employees, customers, and communities
– not through compliance, but through connection and effective communications.
Only the ability to combine these three elements will give us that second chance. Sustainability isn’t dead. It’s transforming. And with courage, clarity and ability – it can rise again.
Sustainability’s next move: from crisis to “Ability” (ENG)
By Joakim Lundquist, Sasja Beslik, James Osborne & Sara Rusconi
Amid the CSRD debacle, sustainability as we know it has come to a dead end. But we see a way forward. We’re calling it “Ability” because the next phase will depend on a few key abilities: to strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of the business; to focus on a tight set of commercially strategic ESG priorities; and to express this impact with a convincing, distinctive narrative.
