Holding the line: sustainability leadership in turbulent times
Corporate sustainability is being tested. London Business School asks how leaders can protect progress – while still pushing commitments forward.
In 30 seconds
Sustainability is under pressure, but the biggest gains go to those who embed it deeply in their governance and decision-making.
This requires long-term commitment and clarity of purpose – while accepting that progress will be uneven.
Holding the line matters: when external pressures intensify, resilience is defined by those who collaborate, communicate clearly and keep moving forward.
By Ioannis Ioannou, Karen Wilson, Rosemary Addis and Florence Wilkinson [1]
Not long ago, sustainability became a central force in business. Recent political polarisation, economic strain and geopolitical shocks have challenged that momentum and created a more demanding environment for leaders. These pressures now test the depth of organisational commitment towards a more sustainable future and the clarity of direction needed to deliver it.
It is against this backdrop that we convened a private roundtable with senior leaders, under Chatham House Rules, from business, finance and policy to explore how sustainability commitments hold up – and even strengthen – when the path ahead becomes less predictable.
The discussion focused on how leaders act with integrity in the face of turbulence, or even hostility, and what they learn from others navigating similar constraints.
This article synthesises the core themes and aims to give more leaders the impetus to act.
The changing terrain
Over the past 18 months, political polarisation, rising economic pressures, social tension and global conflict have reshaped the context in which sustainability operates. These forces stretch the gap between ambitious targets and the realities of delivery, prompting leaders to clarify priorities and strengthen credibility. Participants recognised this as a time to reset and refocus on what really matters and why.
Some organisations have scaled back commitments under intense scrutiny. Others communicate less to avoid backlash. Both choices reduce transparency and weaken public understanding of progress. Leaders at the roundtable emphasised a different approach: reinforce evidence, strengthen clarity and keep communication anchored in substance.
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"Traditional economic assumptions no longer align cleanly with sustainability realities"
They also pointed to a wider structural shift. Traditional economic assumptions no longer align cleanly with sustainability realities. Leaders now redesign strategy to reflect system-wide pressures and constraints, adopting a more grounded, resilient and integrated approach. This marks a next stage of maturity: one defined by sharper focus, greater resilience and closer alignment with long-term value creation.
Leadership: Learning, pivoting and long-term commitment
Corporate sustainability evolves through phases of momentum and challenge. Strong leaders treat disruptions as opportunities to assess, adjust and advance.
Boards play a central role in this shift. While integrating sustainability into strategy has long been a priority, the stakes are now higher. Many boards still struggle to embed sustainability into governance and decision-making. The most effective boards take full ownership of the agenda. They align incentives with long-term objectives, invest in the capabilities the organisation needs and draw on expertise to guide capital allocation and strategic priorities.
Leaders also refine the information that supports decision-making. After a decade of building dashboards and metrics, many now ask whether their indicators genuinely reflect what matters. In response, they are streamlining to focus on decision-useful, material metrics that link directly to performance.
Leaders also emphasised the importance of transparent engagement with trade-offs. They balance ambition with realism and ensure accountability for progress. As regulation expands and evolves, organisations highlighted the value of working closely with policymakers to create frameworks that connect efforts, reward meaningful progress and support effective integration.
From reaction to anticipation: Focus and big bets
Sustainability leadership now extends beyond navigating turbulence. Leaders prepare for what comes next. They build forward-looking capability, detect early signals and position their organisations ahead of emerging risks. That means cultivating the foresight and focus to act before shocks compound – and the courage to make deliberate bets that shape the future.
Boards strengthen this capability by asking different questions, interpreting non-financial signals more effectively and reinforcing institutional capacity for long-term thinking. Future-focused risk registers can support this shift by integrating geopolitical, environmental and social indicators into regular board deliberations, moving organisations from compliance toward collective foresight.
"While integrating sustainability into strategy has long been a priority, the stakes are now higher"
This shift also requires discipline. Volatile conditions often prompt organisations to introduce new initiatives. Leaders at the roundtable argued that genuine progress comes from focus: simplifying portfolios, stepping away from projects that do not support strategy and concentrating resources on the levers with the greatest impact.
Placing big bets requires courage. Leaders articulate a clear destination and retain the agility to adapt as conditions evolve. They explore new business models, invest in technologies that advance sustainability goals and form partnerships – even unconventional ones – across sectors and geographies to address shared challenges.
Participants also noted the benefits of consolidation and collaboration. Consolidating frameworks, initiatives and even organisations reduces duplication and channels effort toward scale. Collaboration, when intentional and resourced, pools knowledge, capabilities and influence to support progress on systemic challenges – from decarbonising supply chains to regenerating ecosystems.
"Holding the line ultimately means sustaining integrity, clarity and agency when external pressures intensify"
Leaders also recognised the importance of political institutions. Trust in democratic systems forms the foundation for market stability. When trust erodes, even well-designed strategies lose traction. Leaders therefore view institutional health as integral to the sustainability landscape.
Taken together, these themes highlight a mindset of adaptive optimism – confidence to act decisively amid uncertainty, while staying open to new insights and future opportunities.
An emerging playbook
A practical playbook for resilient sustainability leadership is taking shape:
1. Long-term commitment and clarity
In a world full of fragmentation and noise, long-term commitment remains a leader’s greatest asset. Effective leaders stay the course, while adjusting tactics when things around them change. Clarity of purpose – while accepting that progress will be uneven – enables leaders to navigate trade-offs and avoid paralysis.
2. Collaboration and consolidation
Collaboration creates real value when it’s intentional, well-resourced and, at times, radical. Building alliances beyond established networks, pooling capabilities, and consolidating fragmented initiatives can create coherence, impact and scale.
3. Communication with integrity
Clear, evidence-based communication builds credibility. Leaders share progress openly, acknowledge what they learn and reinforce trust across stakeholders.
4. Adaptive optimism
True resilience means acting even when the future is uncertain, without giving in to fatalism. Leaders analyse risks thoroughly and maintain confidence in the potential for progress through innovation, agility and belief in collective effort.
5. Governance and incentives
Boards integrate sustainability into governance by aligning incentives with long-term outcomes and using specialised expertise to shape strategic decisions.
6. Systemic thinking
Leaders view their organisation as part of a wider system. They understand how decisions interact with policy, civil society and ecosystems, and they design strategies that reflect these interdependencies.
Holding the line
Holding the line ultimately means sustaining integrity, clarity and agency when external pressures intensify. It means investing in the capabilities and structures that allow progress to continue even when conditions challenge it. The commitments and practices identified at the roundtable define a leadership model that is grounded, collaborative, disciplined and imaginative – one equipped to shape a sustainable future with confidence.
[1] Ioannis Ioannou is Associate Professor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at London Business School and a leading sustainability researcher. Karen E Wilson is founder and CEO of GV Partners and Affiliate Faculty at London Business School. Rosemary Addis AM is Managing Partner of Mondiale Impact and Enterprise Professor at University of Melbourne. Florence Wilkinson is a freelance writer and journalist and has collaborated with the co-authors to develop this piece.
