WBCSD – World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Every sustainability strategy depends on one thing: people with the capability to deliver it. As sustainability becomes embedded across every business function, the challenge is no longer building one expert team - it's developing people across finance, procurement, operations, HR and commercial teams who can turn strategy into action. Building that capability pipeline is becoming a strategic priority. The organizations that will succeed are those investing not only in today's experts, but in the people who will lead change tomorrow. Applications for the 𝐖𝐁𝐂𝐒𝐃 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 are now open. Don't miss the opportunity to invest in your next generation of sustainability leaders. Encourage your emerging talent to apply and give them the knowledge, confidence and network they'll need to accelerate your sustainability ambitions. Applications are now open for the 𝐒𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭. Nominate someone today.   https://lnkd.in/esxfvHUv #Sustainability #LeadershipDevelopment #TalentDevelopment #FutureOfWork #YoungProfessionals 

Business leaders in North America are navigating volatility by increasing their investments in the global transition. The 2026 Business Breakthrough Barometer shows businesses in North America are absorbing the sharpest cost increases of any region, and responding with calls for collaboration that enables investment. Read the full Business Breakthrough Barometer 2026 for what this means for North American investment and policy engagement in the year ahead: www.wbcsd.org/barometer #BusinessBreakthroughBarometer #NetZero #ClimateTransition #BBB2026

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐮𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬? New reporting from the Financial Times highlights findings from WBCSD’s Business Breakthrough Barometer: 42% of European businesses report increased costs from physical climate impacts, with workforce health, supply chains and insurance costs among the areas most affected. As climate risks become business risks, understanding these impacts is essential for companies and policymakers alike. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/dQ68h4YA #ClimateAction #Business #ClimateRisk #Resilience #Sustainability #BusinessBreakthroughBarometer #BBB2026

Rising climate-related costs are changing how companies make business decisions.   In his latest Forbes Nonprofit Council piece, William Sisson explores findings from WBCSD’s Business Breakthrough Barometer 2026, which show that 94% of North American companies reported moderate or significant cost increases linked to physical climate impacts over the past year – the highest level of any region globally.   At the same time, North America recorded the strongest investment momentum, with more than eight in 10 companies increasing investment in mitigation, adaptation, and resilience initiatives. These findings point to an important shift: companies are increasingly evaluating sustainability investments through a broader business lens, including resilience, operational continuity, cost management, risk reduction, and long-term competitiveness.   Policy clarity is also emerging as a critical factor in enabling long-term investment, particularly in sectors with long investment cycles, where consistent rules, predictable market conditions, and greater visibility into future returns can help businesses plan with greater confidence.   Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dAGjNkhZ #BusinessBreakthroughBarometer #BBB2026

Business leaders who underestimate how fast tipping points can accelerate can be caught off guard when societal and environmental risks escalate. The underestimation of exponential tipping points is identified in WBCSD and KPMG’s Safeguarding Sustainability: A Dynamic Risk Assessment for the Sustainability Agenda as one of the biggest risks facing the sustainability agenda. The organizations best placed to navigate them are those that have built the capacity to anticipate non-linear change and can act quickly. Download the report: https://lnkd.in/eBYFzQRk #SafeguardingSustainability #KPMG #WBCSD #DRA #TippingPoints

The third series of our Fundamentals of Decarbonization for Businesses webinars has wrapped with nearly 90% of participants reporting increased confidence to take climate action in their organizations.  Across 40+ countries, 500 business leaders and sustainability professionals joined us, including many suppliers of our members, to explore practical pathways for starting their decarbonization journeys. By strengthening supplier capability and readiness, this program empowers WBCSD members to accelerate decarbonization across their supply chains. This wouldn't have been possible without our valued partner Deloitte Netherlands and, most importantly, the commitment of every participant who joined us. As one participant shared: "It's wonderful to connect with people worldwide who are passionate about driving industry transformation for the benefit of our global environment.” Interested in the next series? Create your free account on the Climate Drive to receive an invitation to future series, and explore decarbonization case studies and action guides to support your corporate decarbonization journey: https://lnkd.in/dAH4K4UC #TheClimateDrive #SupplyChainDecarbonization #ClimateAction #Sustainability #WBCSD 

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐞: 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 Two weeks ago, we brought together members and partners for the second session of our workstream on Building the Business Case for Social Investments – this time focused on developing compelling narratives that help make social strategies more decision-ready. A few takeaways that stuck with us: → 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Turnover, risk, resilience: Meet leaders where they already are, then show how social investment addresses it. → 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧: retention, productivity, risk management. → 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫. A credible indicator or peer benchmark can beat a forced ROI calculation. → 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. Leaders move faster to avoid a loss than to chase a gain. → 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬. For example, community resilience and livelihoods are central to supply security, operational continuity, and long-term value creation. → 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. You still need the skills, data, governance and ownership to act on it. Get the story right, and the rest of the business case becomes a lot easier to build. Huge thanks to our speakers for bringing sharp, real-world perspective:  Claire Lawless, Director of Social Sustainability, ERM  Nicola Inge, EMEA Lead & Director, B4SI  Sarah Clements, Director of Engagement, Valuable 500  Dr Liz Wilks, Head of Sustainability & Public Affairs, APP More to come in this series. #SocialSustainability #BusinessCase #WBCSD #Leadership 

We are pleased to join the Impact Management Platform (IMP), a collaboration between the leading providers of sustainability standards and guidance that are coordinating efforts to reinforce the practice of impact management. Through the IMP, WBCSD will collaborate with United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and other IMP partners to further develop a Sector Impact Matrix based on international frameworks and standards. It is an open-source resource that charts sector impacts and seeks to foster a common language among private sector practitioners, sustainability initiatives and standards, policymakers and regulators for achieving common societal goals. The Matrix identifies the most likely positive and negative sustainability impacts across economic sectors and activities, providing a clear and practical foundation for impact-informed decision-making and will contain exciting new features and functionalities, including on value chains and affected stakeholders. With a primary focus on impact materiality and high-level insights into financial materiality, the Matrix supports organizations’ strategic and operational decision-making processes such as materiality assessments, client screening & due diligence, client engagement & issuance of sustainability-focused products and services, determination of impact investing objectives and portfolio selection. Read more and download the Matrix here: https://lnkd.in/eZEVFiUc Fiona Watson, Mardi McBrien, Anaelle Di Meglio, Aswathi Raj, Nermin Daul #ImpactManagement #Materiality #Sustainability #ValueChain

What are business leaders in East Asia and the Pacific saying about the climate sustainability transition? The 2026 Business Breakthrough Barometer, WBCSD's flagship pulse check on the net zero transition, shows how the region is navigating rising costs from climate impacts, despite a lack of confidence in levels of preparedness. Find out how business leaders across East Asia and the Pacific are responding to an accelerating transition: www.wbcsd.org/barometer #BusinessBreakthroughBarometer #NetZero #ClimateTransition #BBB2026

Livestock emissions, including those from manure and animal digestion, account for ~ 32% of human-driven methane emissions globally. WBCSD's latest case study shows how dsm-firmenich used our Guidance on Avoided Emissions to quantify the climate impact of their low-carbon feed additives, strengthening its business case for investment and its contribution to decarbonization. Avoided Emissions assessment and disclosure supported dsm-firmenich to identify and scale a science-based methane reduction solution into a credible business case for climate-smart innovation. Read the full case study: https://lnkd.in/esaN2ZeP Explore the AE Implementation Hub for the technical template, sector guidance, and tools used to build it: https://lnkd.in/eh_jtSjh #AvoidedEmissions #ClimateAction #Decarbonization #Dairy #Methane #WBCSD