Sustainability remains a top priority on the business agenda, according to Deloitte Global’s 2026 survey of more than 2,100 C-suite leaders 

However, there has been a notable shift: organizations are moving from broad sustainability ambition to more focused execution embedded across the organization, with greater attention to ROI, resilience, and technology as an enabler.

This increased focus has caused 47% of the companies surveyed to embed sustainability considerations throughout their organization.  This is turning out to be a good financial move, as 77% say sustainability investments deliver greater ROI than other business investments.

Investments

The survey found that 78% have increased sustainability investments in the last year. Initiatives that companies took last year include:

• Implementing technology solutions to help achieve goals
• Tracking and analyzing environmental metrics
• Reconfiguring operations and infrastructure to be more resilient to extreme weather
• Developing sustainability talent
• Decreasing operations emissions by purchasing renewable energy directly, contractually or through renewable energy certificates.

 Technology

Companies are using technology across a wide range of use cases including:

• Internal performance monitoring
• Supply chain environmental data
• Risk modeling
• External reporting, 
• Sustainable product development
• Operational efficiency

"The next phase of sustainability leadership is defined by intention and precision," said Jennifer Steinmann, Deloitte Global Sustainability Business leader, in a statement. "Executives who understand and demonstrate how sustainability supports growth, resilience, and competitive advantage can set themselves up to be better positioned to make investment decisions that create lasting business value."