According to a new Morgan Stanley survey, 88% of companies now view sustainability as a value creation opportunity. This is a significant shift in mindset, and a clear signal that ESG is being integrated into the commercial logic of business.
Far from being seen purely as a cost or a compliance requirement, sustainability is now tied to expected benefits such as increased profitability, stronger revenue growth, and better cost of capital. The business case is becoming clearer.
The survey also found that more than half of companies were directly impacted by climate-related events in the past year. These impacts disrupted workforces, increased operational costs, and in some cases reduced revenue. It’s no longer a question of whether sustainability affects business performance, but how soon and how much.
Executives are growing more confident in their organisations’ ability to respond. This year, 65% said their company’s sustainability strategy is meeting or exceeding expectations, up from 59% last year. That progress reflects not just ambition, but action.
So what can we take from this?
- Companies are no longer only reacting to ESG pressure; many are now leaning in and identifying value in the process.
- Climate-related disruption is happening now — not in 2030 or 2050 — and resilience is becoming a key differentiator.
- Confidence is growing, but there’s still a gap between expectations and delivery, particularly when it comes to embedding sustainability across all operations.
This aligns closely with what we see in our work: when sustainability is linked to business outcomes and supported with the right data, leadership buy-in, and delivery frameworks, it creates more than just environmental benefit — it creates tangible business value.
The question is shifting from why to how. And for those still on the fence, the message is clear: sustainability isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s increasingly the smart thing to do.