“Sustainability has moved from a niche topic to a strategic priority but turning ambition into real implementation remains the biggest challenge.”
Andrea’s work across Europe and Africa has given her a front-row seat to how sustainability has evolved over the past decade. In this second part of the conversation, she reflects on how the field has moved from a niche topic to a strategic priority and why turning ambition into real implementation remains a major challenge.
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From your vantage point, Andrea, how has the sustainability landscape evolved over the past decade?
Over the past decade, the sustainability landscape has changed significantly and has become much more mainstream.
Ten years ago, most companies approached sustainability from a compliance or CSR angle. It was about meeting minimum standards or running isolated community projects. Those efforts were often managed by small teams sitting separately from the core business.
Today, in many organizations, sustainability has become integrated into strategy, operations, and decision-making. It has become more central to how companies differentiate, invest, and innovate.
There’s also growing pressure for better impact measurement not just to tick boxes, but to truly understand whether interventions are making an impact.
Regulation has been a major driver, pushing companies to be more transparent and accountable, and consumers have also played a big role, as they are far more informed and expect brands to take real action, not just make statements.
There are also more cases where individual company pilots have evolved into sector-wide collaborations, such as collective action platforms in agriculture, finance, or energy, where competitors come together to tackle sector sustainability challenges.
“Sustainability is no longer just a responsibility for many organisations, it has become a core driver of business and resilience.”
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There’s a lot of talk about the “next phase” of sustainability. What are the biggest barriers to moving from ambition to action?
“Many organisations have strong sustainability strategies but struggle to embed them into daily decisions and operations.”
I think the biggest challenge is turning good intentions into practical change.
First, there is the implementation gap: many organizations have strong strategies, but struggle to embed sustainability into daily decisions and operations.
Measurement is still a hurdle, as we don’t always have the right tools or data to measure or value it, which makes it hard to know what’s working.
Many sustainability managers also often face short-term pressure, the need to show quick results to leadership, which often conflicts with the long-term nature of sustainability transitions.
And finally, there is collaboration. Many sustainability challenges are systemic, yet efforts still happen in silos. Real progress depends on aligning across sectors and supply chains.
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How are organisations balancing compliance with real impact? Is regulation driving progress or limiting it?
Regulation has definitely pushed sustainability forward. It has made companies more transparent and accountable.
But it can also risk turning sustainability into a box-ticking exercise.
Sustainability frontrunners use compliance as a starting point, not the end goal.
They go beyond reporting to actually change how they make decisions and create impact.
Real transformation still depends on how organizations choose to use regulation.
Sustainability leaders treat compliance as the starting point not the finish line.
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What role do finance and investment play in accelerating sustainable transitions?
Finance plays a crucial role in accelerating sustainable transitions, but no single type of capital can do it alone.
We need a mixed pool of investments between public, private, and philanthropic funding, each playing a different role.
- Public and concessional finance can take on early risk and build enabling conditions
- Private investors can bring scale and efficiency once models are proven
- Philanthropy can help fill the gaps by funding innovation and community-level work that traditional finance often overlooks
Real transformation happens when these forms of capital work together, aligning impact with returns and creating vehicles where sustainability is both investable and scalable.
“No single type of capital can drive sustainability transitions alone real impact requires public, private, and philanthropic finance working together.”
Looking ahead….
While strategy, regulation, and finance are shaping the next phase of sustainability, real transformation ultimately depends on people working together to change systems.
In the final article in this series, Andrea reflects on what makes systems change possible and the kind of leadership needed to truly change the game.