{"id":2104,"date":"2026-06-17T13:46:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T12:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/?p=2104"},"modified":"2026-06-24T11:08:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:08:57","slug":"the-next-phase-of-sustainability-moving-from-strategy-to-implementation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/2026\/06\/17\/the-next-phase-of-sustainability-moving-from-strategy-to-implementation\/","title":{"rendered":"The Next Phase of Sustainability: Moving from Strategy to Implementation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cSustainability has moved from a niche topic to a strategic priority but turning ambition into real implementation remains the biggest challenge.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Andrea\u2019s 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.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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1|<\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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From your vantage point, Andrea, how has the sustainability landscape evolved over the past decade?<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Over the past decade, the sustainability landscape has changed significantly and has become much more mainstream.<\/p>

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.<\/p>

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.<\/p>

There\u2019s also growing pressure for better impact measurement\u00a0 not just to tick boxes, but to truly understand whether interventions are making an impact.<\/p>

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.<\/p>

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.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u201cSustainability is no longer just a responsibility for many organisations, it has become a core driver of business and resilience.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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There\u2019s a lot of talk about the \u201cnext phase\u201d of sustainability. What are the biggest barriers to moving from ambition to action?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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“Many organisations have strong sustainability strategies but struggle to embed them into daily decisions and operations.\u201d<\/em><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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I think the biggest challenge is turning good intentions into practical change.<\/p>

First, there is the implementation gap: many organizations have strong strategies, but struggle to embed sustainability into daily decisions and operations.<\/p>

Measurement is still a hurdle, as we don\u2019t always have the right tools or data to measure or value it, which makes it hard to know what\u2019s working.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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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.<\/p>


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.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How are organisations balancing compliance with real impact? Is regulation driving progress or limiting it?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Andrea\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Regulation has definitely pushed sustainability forward. It has made companies more transparent and accountable.<\/p>

But it can also risk turning sustainability into a box-ticking exercise.<\/p>

Sustainability frontrunners use compliance as a starting point, not the end goal.<\/p>

They go beyond reporting to actually change how they make decisions and create impact.<\/p>

Real transformation still depends on how organizations choose to use regulation.<\/p>

Sustainability leaders treat compliance as the starting point not the finish line.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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What role do finance and investment play in accelerating sustainable transitions?<\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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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.<\/p>

  • Public and concessional finance can take on early risk and build enabling conditions<\/li>
  • Private investors can bring scale and efficiency once models are proven<\/li>
  • Philanthropy can help fill the gaps by funding innovation and community-level work that traditional finance often overlooks<\/li><\/ul>

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    Real transformation happens when these forms of capital work together, aligning impact with returns and creating vehicles where sustainability is both investable and scalable.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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    \u201cNo single type of capital can drive sustainability transitions alone real impact requires public, private, and philanthropic finance working together.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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    Looking ahead….<\/strong><\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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    While strategy, regulation, and finance are shaping the next phase of sustainability, real transformation ultimately depends on people working together to change systems.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    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.\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cSustainability has moved from a niche topic to a strategic priority but turning ambition into real implementation remains the biggest challenge.\u201d Andrea\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2104"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379,"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2104\/revisions\/2379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newforesight.com\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}