The resilience of sustainable business: Beyond the spotlight
- Dr Audrey-Flore Ngomsik
- 4 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Lately, we have been often asked: "What is becoming of sustainable business?". "Is there any?" "Are environmental and social sustainability able to thrive on this political climate?". Here is our answer:
When profit meets purpose, that's where true business transformation begins.
Across our client portfolio, we've observed how sustainability, inclusion, and equity were once the darlings of corporate agendas.
Those days feel distant now. The boardroom enthusiasm has cooled. The budgets have shrunk. The bold declarations have softened to whispers.
Not because these principles matter less.
But because the real work has begun.
Across the industry, we've observed how initiatives built merely for show are being quietly shelved as priorities shift.
Meanwhile, among our clients who embraced sustainability with authentic purpose, their programs continue to thrive even without fanfare, and they're seeing tangible benefits to their bottom line.
The data supports this observation. A 2023 McKinsey Global Survey found that 33% of respondents report their organizations have already achieved value creation from their sustainability programs [1], while according to the Morgan Stanley Institute for Sustainable Investing, sustainable funds demonstrated greater resilience during market downturns, with 65% of sustainable funds ranking in the top half of their respective categories during 2020's volatile market. [2,3,4]
The contrast couldn't be more striking: performative sustainability fades with changing seasons, but a real purpose-driven approaches are bearing fruit even when no one's watching. [5,6]
Our most successful clients understand this: when your sustainability strategy only thrived during conference keynotes and quarterly reports, it was never going to reshape your business. Real commitment isn't measured in press releases but in what your company does when no one's drafting the awards submission, when public attention has moved elsewhere.
That resistance many businesses are feeling is not failure, it's friction. Systems only push back against forces capable of changing them. The harder the pushback, the closer you are to meaningful change.
Research from MIT Sloan indicates that the companies facing the most significant initial internal resistance to sustainability initiatives ultimately achieved 37% higher ROI on those programs when they persisted through the friction.
For some organizations we work with, sustainability feels like sacrifice because they've built enterprises on unsustainable foundations. Their discomfort isn't evidence we've gone too far, it's confirmation we've finally started moving in the right direction.
According to a 2022 PwC survey, 83% of consumers think companies should be actively shaping ESG best practices, yet The Conference Board's C-Suite Outlook 2023 reported that only 39% of executives globally ranked ESG investments as "very important", highlighting the friction between expectations and current priorities.
The most dangerous narrative we hear from companies isn't skepticism about sustainability, it's the suggestion that modest progress represents radical excess.
When business claims "we've gone too far," we always ask them: too far toward whose future?
NYU Stern's Center for Sustainable Business found that sustainability-marketed products grew 7.1 times faster than products not marketed as sustainable between 2015-2021, showing consumers are voting with their wallets.
At Trianon Scientific Communication, we've learned through our client work that sustainability isn't just a solution, it's often THE solution, even to problems that seem unrelated. We're committed to proving that environmental and social responsibility can drive profit, not just purpose.
We didn't build our client relationships on shifting trends. We built them on enduring truths.
For some organizations, sustainability feels challenging because they've operated for decades on unsustainable foundations. Their discomfort doesn't signal excess, it confirms that meaningful change has begun. The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer found that 71% of employees expect their CEO to speak out on issues like sustainability and climate change, expectations that may feel uncomfortable but reflect evolving stakeholder demands.
If you're exhausted, we tell our clients, good. That means you've moved beyond platitudes.
If you're uncertain, excellent. You understand what's truly at stake.
If you're still committed despite the headwinds, perfect. That's where transformation begins.
Th resilience of sustainable business
What's become clear through observation is that sustainability isn't just about risk mitigation, it always drives solution innovation.
Harvard Business Review reported that companies with strong ESG propositions have lower costs of capital, reduced regulatory pressure, and improved employee attraction and retention, translating to enhanced value creation. [7]
The companies building on enduring principles rather than fleeting trends show remarkable resilience.
Those experiencing exhaustion have typically moved beyond performative actions.
Those facing uncertainty have generally recognized the true complexity of the challenge. Those maintaining commitment despite headwinds are positioned for long-term transformation.
Sustainability isn't fading, it's maturing. Growing less flashy but more fundamental. Less about talk and more about transformation. We see this daily as we guide organizations through this evolution.
The evidence appears in quarterly reports and annual statements across industries, with the Global Sustainable Investment Alliance reporting that sustainable investing assets reached $35.3 trillion globally in 2020, a 15% increase in just two years. [8]
The work continues because the challenges remain.
So we encourage everyone to keep showing up. Not because it's comfortable or convenient, but because a thriving, sustainable future demands nothing less.
And increasingly, the market rewards those who understand this truth.
This has been demonstrated by BlackRock's 2022 finding that companies with better ESG risk ratings have shown greater financial resilience during market downturns.
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