New Study Reveals Low Confidence in Achieving Climate Goals Among Sustainability Professionals
On Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, a new study conducted by UK consultancy network Leafr (www.leafr.com) revealed concerning insights regarding the state of sustainability in organizations across Europe. The True State of Sustainability 2025 report collected anonymous responses from 450 sustainability leads, including chief sustainability officers, ESG consultants, and corporate responsibility managers.
The report found that only 11% of sustainability professionals feel confident in their organization’s ability to achieve their long- or short-term climate targets. This is a significant decrease from the 25% reported in 2024. The lack of confidence is due to various factors, including shrinking budgets, team shortages, and lack of senior support.
In addition, the report found that 76% of sustainability teams are under-resourced, and 91% have been asked to take on tasks outside their expertise. This lack of resources and focus on compliance work has caused a decrease in C-suite buy-in, which has halved since last year. Furthermore, 37% of respondents cited a lack of regulation as a blocker to progress.
The findings of this report come at a crucial time when the global sustainability discourse is shifting from rhetoric to results. Businesses that have set targets and disclosed frameworks are now facing the challenge of delivering on their commitments. The conversation has evolved to focus on the systems, skills, and accountability needed to achieve measurable impact.
Mike Barry, Co-founder of Planeatry Alliance and former Director of Sustainable Business at M&S, commented on the report, saying, “The Leafr True State Report is a refreshing dousing with cold water – an honest appraisal of the state of the sustainable business profession. The public holding of sustainability targets remains important, but the worry grows that truly transformative action is still stalled at the start line.”
Dr Mary Johnstone-Louis, Senior Fellow in Management Practice at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, also added, “Leafr’s new report is clear: leaders with a compliance-led approach to sustainability put their companies at risk. What’s needed is not a minor adjustment, but a radical rethink. Leaders who act on Leafr’s recommendations now will be the ones shaping, not chasing, the future.”
Gus Bartholomew, Co-founder of Leafr, stated, “The data confirms what we hear from our community every day. Sustainability teams cannot deliver net zero on their own. They are under-resourced, pulled in too many directions, and forced into compliance work at the expense of impact. Unless leadership, regulators, and investors align behind a pragmatic model that values environmental outcomes as much as financial ones, targets will remain out of reach.”
Nick Valenzia, also a Co-founder of Leafr, added, “The problem is not a lack of ambition: it’s a broken delivery model. Boards would never accept financial accounts prepared by unqualified staff, yet they entrust multi-million-pound sustainability strategies to under-trained, overstretched generalists. If we are serious about delivering our commitments we need to match resourcing with rhetoric.”
The True State of Sustainability Report serves as a wake-up call for businesses, policymakers, investors, and the sustainability profession itself. The findings highlight the need for systemic collaboration, regulatory clarity, and smarter use of external expertise and technology. The full report can be downloaded here: https://www.leafr.com/the-true-state-of-sustainability-repor…
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