Rethinking Sustainability Transformation

As sustainability rises to the top of the corporate agenda, companies are setting bold long-term goals—but many still struggle to align short-term actions with their ambition. Why is the transformation so difficult to operationalize?

Join ERM and WBCSD for a thought-provoking roundtable exploring insights from Catching the Wave, a global dialogue with over 130 business leaders and sustainability experts. The discussion will unpack the internal and external barriers companies face and introduce a practical framework to unlock value, accelerate action, and future-proof business strategies.

Together, we’ll explore how organizations can shift mindsets, overcome inertia, and embrace disruption—emerging not just more sustainable, but more competitive.

Learnings

– Understand the “multiple truths” of sustainability: Learn why companies must hold space for both risk and opportunity, and how embracing this duality can drive more effective strategy and innovation.

– Identify internal blockers to progress: Gain insight into the most common internal barriers—short-termism, cost-first mindsets, and skills gaps—and how leading companies are overcoming them.

– Draw parallels with past transformations: Discover how lessons from the digital revolution can be applied to accelerate sustainability integration across operations, products, and value chains.

– Explore a practical transformation framework: Get introduced to a tested framework developed through global business input that helps companies align sustainability with commercial success and resilience.

– Learn from real-world examples: Hear how companies are using the framework to guide strategic decisions, improve supplier collaboration, and turn sustainability ambition into measurable business impact.

Post-Event Actions

– Reflect on internal barriers within your organization that may be slowing sustainability integration and identify opportunities to address them head-on.

– Share key takeaways from the session with leadership and cross-functional teams to spark dialogue around accelerating your company’s sustainability transformation.

– Apply the sustainability transformation framework introduced during the session to evaluate your current strategies and uncover new areas for value creation.

– Initiate cross-functional conversations on embedding sustainability into core business decisions—from operations to product development and marketing.

– Explore partnerships or peer learning opportunities with other delegates or organizations to collaboratively address shared challenges and external barriers.