It’s time to (re)make the business case for sustainability, leverage compliance efforts, and keep the Board on board

Our radically changing geopolitical and economic landscape is compromising the world’s ability to create a prosperous, fair and thriving future. We’ve never seen such a potentially rapid erosion of the sustainability movement’s hard-fought progress.

But amid the policy rollbacks, aid and budget cuts, the climate science and inequality indicators remain the same. As does the opportunity for businesses to step up.

So how are businesses responding? We’re hearing three prominent priorities right now. These are the need to (re)make the business case for sustainability, to keep the Board on board, and to ensure compliance efforts go beyond tick-box exercises.

Forum for the Future’s latest Business Spotlight series explored how to do all this and more. So why not dive into our recent reports—Integrating Social and Environmental Sustainability and Courage to Transform—or contact our team to explore how our services can support you at a time it’s never been harder to make progress.

The Business Transformation Compass 2.0: A practical guide to creating value in turbulent times

In a world of escalating disruption, businesses have a critical opportunity to lead. The Business Transformation Compass 2.0 (BTC), developed with Bentley Environmental Foundation, builds on its 2021 predecessor to offer a practical guide and toolkit for embedding just and regenerative approaches into core business functions. Moving beyond fragmented ESG strategies, BTC 2.0 provides clear insights, sector-specific case studies, and practical steps to help businesses drive meaningful, lasting change.

Download it to explore why conventional approaches fall short—and how to take action on issues from climate and biodiversity to governance and human rights.

How future-fit is your business for the decade ahead?

As we approach the second half of the 2020s, which is set to radically reshape the business landscape, businesses can often underestimate the transition, physical, and systemic risks that volatility brings—whether from disruptive policy shifts, climate impacts across supply chains, or broader threats to social and economic stability. But turbulent times also bring opportunity, and forward-thinking businesses that embrace sustainability as a driver of resilience, productivity, and innovation can gain a competitive edge.

Read the first in an exclusive two-part series by James Payne, Forum's Director – Purpose of Business, who writes for Board Agenda on what it takes to make businesses future-fit.

Innovating for Responsible Recruitment

Despite the array of interventions encouraging safer and more ethical recruitment of migrant workers, many challenges remain difficult to overcome in a systemic way.

Join us for a webinar on Friday 25 April at 4.30pm – 5.45pm GMT+8/ 9.30am – 10.45am BST on Innovating for Responsible Recruitment in Malaysia, where we will share insights from our multi-year programme, Shaping the Future of Responsible Recruitment. Hear about the innovative ideas designed by the cohort of partners to overcome challenges systemically.

The Responsible Energy Initiative India hosted the third edition of The Responsible Renewable Energy Summit in New Delhi, bringing together policymakers, industry leaders, and innovators to explore how India’s renewable energy sector can fuel economic growth while creating long-term value for local communities. 

The Summit focused on designing equitable energy systems, with discussions exploring key questions such as integrating local community development into project planning, scaling agri-PV through innovative models, supporting economic diversification, building climate resilience, and championing participatory governance. Attendees also explored co-benefit models and community voices through immersive exhibits.

Transformational change is not only possible but already happening

Forum’s Future of Sustainability campaign, Reimagining the Way the World Works, is showcasing 30 groundbreaking social and climate initiatives — or 'Bright Spots' — by COP30.

In partnership with The Earthshot Prize, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Trane Technologies, we’re celebrating the hope these initiatives are giving a sustainability movement struggling with climate and social anxieties. We’re exploring what they teach us about how transformational change happens. And crucially, we’re considering what it all means for transitions in how and why businesses operate, and in how we produce and consume food and energy. 

Why not join us on a journey to reimagine the way the world works?

Partner with us on the campaign 

Are you keen to get involved in and support Forum’s flagship campaign, the Future of Sustainability? 

By becoming a partner, you can make a real impact at a time when the world needs positive, practical ideas for a better future. Regardless of whether you represent a business or an individual passionate about the future of our planet, we offer a variety of partnership options starting from £1,000 to suit your interests. 

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