In brief:
- The race to meet 2030 climate targets is underway, but most companies are falling behind with progress on decarbonization goals.
- CSOs face mounting pressure to deliver results amid tighter budgets, regulatory shifts and a charged ESG climate.
- Unlocking real progress requires focusing on the right decarbonization levers and aligning them with business value.
- Three common scenarios are stalling climate action — each with unique barriers and untapped opportunities for both the business and climate impact.
- A value-based approach to climate strategy can streamline efforts, drive business resilience and bring 2030 goals back within reach.
With the five-year countdown to 2030 climate targets well underway, we’ve entered a pivotal phase of the sustainability race. Over the past decade, corporate sustainability has seen plenty of wins worth toasting: Many large companies now track carbon as a key metric, have set bold science-based targets and can point to real headway in cutting Scope 1 and 2 emissions.
But for CSOs, the road ahead is more daunting than ever. Attention has shifted to Scope 3 emissions, which are already significantly harder to reduce — and now must be tackled amid a challenging backdrop. The shifting macroeconomic environment is placing more pressure on sustainability budgets, as companies contend with growing headwinds — including global market uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, evolving regulatory compliance and increases in mandatory reporting. All the while, the backlash against ESG continues to mount.
This increasingly complex landscape presents a significant hurdle for CSOs and forward-looking business leaders. They must demonstrate — urgently — that sustainability isn’t just a moral imperative, but a strategic one, with the core business at stake. Underscoring this urgency, a recent report from Quantis and BCG finds that climate-related impacts could drive losses of up to 25% in annual EBITDA. Long story short: As we collectively fall short on decarbonization, the immediate consequences of climate change are becoming impossible to ignore.
CSOs must demonstrate — urgently — that sustainability isn’t just a moral imperative, but a strategic one, with the core business at stake.
CSOs are now finding themselves in a paradox, facing both stronger pushback and mounting pressure to deliver at once. According to a recent Economist Impact survey, 90% of CSOs still expect investor scrutiny on sustainability performance, despite political resistance — and for most, their budgets aren’t increasing. CSOs already occupy one of the most demanding and ambitious roles in business today. And now they’re expected to do more with less.
So how can sustainability leaders overcome the hurdles? Making a solid enough business case for your climate strategy might require reassessing it. Achieving climate targets — and embedding resilience into the company’s DNA — will depend on whether decarbonization plans are focused on the priorities and driving real business value.
To unlock climate progress, start by knowing where you stand
Fortunately, this critical crossroads also brings opportunity: It’s the perfect time for CSOs to assess how their climate plans fit into the broader business goals and their potential to drive value. This reflection will enable sustainability teams to realign their climate strategies with business and market realities, focusing on the actions that will truly move the needle toward 2030 goals.
Through Quantis’ work across diverse industries, we’ve found that companies fall into one of three broad scenarios — each with its own set of challenges to progress on climate action.
Scenario #1: Pulling hard on low-impact climate levers
Many companies demonstrate a high degree of implementation of their climate roadmaps — particularly in tackling Scope 1 and 2 emissions. But the focus is often too narrowly placed on incremental levers, overlooking actions that could deliver greater value for both decarbonization and business objectives. The sense of progress can be misleading, limited to the quick wins like electrifying distribution fleets or installing solar panels in employee parking lots. While all progress is important, other key carbon hotspots — typically in products and supply chains (Scope 3), remain largely untouched. These areas demand deeper, more transformative changes and, as a result, cause climate goals to slip further out of reach. If the 2030 decarbonization journey were a road trip, this scenario is making multiple pit stops, while missing the critical turn that actually leads to your destination.
Refreshing the menu: A missed opportunity for greater impact
Fast Food Company A embodies Scenario #1 through the following examples. It attempts to decarbonize its ingredients through supplier engagement, but at the expense of making meaningful changes to its product portfolio. It’s successful in implementing farm-level interventions, like ensuring deforestation-free feed for cattle or investing in herd genetics. While these levers are valuable, they’re also costly and can only take the company so far in reducing emissions.
A more effective — and often less expensive — approach would be tweaking the menu itself. Incorporating lower-carbon, but nonetheless enticing offerings with the right marketing, such as a different protein or plant-based ingredient swaps, could bring about quicker and more significant change. (The customer comes in to buy a beef burger but is attracted to the pulled pork option instead.) Beyond the cost-effectiveness and high decarbonization potential of these levers, the company would also build resilience against rising beef prices, which are expected to grow due to regulatory changes like the Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) and escalating climate hazards.
The mitigation levers that drive the most value for both decarbonization and climate adaptation are often one in the same. Viewing climate plans through a value-based lens — such as resilience — can help companies stay focused on high-impact actions that deliver more meaningful results. Recent analysis from the World Economic Forum and BCG finds that companies currently investing in adaptation, decarbonization and resilience are seeing up to $19 in avoided losses for every dollar spent.
Scenario #2: High-impact climate levers, but not enough muscle to pull them
At the other end of the spectrum are companies with high-impact decarbonization initiatives already identified, but lacking the internal momentum to bring them to life at scale. These companies know what needs to be done and which levers to pull, yet their climate roadmaps often remain siloed within the sustainability function. There’s no robust, structured plan to embed them across the business.
The solutions may be clear at the CSO level, but the real challenge lies in activating cross-functional engagement – from procurement and marketing to finance and operations. Without a clear understanding of their role in decarbonizing, along with aligned KPIs and incentives, achieving climate targets becomes mission impossible. On these companies’ climate road trip, the destination is clear and they’re on the right route but the passengers aren’t helping the driver navigate. The journey drags on — and you may eventually get there, but it takes far longer than necessary.
All dressed up, nowhere to go: A luxury fashion brand’s climate challenge
Take a Luxury Fashion Brand B, for example. Its sustainability department may go to great lengths to create and provide internal guidance on which raw materials to prioritize based on climate impact, or develop innovative low-carbon capsule collections with product marketing and design teams. But without alignment across the business, these efforts get diluted. Design and procurement, lacking clear incentives, continue doing what’s expected of them: designing the most creative clothes and purchasing materials based on price and quality.
This is a missed opportunity to drive impact for both the business and the climate. Reframing the climate strategy as a chance to gain first-mover advantage, for example, — whether by entering new markets, securing relationships with suppliers of scarce materials or positioning as an industry innovator — can help engage functional leaders and, in turn, incentivize their teams. From there, cross-functional collaboration on opportunities to optimize the cost of the climate transition, for example, become much easier.
Making real progress requires more than setting ambitious targets — it demands embedding them across departments, aligning KPIs and integrating sustainability into governance structures. But a key step that’s often missed is the importance of making a compelling, value-based case for each department – answering “What’s in it for me?” For procurement, this might be the benefits of a secure supply chain, better and closer supplier engagement and increased quality. For sales, there could be an opportunity to be positioned as a preferred supplier to B2B2C companies with climate targets. The list goes on.
Scenario #3: Strong climate levers and willing hands, but lacking enough force
Like the previous scenario, these companies know what needs to be done – and may even be pulling all the right levers. They often have strong buy-in from leadership and other departments in principle. But without enough human capacity, specialized skillsets or financial resources, implementation falls short. Too often, the sustainability business case is incomplete — especially when it comes to funding. Where will the upfront investment to decarbonize the supply chain come from? How will we recruit the right talent to bring efforts to life? Without clear financial backing, even the best-laid plans stall. In this scenario, road trip itinerary is solid and passengers are on board, but your EV doesn’t have enough charge to reach the destination.
The missing formula: Unlocking resources through strategic alignment
Perfume Company C understands that one of its most impactful decarbonization levers lies in its glass bottles. To reduce emissions, it needs its suppliers to source recycled glass and decarbonize — or electrify — their manufacturing processes. But these changes come at a cost.
For glass manufacturers — often small- to medium-sized businesses — the required capital expenditure (CAPEX) can be hard to absorb. To manage this, they may offer “low-carbon glass” at a premium or negotiate long-term contracts and offtake agreements with corporate clients to secure stable demand. In this case, decarbonizing isn’t just about emissions — it’s about reshaping the business model. For the glass supplier, investing in decarbonization becomes a path to long-term value, stability and stronger customer relationships.
This is the business case that Perfume Company C must make to its suppliers, ideally through engagement programs — and often more effectively by teaming up with industry peers).
But what about the costs Perfume Company C will likely incur? Here’s where the conversation about upfront investment needs reframing: It’s not simply that the climate plan comes at a higher cost per se — it’s that it delivers multiple returns. Investing in a sustainable supply chain also helps stabilizes it. Securing the long-term supply of bottles — likely to face future carbon taxes — is not only a win for operations and procurement, it also strengthens overall business resilience.
One key to solving resource constraints — especially when budgets are tight — is to connect climate objectives to the goals of other departments. Linking sustainability efforts to shared business priorities can unlock the resources needed to move forward, streamlining investments across functions.
Bring your climate plans back into focus with a value-based lens
Though the race to 2030 climate targets is ramping up, stepping back for a moment to assess plans through a new lens might actually be the fastest route forward. To stay relevant and effective, climate strategies must clearly demonstrate business value beyond decarbonization.
The most meaningful decarbonization actions also enable companies to:
- Meet increasing demand for sustainability to B2C customers and consumers, becoming their supplier of choice and securing soon-to-be scarce resources.
- Unlock new business areas to generate value through innovative sustainable business models.
- Increase supply chain resilience, contributing to risk mitigation and avoiding future costs.
- Tapping into first-mover advantage to secure public and private financing to lower the cost of the climate transition.
- Partner along the supply chain to ensure access to future scarce supply.
- Protect and strengthen reputation, securing consumer trust and profitability.
By re-imagining your climate strategy through a value-based lens, you position sustainability at the heart of the business strategy — anchored to core priorities. When deeply embedded across the business, climate action becomes not only more achievable, but more impactful — both for the planet and the business.
How Quantis supports companies on the path to 2030
Even in a challenging context, progress is within reach. Unlocking it doesn’t require starting from scratch — just a shift in focus. Quantis offers a tailored framework to help companies refocus their climate strategies on high-impact actions that maximize value. Explore our mitigation solutions and reach out to learn how we can support your team in reaching 2030 targets.
