Sustainability is not just about being green or a good citizen. It's both an opportunity and a risk - moving now and fast and being an early adopter means grasping market opportunities and safeguarding against risks. The more time passes, the smaller the opportunities and the bigger the risks. Late followers will miss out on opportunities and face large business risks.
The way the C-suite talks about the business case for sustainability has evolved. What started as a focus on CSR and compliance is increasingly shifting towards performance, value creation and long-term competitiveness. Leading organisations now embed sustainability into core strategy, products, markets, and operations, treating it as a strategic lever.
The business case for sustainability: Six pillars of opportunity
Sustainability is the ability to create long-term value while operating within economic, environmental, and social constraints. It is about building resilient, efficient, and future-fit business models that manage risk, reduce cost, unlock new revenue, and remain competitive in a rapidly changing world.
The business case for sustainability is made up of the following six pillars of opportunity:
- Cost saving
- Revenue growth
- Risk reduction
- Innovation driver
- Customer and talent acquisition and retention
- Capital access and investor relations
Common mistakes organisations still make and what needs to change
Sustainability is no longer just a job for the sustainability team/function/officer. To be a business value driver, it needs to be planned and delivered as a shared decision and responsibility. Yet, many organisations still leave sustainability to a small siloed group of individuals, and their voice is only heard when business priorities allow for that ‘nice to have’ activity. And this is not how a value driver succeeds.
Instead, a sustainable business requires commitment from across all functions that hold the capabilities to collectively achieve goals. These are not mere reporting or ‘thinking green’, but core business and organisational attributes:
- Leadership in 'translation' / communication skills: Translating business strategy into sustainability and sustainability into business strategy.
- Strategic skills: Systems thinking, scenario planning, resilience planning.
• Digital/AI and analytics skills: Monitoring, reporting, optimising supply chains, predicting risk and scenario planning. - Collaborative skills: Procurement alignment, cross-functional integration.
- Financial skills: Translating sustainability into cost savings, ROI, risk reduction.
The objective: End-to-end integration, collaboration and shared accountability irrespective of organisation design across the following areas:
- Internal: Strategy, finance, risk, operations, procurement, product design, HR, marketing
• External: Suppliers, investors, regulators, customers, communities
• It’s not a silo, but a distributed responsibility - Each C-suite role has a direct stake in sustainability.
So, who has got it right and is embracing the opportunity?
Three organisations that prove the business case for sustainability
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DP World: Embedding sustainability as a strategic capability
DP World, a supply chain firm with a revenue of $20.0 billion in 2024, is a strong example of what it looks like when sustainability shifts from being a standalone function to a shared business responsibility. As a global trade and logistics leader, the company recognises that meaningful progress requires sustained innovation, partnership, and clear accountability across all levels of the organisation.
Sustainability is not an add-on to DP World’s operations; it’s embedded within its ‘Our World, Our Future’ strategy and cascades through every function, from operations and procurement to technology and finance. This shared accountability means that each part of the business has a role in delivering on the company’s emissions and sustainability targets.
Practically, this integration is visible in the way sustainability informs everyday decisions: AI-powered route optimisation, energy-efficient warehousing, and electrified port equipment reduce waste, costs, and emissions - proving that what’s good for the planet can also strengthen operational performance. As their Commercial Supply Chain Vice President notes, DP World’s sustainability strategy has “fostered dedication across the business”1 and drives ongoing investment in low-carbon technologies and business models that help customers achieve their own sustainability goals.
Crucially, DP World extends this responsibility beyond its own operations. Sitting at the centre of global supply chains, the company uses its scale to influence systemic change - offering value-added, low-emission logistics solutions and collaborating with suppliers, partners, and customers to decarbonise trade end-to-end.
In short, DP World exemplifies how sustainability, when treated as shared accountability, becomes a strategic capability - aligning people, processes, and partners around long-term business value and resilience.
2. Patagonia: Building a business where purpose is the strategy
Patagonia, established in the ‘70s and with a 2024 revenue of $1.47 billion2, has long been cited as the benchmark for what it means to make sustainability inseparable from business strategy. Rather than positioning environmental responsibility as a corporate social duty, Patagonia builds it into its DNA - from product design and material sourcing to customer engagement and ownership structure.
Every function within Patagonia operates with a sustainability lens. Product teams design for durability and repairability; supply-chain managers source low-impact materials; marketing educates customers on conscious consumption; finance reinvests profits into environmental causes. This shared accountability ensures that sustainability isn’t a single department’s mission; it’s everyone’s job.
The company’s now-famous campaigns (like “Don’t Buy This Jacket”3) challenge conventional growth models and redefine value creation around longevity, circularity, and stewardship. Patagonia’s recent decision to transfer ownership of the company to a trust and a non-profit dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis underscores this long-term commitment.
By embedding sustainability into every decision, Patagonia demonstrates that environmental integrity and profitability are not opposing forces. Instead, they reinforce one another, driving loyalty, innovation, and resilience. The result is a company where purpose is the business model, and where sustainability is both the competitive advantage and the moral compass.
3. FAIRR Initiative: Redefining accountability through collaboration
While companies like DP World and Patagonia show what internal integration looks like, the FAIRR Initiative illustrates how shared accountability can extend across entire industries.
FAIRR (the Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return initiative) is a global network of institutional investors that works to embed sustainability and ESG considerations into the food and agriculture sectors. Representing trillions in assets, FAIRR members engage directly with companies to address issues such as deforestation, antibiotic use, labour conditions, and the transition to alternative proteins.
Rather than acting as an external pressure group, FAIRR drives systemic change through collaboration and capital influence. It turns sustainability into a shared responsibility between investors, agribusinesses, and food manufacturers - aligning financial incentives with environmental and social performance.
This approach shifts sustainability from moral aspiration to market mechanism. It also demonstrates how transformation happens not just within single organisations, but through networks of accountability that connect finance, production, and policy.
FAIRR’s model reflects the next evolution of sustainability governance, where collaboration, transparency, and investment decisions converge to reshape entire value chains. It’s a reminder that sustainability leadership is no longer about acting alone, but about building coalitions that make impact measurable, scalable, and commercially viable.
Call for action: Act now and collaborate!
Sustainability is the biggest value driver for the business of tomorrow. It’s about leadership, not headcount. We all have a role to play in this; the goal and the plan to get there are owned collectively. Collaboration within the organisation and with its external network is a must if we want a lasting impact.
Those who move now win twice: value and resilience.
Watch this space for deep dives on what all this means for different parts of the business and across industries.
Ready to turn sustainability into a real value driver?
If you are looking to move from ambition to action, Clarasys can help you design and deliver sustainability that is fully embedded in your strategy, operating model and day‑to‑day decisions.
Explore our sustainability services or get in touch with our team to discuss where to start.
References
- Supply Chain Digital (2025) DP World Southampton Hitting Operational Net Zero by 2025. Available at: https://supplychaindigital.com/sustainability/dp-world-southampton-hitting-operational-net-zero-2025
- Patagonia (2025) Work in Progress 2025 impact report. Available at https://www.patagonia.com/media/pdf/patagonia-progress-report-2025.pdf?utm_source=public_relations&utm_medium=pr&utm_content=progress_report
- Patagonia (2011) Don't Buy This Jacket. Available at https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/stories/planet/activism/dont-buy-this-jacket-black-friday-and-the-new-york-times/story-18615.html?srsltid=AfmBOoq_RURp6FFelInTJAo0FEuULNtaxONp7EXh2-oyZOletlX-AShS
