Global sustainability progress is expected to hold steady or accelerate over the next year despite geopolitical tensions, economic uncertainty and inconsistent policy signals, according to the World Economic Forum’s inaugural Chief Sustainability Officers’ Outlook. The report, based on responses from 103 sustainability leaders across five continents, found that 63% expect progress to either maintain its current pace or accelerate over the next 12 months, while sustainability investment is increasingly being shaped by commercial considerations such as competitiveness, resilience, operating costs and technology.
The findings point to a transition that is becoming less dependent on corporate ambition alone and more closely tied to whether sustainability measures can withstand financial scrutiny and deliver operational value. Over the next three years, 64% of respondents identified a stronger business case for sustainability as the leading accelerator of progress, followed by 56% who pointed to cheaper and more applicable technologies.
That shift has particular relevance for African economies, where sustainability decisions are often inseparable from questions of energy costs, infrastructure reliability, access to capital, supply-chain resilience and exposure to physical climate risks. For companies operating in markets where electricity, logistics and financing costs can materially affect competitiveness, investments in efficiency and resilience can have immediate commercial consequences alongside their environmental benefits.
The report nevertheless identifies a more fragmented transition. Policy uncertainty was cited by 68% of respondents as the leading expected constraint on sustainability progress, followed by short-term business pressures at 61% and international tensions at 54%. The World Economic Forum describes this uneven movement across markets and sectors as a “green divergence”, with some economies advancing where the commercial case is clear while others face greater difficulty because of policy uncertainty or weaker investment conditions.
For African markets, that divergence matters because the continent is entering a period in which investment decisions around energy, manufacturing, transport, agriculture and digital infrastructure will shape productive capacity for decades. Where sustainability requirements are integrated into those investment decisions early, they can influence the cost and resilience of assets rather than being treated primarily as a reporting exercise after capital has already been committed.
Energy is one of the clearest examples. The report notes that global energy investment is already moving towards technologies including renewables, grids, storage, electrification and efficiency. According to the International Energy Agency figures cited in reporting on the outlook, two-thirds of global energy investment in 2025 went towards these areas, compared with one-third for oil, gas and coal.
For Africa, where electricity access, reliability and affordability remain central constraints on industrial development, the implications extend beyond emissions. Investment in generation, transmission, storage and efficiency affects the operating environment for manufacturers, data centres, transport systems, agricultural processing and small businesses. The question is therefore not simply how quickly African economies decarbonise, but how energy investment can simultaneously improve reliability, manage costs and support productive economic activity.
Technology is also emerging as a major factor in the next phase of sustainability implementation. Nearly three-quarters of the chief sustainability officers surveyed expect artificial intelligence and other digital technologies to accelerate sustainability progress over the coming year, particularly through risk modelling, resource and process efficiency, measurement and reporting.
But the report also highlights the resource costs of that digital transition. Some 77% of respondents identified the energy and resource intensity of AI infrastructure as its most significant negative sustainability impact. As demand for computing capacity expands, data centres and digital infrastructure will place additional demands on electricity systems and water resources, making the sustainability performance of the digital economy partly dependent on the infrastructure supporting it.
That tension is particularly relevant for African countries seeking to attract investment in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and digital services. Expanding digital infrastructure can support productivity, financial inclusion and new industries, but the electricity, cooling, water and connectivity requirements of data-intensive systems have to be incorporated into infrastructure planning. Sustainability therefore becomes a question of how efficiently scarce resources are allocated across competing development priorities.
Climate adaptation is another area where the report identifies growing pressure. Eighty-five percent of respondents expect adaptation to become a greater global priority over the next three years, while 77% say private-sector investment will be decisive in scaling adaptation. Yet 62% identify uncertainty over the costs and benefits of adaptation projects as a major constraint on investment.
The financing challenge is familiar across Africa. Adaptation projects often generate their value by reducing losses that might otherwise occur, rather than through easily measurable revenue streams. Flood protection, water security, heat resilience, climate-smart agriculture and stronger infrastructure can protect assets and economic activity, but their financial returns may be difficult to quantify within conventional investment models.
That creates an important role for better risk assessment and financial structuring. Businesses and financial institutions need credible information on physical climate exposure, while governments need investment frameworks capable of distinguishing between projects that simply add capacity and those that reduce long-term economic vulnerability. For African economies facing constrained fiscal space, the ability to demonstrate the economic value of resilience can influence whether adaptation investments attract public, private or blended finance.
The changing role of sustainability within companies is also significant. The World Economic Forum found that compliance remains the most prominent lens through which sustainability is viewed, identified by 65% of respondents, while 41% already see it as a source of business growth or value. The report argues that sustainability is increasingly being integrated into decisions involving finance, procurement, operations, risk, technology and investment rather than remaining the responsibility of specialist sustainability teams.
For African businesses, that integration could become increasingly important as companies respond to changing market requirements, investor expectations and supply-chain standards. Exporters may face environmental and traceability requirements in international markets, while domestic companies must manage energy, water, resource and climate risks that can affect operating costs and asset values.
The shift also has implications for financial institutions. Banks and investors increasingly have to assess how climate and environmental risks could affect borrowers, sectors and portfolios. In markets where businesses are exposed to drought, flooding, energy shortages or supply-chain disruption, sustainability information can become relevant to conventional credit and investment decisions rather than remaining a separate reporting consideration.
The World Economic Forum’s findings do not suggest that the global sustainability transition is guaranteed to accelerate. While 63% of respondents expect progress to hold steady or accelerate, 37% anticipate a slowdown, and 78% expect geopolitical and macroeconomic conditions to weigh on progress. The report therefore describes an uneven transition rather than a uniform trajectory.
For Africa, that distinction matters. The continent’s sustainability priorities are being shaped by development needs that differ across countries and sectors, including electricity access, industrialisation, food security, urbanisation, climate adaptation and infrastructure finance. The business case for sustainability may consequently emerge through different channels: lower energy costs for manufacturers, more resilient agricultural supply chains, reduced infrastructure losses, improved access to capital or greater competitiveness in regional and international markets.
The broader message from the outlook is that sustainability is increasingly being tested through the quality of economic decisions it informs. The relevant question for companies and governments is no longer simply whether sustainability remains on the strategic agenda, but whether it is incorporated into decisions about what infrastructure to build, where to invest, which technologies to deploy and how risks are priced.
For African economies, where investment choices made today will shape productive capacity and resilience for years, that shift has practical significance. Sustainability increasingly intersects with the cost of capital, energy security, industrial competitiveness and infrastructure performance. The ability to translate those connections into credible investment cases and measurable outcomes will influence how the continent participates in the next phase of the global sustainability transition.
