A significant majority of companies continued to increase their investments in sustainability initiatives over the past year, with investments in sustainability becoming more focused and financially driven, according to a new survey released by global professional services firm Deloitte.

The increased investment comes as companies see significant financial value from their initiatives, with more than three quarters of executives reporting greater ROI from sustainability investments compared with other business investments, while they also apply a sharper business lens, with over half citing financial benefit as the top criteria when assessing potential sustainability initiatives, according to the report.

For the survey, Deloitte’s 2026 C-suite Sustainability Report, Deloitte and market research firm KS&R surveyed more than 2,150 C-level executives in 29 countries, across a broad range of industries and enterprise sizes, ranging from $500 million in revenues to over $10 billion.

The report found that investments in sustainability initiatives continues to grow at most companies, with 78% of respondents reporting having increased investments in sustainability over the past year by more than 5%, including nearly a fifth (18%) who increased by 20% or more, and only 2% reporting decreased investment.

While investment continues to grow, the report uncovered a significant shift by companies to a more targeted and disciplined approach to sustainability investments, with companies focusing their efforts on fewer projects, with a greater emphasis on financial value.

The report found, for example, that despite increased investment overall, the average number of initiatives undertaken per company during the past year fell to 3.4 from 5.0 in the prior year. Additionally, slightly more than half (51%) of respondents reported that financial benefit is now the top factor driving decision making when assessing potential sustainability initiative and investments, followed by 26% citing impact on sustainability goals or environmental outcomes.

While executives report focusing on the financial aspects of their sustainability investments, they also indicate that their investments are providing tangible benefits and superior returns. 77% of respondents, for example, assessed their ROI from their sustainability investments as greater than that from other investments, while only 2% reported a lower return.

Similarly, a significant majority of respondents reported seeing effects from their sustainability initiatives, with benefits including positive revenue generation, reported by 78%, cost reduction (79%), positive impact on risk and resilience (79%), and on brand and reputation (79%), while 83% agreed that sustainability initiatives create a competitive advantage for their company.

The report also indicated a significant shift in companies’ approach to sustainability, with only 18% now describing their approach as transforming their business model to help address sustainability, down from 40% last year, while nearly half (47%) now say that their focus is on embedding sustainability considerations throughout the organization, up from 39% last year.

The survey found that sustainability remains a top-ranked priority for companies, cited by 39% as a top 3 pressing matter to focus on over the next year, behind only technology adoption and innovation (at 43%).

The prioritization of sustainability initiatives comes as nearly two thirds (63%) of executives report expecting the effects of climate change to have a high, or very high, impact on strategy and operations over the next three years, increasing slightly from 60% last year. Looking out over the next three to five years, the report found that companies assess supply chain disruption due to extreme weather as the greatest sustainability risk to their organization, followed by facility or infrastructure damage or downtime, and scarcity or cost of inputs.

Executives also reported several sustainability matters that are already impacting their businesses, including the operational impact of extreme weather (35%), changing consumption patterns or preferences (30%), government policies aimed at incentivizing sustainability investments (30%) and regulations aimed at decreasing emissions or environmental impacts (30%).

The report found the implementation of technology solutions as the most commonly-cited sustainability initiative undertaken by companies, followed by tracking and analyzing environmental metrics, reconfiguring operations, infrastructure and supply chains to be more resilient to extreme weather, and requiring suppliers and business partners to meet specific sustainability criteria.

Within technology, 49% of respondents reported implementing solutions for internal monitoring of sustainability data and performance, followed by solutions for monitoring and managing supply chain environmental performance at 48%, and risk mitigation or management solutions at 47%.

Notably, while most executives reported applying AI to their sustainability initiatives, more than 70% indicated that implementation of AI is still at an early stage, including 49% reporting deploying AI in targeted pilot programs, and 20% saying it is not yet scaled.

The report also examined the top challenges facing companies in deploying sustainability initiatives, with competing demands on time, resources and capital emerging as the most commonly-cited obstacle, at 21%, followed by a lack of sustainable solutions or insufficient sustainable inputs at 20%, and difficulty measuring environmental impact at 20%.

Jennifer Steinmann, Deloitte Global Sustainability Business leader, said:

“The next phase of sustainability leadership is defined by intention and precision. Executives who understand and demonstrate how sustainability supports growth, resilience, and competitive advantage can set themselves up to be better positioned to make investment decisions that create lasting business value.”

Click here to access the report.