After a few years in which both budgets and attention have been tightly tied to producing a compliant ESRS report, the question now is whether sustainability is losing momentum - or simply catching its breath.
My sense is that the focus has shifted. Today, it’s less about reporting and more about business value, risk and resilience. Which means it’s time for sustainability teams to step into new roles - as coaches, as translators of value, and as partners across functions, helping to strengthen the organisation’s overall capability.
At a seminar in late April, voices from business, academia and the legal field came together to discuss the Omnibus package and where things stand. Out of those conversations, a few clear patterns emerged.
Here are my key takeaways:
A policy crunch - but no standstill
We are in the midst of a policy crunch, as Karin Bäckstrand, Professor at Stockholm University, pointed out - with Europe in some respects falling behind China. Her message was clear: simplify regulation, don’t roll it back. Policymakers need to stay at a strategic level, avoiding overly detailed rules that risk distorting markets, while still getting the balance of incentives right.
Kelly Chen, a researcher in financial market law, added that periods of regulatory review are a natural part of the legislative cycle. In other words, what we are seeing now is not a pause, but a phase of adjustment.
Reframing sustainability in business terms
The Omnibus package has not pushed sustainability down the agenda, argued Annika Ramsköld, Head of Sustainability at Vattenfall. Expectations from stakeholders remain high. What has changed is the way we talk about it.
Sustainability is increasingly embedded in strategy and operations - and as a result, it is being expressed in a different language. That puts new demands on sustainability leaders: the ability to translate concepts into business terms, in step with shifting external conditions.
Take “fossil-free” as an example. It is no longer framed only as a climate issue, but just as much in terms of security, economics and competitiveness.
From ESRS expert to coach
One outcome of ESRS is greater clarity around roles. The board sets direction, the business drives delivery, sustainability supports, and finance integrates risk.
For sustainability teams, this means a shift in focus - from technical expertise to guidance, coaching and advisory. But perhaps most importantly, it means taking on a more commercial role: making the case, showing the value, and explaining why it matters.
Strengthening collective capability
This work also needs to cut across roles and silos. It requires a shared understanding of the bigger picture - for example, involving legal expertise early in supply chain work.
As Malin Helgesen of Rights Advisory put it, legal teams need “boots on the ground” to fully grasp how business and legal risks connect to risks for people and the environment.
Otherwise, the instinct is often to distance oneself from responsibility - particularly in commercial contexts.
So the question is whether we can go so far as to say that sustainability isn’t in decline at all - but is instead becoming more professionalised. We are moving from reporting to governance, from communication to decision-making, and from the sidelines into the core of the business.
Business leaders are increasingly framing sustainability as a business issue rather than a matter of values or reporting, according to Bain & Company’s study The Visionary CEO’s Guide to Sustainability 2025.
But rhetoric only gets us so far. For sustainability to truly be embedded, it needs to be backed by science-based targets, clear metrics and credible, transparent data. Otherwise, it’s hard to argue that anything has fundamentally changed.
And that, ultimately, is exactly what frameworks like CSRD and the EU Taxonomy are designed to enable: comparability, accountability, and decisions grounded in robust, science-based data.