As temperatures soared across the city, it was a visceral reminder of why we gather at events like this.
Across LCAW events, and over the past months, the tone of conversation has clearly shifted. We’ve moved from far-off targets or lofty, abstract promises, to action and driving tangible business value.
I had the privilege of speaking on the main stage for the panel "The New Growth Story: Why Climate Action Makes Business Sense" at the Climate Innovation Forum. Sitting alongside leaders from Vale, Dow, Volvo Group and the Climate Group, we discussed how corporate sustainability has already entered a new era—one where 88% of CEOs believe the business value of sustainability is stronger today than it was five years ago.
Well, five years ago, buoyed by a supportive policy environment (e.g., the European Green Deal), there was a strong morality-first argument for sustainability and a clear focus on ambition setting. Since then, we’ve moved from ambition to pragmatic action - the narrative in the recently launched Science Based Targets initiative’s 2026-2030 strategy is a prime example.
But, the macro-environment isn’t what it was back then. Geopolitics, AI, and uncertainty of regulations have created an ocean of waves and storms to navigate. Mandatory disclosures are ever evolving and becoming increasingly complex. Beyond Europe’s regulatory mandates, California has SB 253 / SB 261, Australia has ASRS, and ISSB has grown to more than 40 jurisdictions across the world—just to name a few. At the same time, global supply chains are being rocked by extreme volatility in fossil fuel prices (e.g., jet fuel, LNG) and critical commodity shortages (e.g., fertiliser, helium). These logistical headaches are compounded by the accelerating reality of physical climate hazards (e.g., severe flooding), which actively disrupt daily manufacturing operations. And the financial toll is clearly visible. The Financial Times recently highlighted an analysis from Allianz that shows that for every degree rise above 30°C, energy consumption rises 1.2%, pushing up business costs.
All of this, coupled with ongoing concerns regarding competitiveness, affordability, and reliability, has led many organisations to view climate action through a single, defensive lens. And while defence protects, I would argue that to win you also need to play offence. This is as true in corporate sustainability, as it is for football teams in the ongoing world cup.
A dual-strategy means playing defence for value protection while playing offence for value creation. We see this with our clients every day. Finding the right balance of value protection with value creation means you can reactively meet the baseline demands of your stakeholders (e.g., regulators, customers, and investors), whilst proactively driving a distinct competitive advantage for your business.
A defensive posture fundamentally focuses on protecting existing corporate value. Companies adopting this typically focus on four levers:
Follow evolving legal standards and transparent corporate disclosures to avoid audit failures, severe fines and operational restrictions. This means, for example, proactively preparing compliant data structures that meet rigorous European regulatory mandates (such as CSRD).
Consumer goods leader BIC spent eight years conducting a scientific research project using satellite data to transparently map its value chain down to the individual mines extracting critical alloys, brass and steel. This exhaustive tier-2+ mapping supported the company in navigating tariff shocks while also making them Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) ready – if and when it comes into play.
Move away from reactive firefighting and build an active risk and resilience plan to defend business continuity. UK supermarket giant Sainsbury’s analysed postcode-level flood risk across its sites and deployed real-time geospatial weather monitoring and river-level sensors. During a severe storm, this early-warning system gave a 12-hour head start to a store at risk, triggering a pre-built operational plan to move stock and deploy flood defences. This single proactive intervention saved an estimated £3 million in losses for that facility alone.
Avoid operational and financial delays, and target backsliding by making sure long-term corporate decarbonisation plans are practically implementable.This entails backing climate roadmaps with rigorous financial modeling to align sustainability ambition with capital allocation capacity. A global specialty chemicals manufacturer ran a transition-risk simulation showing that under a net zero scenario, its incremental annual carbon cost exposure would skyrocket into the billions of dollars. To neutralise this threat, they embedded marginal abatement cost curves directly into corporate planning and drove decarbonisation initiatives to cap residual carbon exposure at a level the balance sheet could confidently absorb.
Respond credibly to customer questionnaires, investor expectations, lender scrutiny, and strict procurement criteria. For example, actively empowering key suppliers to measure and cut their own emissions directly satisfies the procurement criteria of primary B2B customers and safeguards critical, long-term commercial contracts.
An offensive approach fundamentally focuses on value creation. Companies adopting this posture typically focus on three levers:
Lower OPEX and CAPEX through energy efficiency, circularity and resource optimisation. For example, we supported a global beverage leader in South Africa with a combined solar-wind physical power purchase agreement (PPA) that not only covered 55% of their total electricity demand, but also delivered it 19% cheaper than Eskom grid tariffs. Similarly, in India, we helped a food and beverage client launch a multi-state open-access request for proposal that secured power tariff savings between 25% and 45% against volatile utility rates.
Utilise sustainability as a structural differentiator to command green premiums and capture new markets. Semiconductor giant ASM integrated sustainability directly into its SONORA vertical furnace platform. By reducing thermal energy per wafer by 15–40%, they drastically lowered their customers' total cost of ownership, supporting eco-designed vertical furnaces in becoming their fastest-growing product line.
Lower cost of capital by leveraging robust ESG metrics to secure favourable borrowing terms. For example, EQT recently raised $4.4bn in Sustainability Linked Loans for portfolio companies in Asia-Pacific, with interest rates tied towards material company-specific sustainability targets.
Beyond direct financial returns, playing offence also builds powerful long-term advantages. When a company translates complex climate data into a clear, honest story, it naturally strengthens its brand reputation and makes it easier to win customer trust. At the same time, a strong, genuine climate strategy acts as a powerful magnet for attracting and retaining top-tier talent who want to work for a purpose-driven business.
Ultimately, companies will continue to face a number of challenges over the medium term—energy price volatility, geopolitical unrest, AI are unlikely to go away anytime soon. Market leaders who recognise the need for through-cycle defence and offence can not only weather the storm, but can sail smoothly through to 2030 and beyond.
Get in touch with South Pole’s climate experts to run a cost of inaction analysis and bridge the gap between sustainability and corporate finance.
