After a rough year, what will will corporate impact and sustainability look like in 2026?

"In the world of social impact and sustainability, 2025's word of the year could have been "headwinds." It became a euphemism for everything from political pressure and regulatory changes to economic uncertainty, AI disruption, and social upheaval. But in many ways, "headwinds" is an understatement for what impact and sustainability leaders across the corporate and nonprofit sectors navigated in a year of budget cuts and evolving risk factors."

"For years, companies have been making bold commitments, setting lofty goals, and engaging in the kind of storytelling-but not always following through, a trend that finally led Merriam-Webster to add "greenwashing" to its dictionary in 2022. 2025 felt like a correction, as companies reacting to a changing landscape of risk and political attention ushered in a period of " greenhushing," where companies were reluctant to talk about their sustainability initiatives."

"As Andrew Winston of Winston Eco-Strategies puts it, "The biggest issue in the U.S. is the very strong desire of leadership teams to keep their heads down and say nearly nothing about sustainability. The work seems to be mostly continuing, but it's certainly not great for morale or moving at speed and scale if your bosses are telling you to hide out.""

2025 brought intense headwinds for social impact and sustainability, including political pressure, regulatory shifts, economic uncertainty, AI disruption, and social upheaval. Corporate and nonprofit leaders faced budget cuts and evolving risk factors that forced recalibration of strategies. Public-facing sustainability storytelling contracted into greenhushing as many companies became reluctant to promote commitments without clear operational alignment. Organizations are shifting toward grounding sustainability in business performance and operational realities to maintain credibility and momentum. Expect 2026 to show practical implementation of new approaches across sectors as leaders integrate impact efforts with core business metrics, risk management, and constrained budgets.

Read at Fast Company