More than 40% of respondents to the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals’ (ISEP) ‘State of the Sustainability Profession 2025 Report‘ have experienced a change in responsibilities in the past year, reflecting the rapidly evolving nature of the sustainability profession. There is now a wide and varied spread of topics within the remits of sustainability professionals, yet more than 70% of all respondents have a focus on waste management, climate change mitigation and energy efficiency.

The report is based on a survey and interviews with industry leaders, it aims to provide insights into the role and impact that sustainability professionals are making within their organisations.

The report also shows there is a potential ‘opportunity realisation gap’ as climate adaptation, renewable energy and clean technologies, and water resources/quality – all areas of potential solutions and value generation – are not equally covered in remits. And only 30% of respondents indicated that disciplines such as product and service innovation are part of their role.

Meanwhile a focus on disciplines that provide value protection for organisations were shown to be far more prevalent by the report – with 79% of respondents involved in reporting and disclosures, 76% in compliance management and assurance and 68% in risk management.

The level of responsibility and accountability for sustainability professionals has increased, with 48% of functions now reporting directly to the board or CEO. More than half of respondents regard the CEO as “leading, proactively supporting or a visible champion of sustainability and environment” and fewer than 1% having CEOs that are “laggards” on sustainability.

More broadly, the role of sustainability teams is shifting from solely leading efforts to acting as a central hub of expertise, enabling and supporting operational managers to take ownership.