83% of Firms Plan More Sustainability Spending as Net-Zero Delays Rise

Some 83% of organisations surveyed by Capgemini Research Institute plan to increase sustainability investment over the next 12–18 months, even as more companies postpone their net-zero goals. The share delaying those targets rose to 29% in 2026 from 8% a year earlier, according to the report “A world in balance 2026: The resilience reset”.

Author/source: Capgemini. Polish original published on 10 November 2026 at 10:01:24 UTC.

Extreme weather, water shortages, mounting pressure on resources and geopolitical tensions are increasingly affecting business operations. As a result, companies are assessing sustainability beyond emissions reduction and regulatory compliance, with greater attention to business continuity, secure supplies and risk management.

Among executives surveyed, 71% said securing access to essential resources such as energy, water and materials now influences sustainability decisions more than emissions-reduction targets alone. Environmental initiatives are increasingly being assessed for their contribution to business stability and competitiveness.

87% report climate-related supply-chain disruption

Climate change is already affecting day-to-day operations rather than remaining solely a long-term strategic risk. Some 87% of organisations in the survey had experienced climate-related supply-chain disruption. Other consequences include production difficulties, raw-material shortages, higher operating costs and increased insurance spending.

Companies are responding by giving adaptation more prominence. Some 68% of executives said their organisations actively prioritise it within their climate strategies, compared with 56% a year earlier. Yet awareness of the risks is not always matched by operational preparedness.

Only 15% of surveyed businesses had fully assessed the potential financial impact of climate disruption. Just 28% of executives confirmed that their organisations had implemented analytical tools to evaluate such risks.

Water shortages could become a bigger constraint than energy

Water security illustrates the shift in priorities. Some 90% of executives regard water scarcity as a risk to their organisations, and 61% expect it to become a greater constraint on business growth than energy availability within five years.

Action is lagging behind those concerns. Only 42% of respondents said their companies were proactively adapting operations in water-stressed regions. A further 35% reported using artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to manage water-related risks.

“For years, the sustainability debate focused primarily on how much a company emits. Today, an equally important question is whether it will be able to keep operating. Resilience is becoming a prerequisite for financing the transition, rather than an add-on to climate strategy. Sustainability investments should therefore be assessed like any other investment in business continuity: by the risks they reduce and the value they protect,” said Przemysław Struzik, Senior Director, Strategy & Transformation at Capgemini Poland.

More companies report positive investment returns

Nearly seven in ten organisations, or 69%, reported a positive return on sustainability initiatives, compared with 49% in 2025. Meanwhile, 67% said these initiatives had reduced operating costs, with average savings of 6% over the past year.

The reported benefits extend beyond efficiency. Some 64% of executives said sustainability investments had contributed to sales growth, while 68% saw a positive effect on attracting and retaining customers. Creating business value was a principal motivation for 73% of respondents.

Net-zero targets slip despite higher spending

Higher investment and a clearer understanding of the financial benefits have not removed the difficulty of meeting targets. The share of organisations postponing their net-zero goals rose from 8% in 2025 to 29% in 2026. Meanwhile, 66% said they struggled to align ambitious sustainability programmes with science-based targets.

Artificial intelligence could help address some of those obstacles. Some 64% of executives said their organisations were using AI to pursue sustainability goals. However, only 38% reported measuring the energy consumed by AI systems, and 34% monitored their associated carbon footprint.

“The challenge today is not a lack of ambition, but turning it into operational decisions. Many organisations are managing risks they cannot yet put a value on, and that invariably leads to difficult decisions being postponed. Artificial intelligence can make a real contribution to resource optimisation, risk analysis and supply-chain planning. But that requires reliable data and oversight of the environmental impact of AI solutions themselves,” Struzik said.

Integrating climate priorities into operational decisions

The findings suggest that climate action and business resilience can support each other. Reducing resource use, improving energy efficiency, diversifying suppliers and developing circular-economy practices can advance environmental goals while making businesses less vulnerable to disruption.

The practical challenge is to incorporate those commitments into day-to-day management, investment planning and business decisions. The emphasis is shifting from announcing further pledges to making existing commitments operational.

Survey scope

Capgemini Research Institute’s “A world in balance 2026: The resilience reset” draws on a survey of 2,100 executives from 701 organisations with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion, operating in 13 countries. It also includes a survey of 6,500 consumers. Fieldwork took place in June and July 2026.