ESG in 2026: The Shift From Reporting to Resilience

It is the first working week of a new year, and it feels like the right moment to pause.

In 2025, a lot of organisations worked hard to get their ESG foundations in place. Many built reporting processes, clarified roles, gathered data, ran materiality exercises, and tried to keep pace with a fast moving regulatory and stakeholder landscape. But in 2025 the ESG landscape took a shake and regulations pulled back. For some this was a disappointment, particularly for companies that invested time, effort and resources into [what would have been] their regulatory obligations. For companies that put ESG on the long finger, it was a sigh of relief. However, moving into 2026 that work still matters. It is necessary. It has raised the baseline.

But I believe 2026 is the year ESG moves more decisively from reporting to resilience. Not because reporting is going away, it certainly is not. Reporting is becoming more expected, more structured, and more scrutinised. But the real differentiator this year will be something else. It will be whether companies can use ESG as a practical tool to become more resilient. Resilient to climate impacts. Resilient to supply chain disruption. Resilient to resource volatility. Resilient to regulatory change. Resilient to shifting customer expectations. Resilient to the realities of running a business in a world that is less predictable than it was even five years ago.

Why the shift is happening now

For the last few years, ESG has often been experienced as a reporting challenge. How do we gather data? Which framework do we follow? What do we disclose? Who signs off? Who owns the reporting? How do we avoid getting it wrong? What are the reporting risks?

Those are valid questions. But they are also symptoms of a deeper reality. The risks ESG is trying to describe are becoming more tangible. Climate related disruption is showing up in operations and logistics. Water stress is becoming a constraint for certain industries. Energy price volatility affects cost bases. Biodiversity loss has regulatory and reputational implications. Human rights and labour expectations are moving up supply chain agendas. Governance standards are tightening, especially where companies communicate publicly about sustainability performance.

So the question in 2026 becomes less about what you say, and more about what you can withstand and how quickly you can respond to these issues. That’s resilience. That’s sustainable business. That’s what ESG is all about.

What resilience focused ESG looks like in practice

Resilience is sometimes described as a long term concept, but in business it becomes real through practical choices. It shows up in decisions like:

• How exposed are we to extreme weather, flooding, heat stress, and disruption at key sites?
• Where are our most critical suppliers located, and how fragile are those routes and relationships?
• Do we understand our biggest resource dependencies, including energy, water, materials, and waste?
• If a disruption occurs, do we have alternatives, and can we maintain service levels?
• Are our governance structures strong enough to make quick, evidence based decisions?
• Can we trust our ESG data enough to use it for management, not just reporting?

In other words, resilience is the bridge between sustainability intention and operational reality.

Reporting is the output, not the strategy

One of the biggest mindset shifts I hope more organisations make this year is that a sustainability report should be the output of a management system, not the reason the system exists. When ESG is built as a management discipline, reporting becomes easier, more credible, and far more useful. The data has owners. The methodology is documented. The decisions are traceable. The story reflects real progress, not just ambition. When ESG is built primarily as a reporting exercise, the opposite tends to happen. Data feels fragile. Ownership is unclear. Evidence is hard to find and the narrative becomes difficult to defend.

In 2026, credibility will belong to organisations that can demonstrate that their ESG information is governed with the same seriousness as other business critical information.

The three foundations of ESG resilience

When I think about ESG resilience, I come back to three foundations that apply to organisations of all sizes.

1. Governance that enables action

Resilience requires decision making structures that work under pressure. That includes:

• Clear ESG ownership across leadership, not only in sustainability teams
• Defined escalation pathways for emerging risks
• Regular board or leadership review of key ESG risks and dependencies
• Integration into enterprise risk management, so ESG is discussed alongside other strategic risks

Strong governance is not bureaucracy. It is what enables action when conditions change.

2. Data you can trust

In 2025, many teams realised that ESG data is not simple. Often it is more complex than financial data because it is dispersed across functions, contains estimates, and depends on supplier inputs. In 2026, the goal should be to strengthen trust in the data through:

• Clear data ownership and accountability
• Documented methodologies and assumptions
• Basic internal controls, including review and approval steps
• An evidence trail that can stand up to internal challenge and external scrutiny
• A practical approach to improving quality over time, rather than aiming for perfection on day one

The point is not to create a perfect dataset overnight. The point is to build confidence that your numbers and statements are reliable enough to drive decisions.

3. A strategy that links sustainability to business value

Resilience comes from connecting sustainability priorities to business drivers. For example:

• Energy efficiency is a resilience strategy when energy is volatile
• Supplier engagement is a resilience strategy when supply chains are fragile
• Workforce wellbeing is a resilience strategy when talent retention matters
• Climate adaptation is a resilience strategy when physical impacts and risks are rising
• Transparency is a resilience strategy when trust is a competitive advantage

When sustainability is linked to value creation and risk reduction, it becomes easier to prioritise and fund.

What I think companies should focus on in 2026

If I had to summarise what matters most this year, it would be to build ESG foundations that make your organisation harder to disrupt. Here are practical areas that matter for many businesses, including SMEs and growth focused companies.

Climate adaptation and physical risk

Many organisations still focus heavily on mitigation. Emissions reduction remains critical. But resilience also requires adaptation. Understanding exposure, vulnerabilities, and continuity planning is now a business essential, not a public sector issue alone.

Supply chain ESG and continuity

ESG expectations continue to move upstream. Even if you are not regulated, your customers may be. Being prepared for supplier questionnaires, Scope 3 data requests, and due diligence expectations is part of staying competitive.

Data governance and assurance readiness

Even if assurance is not required today, building an evidence trail now reduces future cost and future risk. It also strengthens decision making internally.

Integration into risk management

ESG impacts, risks and opportunities should not sit in a separate universe. Integrating ESG into existing risk language and scoring criteria reduces duplication and makes it easier for leadership to prioritise.

How I see 2026

I see 2026 as a year of maturity. A year where sustainability becomes less about producing a report and more about building the capabilities that make an organisation durable, trusted, and ready for what comes next.

Reporting will still matter. Standards will still evolve. Expectations will keep rising.But resilience will be the difference between organisations that feel constantly reactive, and organisations that can move with clarity and confidence.

If you are building your ESG foundations this year, my encouragement is simple. Do not build them to satisfy a document. Build them to strengthen the business.