As businesses lock in budgets and priorities for 2026, they’re doing so amid regulatory uncertainty, economic headwinds and competing business pressures. Safety and sustainability leaders are placing bets in a volatile environment that’s redefining what progress really looks like.
Safety and sustainability transformation shouldn’t be change for change’s sake. It’s about making deliberate, well-targeted improvements that strengthen performance, compliance and trust — while supporting key business priorities. The forces accelerating progress (new regulations, investor scrutiny, digital innovation, stakeholder expectations) now collide daily with the brakes: shrinking budgets, shifting policies, and heightened ROI pressure. The result is a landscape defined by both momentum and friction, where every investment becomes a statement of intent.
This is the season of prioritisation — deciding which initiatives to advance, which to pause and how to prove their business value when certainty is in short supply.
Challenge your thinking:
Where’s the smarter bet: doubling down on progress or playing it safe until the rules are clearer? Join the live debate December 10 as we unpack how to set and defend safety and sustainability priorities amid uncertainty — and what “placing your bets” looks like for 2026.
Accelerators: What’s driving progress
Despite uncertainty, there are powerful forces propelling safety and sustainability change forward.
Regulation: Even with shifting timelines (like elements of CSRD), disclosure and due-diligence expectations continue to expand. The direction of travel is clear — and laggards risk losing trust. Now is the time to map regulatory trajectories, not just react to them.
Investor pressure: ESG remains under scrutiny, but investors are increasingly focused on measurable, tech-enabled performance. They reward companies that use data, AI and digitisation to demonstrate credible sustainability and safety outcomes, and they penalise those that can’t prove impact. Showing your digital maturity in ESG reporting can differentiate you long before new rules mandate it.
Digitialisation: Smart data, AI and integrated platforms promise better visibility, faster decisions, and higher ROI — the long-promised “nirvana state” of connected EHS and sustainability systems. Investing in data quality and system integration now is the quickest route to resilience later.
Human and environmental impact: Organisations face growing stakeholder pressure to prove that they are protecting people and ecosystems, not just profits. Quantifying social and environmental benefits alongside financial returns strengthens credibility with boards and investors alike.
Operational potential: When done right, safety and sustainability improvements cut costs, reduce downtime and build brand trust — strengthening business resilience.
Challenge your thinking:
What’s driving your transformation investments — keeping up with regulation or unlocking new sources of efficiency, innovation and competitive advantage?Add your voice toThe Situation Room.
The brakes: What’s slowing progress
Every accelerator has a counterforce. Progress rarely stalls because leaders stop believing in it — it slows because conditions make it harder to sustain conviction, alignment or investment:
Conflicting priorities: Short-term revenue targets can collide with long-term sustainability and safety goals.
Regulatory rollbacks and ambiguity: Uncertainty around reporting standards and policy enforcement can lead to hesitation or delayed investment.
Economic headwinds: Inflation, rising costs and cautious capital allocation make it harder to secure budget for transformation.
Bigger buyer committees: The decision process for new tools and programmes involves more voices — and more vetoes.
ROI pressure: Boards demand proof of value before approving spend, forcing leaders to quantify benefits that often extend beyond the financial quarter.
At this crossroads, organisations that keep momentum are those that anchor their efforts to business goals and measurable outcomes. They build flexibility into plans so they can adapt as rules evolve. And they demonstrate that well-managed transformation drives efficiency, reduces risk and enhances preparedness — while mismanaged change costs time and credibility.
Challenge your thinking:
What holds transformation back more: external uncertainty or internal indecision? Share your thoughts in our discussion forum.
The grease: What unlocks meaningful change
Progress accelerates when safety and sustainability teams stop waiting for clarity — and start shaping it. Too many organisations hold back, waiting for regulatory certainty before moving forward. In 2026’s volatile environment, waiting is the risk.
The organisations that move fastest in uncertain times do a few things differently.
The upside of unifying digital and physical crisis management?
1.Act before regulation forces action: They’re not waiting for every rule to settle. Instead, they invest in flexible programmes that can adapt to new compliance requirements and regional nuances — turning uncertainty into preparedness.
2. Use data to prioritise value: By applying lifecycle analysis, scenario planning and predictive modeling, they identify where safety and sustainability improvements deliver the greatest impact in business terms — from risk reduction to cost savings to stakeholder trust.
3. Balance competing priorities — and speak the business’s language: They integrate EHS and sustainability into business planning, and frame their work in terms of cost avoidance, efficiency gains, brand reputation, employee wellbeing, and risk-adjusted returns — not just compliance.
4.Show the risk of inaction: The “cost of no” is often higher than the cost of change. Data-backed scenario planning and ROI modelling help quantify that risk and shift decisions from reactive to strategic.
5. Build shared ownership: For instance, safety transformation doesn’t live in the EHS team alone. Finance, operations, procurement, and HR all need a stake in the outcome. Understanding who the gatekeepers are — and what they value — is as important as the technical case.
6. Create a continuous improvement loop: Continuous improvement frameworks and regular feedback loops ensure safety and sustainability improvements stay relevant throughout the budget cycle and as conditions shift. Ongoing engagement with finance, operations, and regulators builds alignment and supports that sense of shared accountability.
As one EcoOnline leader put it, “Compliance is just the gateway — the real value comes from transformation.”
Challenge your thinking:
In a world of shifting rules and rising expectations, what’s the bigger risk — investing too soon, or being unprepared when change arrives?
The stakes: Why safety and sustainability progress can’t wait
At COP30, the sixth overarching theme — unleashing enablers and accelerators including on finance, technology and capacity building for sustainability — captures the tension businesses are facing now. Progress on safety and sustainability is possible, but that progress depends on where investment flows and how effectively it’s justified.
Failing to act — or acting too cautiously — risks competitive disadvantage in the years ahead. Organisations that make the right bets today will lead the next phase of safety and sustainability transformation: digitised, data-driven, and strategically aligned.
Challenge your thinking:
In the race for sustainable progress, which is riskier — betting big or standing still?
Join the live debate — The Transformation Bet: Safety & Sustainability Priorities and Pressures in 2026
Leaders from VPWhite and EcoOnline will explore how to build, defend, and communicate your 2026 safety and sustainability transformation priorities — and how to balance ambition, risk, and ROI in a changing regulatory and economic landscape.
Wednesday, 10 December at 10:30 AM EST | 3:30 PM GMT | 30 minutes
