Bain & Co: Why are CEO’s Speaking about Sustainability Less?

Sustainability has moved through a cycle of inflated expectations and subsequent disillusionment. 

According to Bain & Company, after peaking in corporate priority discussions in 2021–2022, sustainability talk fell down CEO agendas as execution challenges became more visible. 

However, recent data suggests that this decline is now bottoming out, with sustainability slowly regaining relevance as a strategic priority. 

At the same time, the debate is increasingly shaped by practical execution areas such as EVs, net zero and global supply chains.

The shift in CEO priorities

A key finding from Bain’s analysis is the widening “do-say gap”: CEOs are speaking less about sustainability, but continuing to act. 

The company analysed more than 35,000 statements made by 150 leading companies’ CEOs in 2018, 2022 and 2024 to identify key comments.

The data found that in 2018, majority of CEO comments focused on compliance and benefiting society however, today’s CEOs are moving towards business value to align sustainability with business risk and realistic operation factors like:

• Costs
• Customers
• Commercial motions
• Capital investments.

This reflects a broader reframing where sustainability is less a standalone objective and more a lens through which business performance is managed. 

“After the initial years of bold ambitions and target setting, CEOs took a reality check on their sustainability agenda last year,” said Jean-Charles van den Branden, Senior Partner and Global Sustainability Practice Leader at Bain & Company in the company's ‘Sustainability is not dead’ press release.

“Today, CEOs might speak less about sustainability but what they lack in words, they make up in action, a phenomenon we call the ‘do-say’ gap.

“We have identified profitable decarbonisation levers ready for companies to power their net zero journey. 

“To succeed, companies need to accelerate what already works, anticipate disruptions and build robustness.

“Our surveys find that more B2B buyers are sourcing for sustainable suppliers and B2C consumers care deeply about the issue and reward companies that make innovative, affordable and sustainable products. 

“Another interesting observation this year is companies’ rising use of AI to deliver sustainable impact. Those that act sustainably do so because there are tangible returns.”

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EVs and battery supply Chains

EVs and battery systems are a clear example of how sustainability is evolving into industrial transformation.

In particular, the rapid scaling of battery technology in China, combined with falling costs and strong industrial policy, has accelerated EV adoption faster than expected.

Two of China’s key political objectives are self-reliance and green development, in part to improve air quality.

When Beijing identifies how essential electric mobility is to these objectives it promoted R&D investments via the Made in China 2025 mandate.

National companies like CATL and BYD also scaled their operation rapidly in support of this policy, aiding in securing access to critical raw material supply and refining capacity.

China now refines 70% of global battery-grade lithium and 90% of battery-grade graphite.

Supply chains are central to this shift, with critical materials such as lithium and graphite, playing a defining role in competitiveness.

China’s dominance in refining battery-grade materials highlights how sustainability progress is tightly linked to control over upstream inputs and manufacturing scale, not just end-use adoption.

Scope 3 emissions and supply chain pressure

Despite progress on direct emissions, many companies remain behind on Scope 3 targets, which are heavily driven by supply chains.

This is particularly significant in sectors tied to electrification and energy, where upstream suppliers are adjusting their own net zero expectations.

Bain’s analysis of energy executives shows a growing share now expect net zero to be reached later than previously anticipated, creating tension between supplier timelines and customer ambitions.

The broader sustainability landscape is being shaped by diverging policy approaches, accelerating technologies as well as shifting customer expectations.

Some regions are easing regulatory pressure, while others are using industrial policy to accelerate transition-focused sectors and secure strategic advantages.

At the same time, technologies such as batteries are moving toward cost and scale inflection points, particularly in EV markets where adoption has already been strongly driven by falling costs and improved infrastructure.

In this environment, companies are increasingly focused on managing uncertainty across supply chains while balancing ambition with execution reality.