The Council on Sustainability Transformation, a group of leaders from corporations, governments, and academia convened by ERM, has launched a new white paper warning that without integrated climate-and nature-focused transition plans, companies risk undermining long-term value, while missing opportunities to build resilience and unlock new sources of commercial growth.

Aligning Climate, Nature, and Markets outlines how today’s business leaders can move beyond siloed, short-term operating models by embedding climate and nature considerations into strategic decision-making, capital allocation, and day-to-day operations.

It underscores the urgency for corporates to act, noting how accelerating climate and nature degradation is already resulting in supply-chain disruption, widening insurance gaps, and rising capital costs across sectors. At the same time, it shows that companies that move early to integrate climate and nature into core strategy can address these market risks to protect enterprise value and drive competitive advantage.

The paper’s key recommendations to help companies move decisively from ambition to action include:

  • Identify and quantify material impacts, risks, and opportunities across climate and nature with CFO-grade rigor, using tools such as scenario analysis, natural capital accounting, and true cost accounting to inform investment decisions and strengthen business resilience.
  • Prioritize local action informed by global goals, ensuring that corporate climate and nature ambitions translate into targeted strategies grounded in robust local data. This approach should be guided in the short-term by particular pressure points facing businesses such as water scarcity, land use, and biodiversity loss.
  • Complement internal action with external momentum building. Actions include forging partnerships and coalitions to amplify impact, reduce risks, and unlock new sources of value across sectors, while also educating investors and engaging policymakers to help shape an environment that harnesses climate and nature opportunities for long-term value creation.

Sabine Hoefnagel, ERM’s Global Leader of Sustainability & Risk, said: “We are now at a point where climate and nature risks are material, accelerating, and already reshaping markets. However, this white paper sets out how those companies taking action to integrate climate and nature into their core strategies are not only mitigating risk, they are capturing new value while building the foundations for long-term growth.

“Leaders that invest in robust transition planning, align global ambition with local action, and work collectively with investors, policymakers, and peers will be far better positioned for the volatility ahead. As the paper makes clear, delay isn’t a neutral act—it's  a gamble that companies can’t afford to lose”.

This paper is the third in a series of white papers from the Council, with the first paper providing recommendations to business leaders on company-investor engagement as a catalyst for climate action, and the second helping business leaders rethink their sustainability strategies to build resilience and drive growth in the face of geopolitical, economic, and societal turbulence. All Council white papers are available for download here.

About the Council on Sustainability Transformation

Convened by ERM, the Council marshals the extensive experience of its members across industries to provide C-suite executives and board members with practical guidance on how to tackle obstacles to progress on ambitious sustainability targets, while preserving and growing financial value.

The Council members are:

  • Peter Agnefjäll, former CEO of IKEA Group, former Chair of Ahold Delhaize
  • Mark Cutifani, former CEO of Anglo American
  • Connie Hedegaard, former EU Commissioner for Climate Action
  • Naoko Ishii, former CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
  • Hixonia Nyasulu, former Chair of Sasol, current board member of Anglo American
  • Feike Sijbesma, former CEO of Royal DSM, current Chair of Philips
  • Johannes Teyssen, former CEO of E.ON

About ERM

Sustainability is our business.

As the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, deploying a unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. This approach helps clients to accelerate the integration of sustainability at every level of their business.

With more than 50 years of experience, ERM’s diverse team of 8000+ experts in 40 countries and territories helps clients create innovative solutions to their sustainability challenges, unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations.  Learn more here.