There was, however, a notably equal split between the levels of commitment to corporate sustainability in 2024. Impacted by short-termism and constrained resources, 46% of businesses say that their commitment levels to sustainability have remained the same; promisingly, 44% stated that commitment levels have actually increased over the course of the year. The remaining 10% of respondents unfortunately stated that their organisation is less committed to sustainability now compared to the start of the year.

Commitment cannot be driven by the sustainability team alone and with internal engagement being cited by 21% of businesses as the biggest focal point of 2024, it is welcome that more functions are becoming engagement.

Top of the list is the chief executive, cited by 79% of respondents as either “somewhat engaged” (47%) or highly engaged (32%). Next up is marketing, which makes sense given the new crackdown on greenwashing across the UK and the EU. Marketing teams were either “somewhat engaged” (46%) or “highly engaged” (28%). Half of corporate boards are “somewhat engaged” and 24% are “highly engaged”, while operations and procurement also feature highly on the engagement levels.

The areas of concern, according to the survey, is that of finance and legal, which are both crucial functions in complying with legislation, avoiding new greenwashing concerns and unlocking resources to decarbonise. Only 17% of finance teams are “highly engaged”, and just 14% of legal teams are too. These two functions are the least engaged of the internal teams.

In terms of the day-to-day remit of the sustainability practitioner, 2024 was indeed the year of reporting and disclosure.

New research from KPMG has found that nearly all of the world’s largest companies are now reporting on sustainability and setting carbon reduction targets. This trend comes as businesses prepare for upcoming regulatory changes, including the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which will require more detailed and standardised ESG disclosures. They are doing so by reporting on material topics in line with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which requires large businesses to enhance their environmental disclosures by embedding them in annual reports from 2024. These Standards will then be mandated for medium-sized businesses in phases through to 2026.

The survey also reveals continued growth in the adoption of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) recommendations, which aim to increase climate-related engagement between investors and the companies they invest in.

Nearly three-quarters of G250 companies now disclose climate-related risks in line with TCFD guidelines, due to increasing pressure from investors, regulators and consumers to address climate risks. Mirroring the format of the TCFD is the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), which focuses on nature.

Reporting and disclosure was cited by 32% as the area that took up most of their time in 2024, followed by internal engagement (21%), getting to grips with target setting process (18%) and net-zero initiatives (18%). Low-down on the time sinks was that of nature and biodiversity, (5%) but given that the TNFD has suggested that corporates embed nature into climate transition plans, it could well rise up the agenda in 2025.

Policy trends

The tail end of 2024 shaped up to be quite the talking point for global climate action.

COP16 in Cali, Colombia was considered an “Implementation COP”, whereby nations would explore and agree on the steps to implement the aims of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Going into the summit, nations were yet to answer questions on how key goals listed under the GBF, including the 30 by 30 goal to enhance and restore nature, should be monitored. Much like climate COPs, nations were meant to provide new action plans and metrics on nature heading into Cali, but only one-fifth had done so.

Negotiations met roadblocks around the thorny topic of finance. The Treaty includes the reform of $500bn of nature-harming subsidies a year, and mandating large businesses to produce nature impact reports.

Ultimately, no overarching agreement was made on funding, with wealthier nations drawing out discussions and ignoring key financial decisions until the last minute so that there was no time for them to be included.

Nations then moved swiftly onto Baku and COP29. Described by Climate Action Network as ‘the most horrendous climate negotiations in years,’ COP29 saw nations storming out in frustration.

A climate finance deal was eventually agreed. When COP was originally scheduled to finish, the latest draft texts offered a compromise of around $250bn per year “from a wide variety of sources, public and private, bilateral and multilateral, including alternative sources”.

As negotiations spilled over into the weekend, the texts on the finance deal were eventually passed by COP President Mukhtar Babayev, bumping the agreed total up to $300bn for developing nations by 2035. However, the rushed process and lack of negotiating time on the new deal left many angered.

One silver lining was the role that UK played during negotiations at COP29.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was one of only two G7 leaders in attendance at Baku during the first week where he announced a new pledge to cut emissions by 81% by 2035, based on a 1990 baseline. This target, recommended by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) last month, will headline an updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement for the UK.

Additionally, the Government has been swift to introduce the processes to try and achieve a clean energy grid by 2030, and has taken ownership of the Energy Operating System.

However, 70% of businesses believe it is “too soon to tell” if the new Labour Government has helped spur progress to net-zero. While the survey was conducted during COP29 and many responses came in before the new NDC announcement, 20% believe the Government is not helping the net-zero movement, compared to just 10% who do.