Consumer sentiment on sustainability has softened. Last month, The Times reported on new research (with YouGov and Public First) comparing public sentiment on climate change today with a 2021 study.
“One in four voters now believe that concerns over climate change are not as real as scientists have said.”
The research also shows that climate change has fallen down the list of public concerns, while climate scepticism has increased markedly. This isn’t unique to the UK, either. A recent Eurobarometer poll found climate action ranked far below security, competitiveness and energy independence, with only 17% of Europeans citing it as a priority. The breakdown in climate consensus fuels sentiment to roll back policy, deprioritising climate measures. This leaves businesses navigating a difficult landscape. But are companies acting similarly? The trends we track suggest otherwise.
We track signals and indicators across corporate governance, geopolitics and both public and industry sentiment on sustainability and social issues. What we’re seeing is that companies are still playing the long game.
• The SBTi’s 2025 Trend Tracker revealed a 227% jump in companies setting near-term and net-zero climate targets.
• Last year alone, corporates signed 62.2 GW of renewable PPAs, up 35% year-on-year according to data from BloombergNEF.
These are not signals of retreat. If companies were rolling back, we would instead see dominant trends like budgets shrinking, Scope 3 targets abandoned, sustainability teams sidelined or global firms going silent on climate altogether.
Instead, we note that many companies are holding to their values and commitments. So why are companies staying the course?
• In Deloitte’s 2025 C-suite Sustainability Report, which surveyed over 2,100 executives across 27 countries, 83% had increased sustainability investments in the last year, with 66% saying their priority actions have a positive impact on revenue generation.
• Past research by McKinsey & Co has also shown that companies which combine strong financial performance with sustainability deliver higher annual shareholder returns than those that outperformed on financial metrics alone.
If we only looked at headlines about rising climate scepticism, we might assume businesses might also be deprioritising climate. But this is clearly not the case; there are some signals that point in the opposite direction.
What do you think? Is the softening of public policy and consumer enthusiasm causing business to do likewise? It seems not.