Message from the CEO: What 2025 Taught Us
As we close out the year, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on what 2025 brought, not only for us at Colectivo, but for the broader sustainability ecosystem in which we work every day.
One Hard Lesson
2025 was, in many ways, a year of recalibration.
At Colectivo, we often use the technology adoption curve to explain how sustainability has grown across businesses, with innovators and early adopters leading the way, followed by a gradual uptake across the majority. Over the past few years, regulatory tailwinds in the EU pushed many businesses forward on their formal sustainability journey. But in 2025, revisions and delays to these advances exposed a widening gap between leaders, followers and late-comers. The gap was evident not only across businesses, but also across nations taking proactive national stances and those opting to slow their pace.
At Colectivo, our work has always centred on the activation and innovation side of sustainability. While some of our peers may have seen a slowdown in activities like formal reporting, what stood out across our projects and partnerships is that momentum for meaningful action hasn’t disappeared. If anything, we saw companies, communities, and ecosystems continue to put sustainability into practice. The drive for impact is still there. It just needs the right conditions to thrive.
One Belief That Strengthened
If 2025 reminded us of anything, it’s this: there is no time to act like the present.
The challenges organisations navigate, from creating resilient strategies that account for environmental and social risks, to redesigning products, experiences and workforce strategies, are more important than ever. Unfortunately, these challenges aren’t going anywhere.
Too often, sustainability is treated as a siloed topic (or worse - a standalone reporting activity). But in reality, it is deeply integrated. It lives in our products, our teams, our culture, and our decisions. Whether we’re talking about operational efficiency, inclusive customer experiences, financial risks or talent development, the link is clear: building a better business means building for long-term value and resilience.
Opportunities & Uncertainty Entering into 2026
The road ahead in 2026 is full of opportunity for businesses, but also complexity. As the sustainability landscape evolves, we’re entering a year shaped by accelerating expectations, shifting norms, and a growing demand for integrity, traceability, and transparency.
Across sectors, and particularly in the EU, we’re seeing momentum build around themes that may have once been considered optional: circular design, repairability, credible claims, supply chain responsibility, and social performance. These are no longer ‘nice to have’, they’re becoming strategic imperatives.
At Colectivo, we see this moment as a powerful opportunity to future-proof businesses. But like any transition, it brings uncertainty too: How quickly will businesses adapt? How will teams navigate competing priorities? What kind of support will changemakers need to lead with clarity?
Looking Ahead
In the face of these questions, our core focus for 2026 remains steadfast: translating positive intent into tangible, real-world outcomes, and guiding organisations from high-level ambition to measurable impact.
Future-Proofing: Strategic planning that anticipates global shifts and aligns with long-term value creation. We’ve seen growing demand for support in areas like strategic collaboration, responsible communications, and embedding climate action into core business strategies.
Activation: People and innovation programmes that drive change from within. Next year, we’re excited to integrate new insights from IE Business School faculty, applying behavioural science to enhance engagement, shift mindsets, and strengthen innovation initiatives.
Redesign: Product, service and system transformation aligned with best practice. In particular, we’ve seen increased demand from customer-facing organisations for support in designing more accessible offerings and understanding the environmental impact of physical products.
We are also planning some exciting new ways to engage and learn with Colectivo, and encourage you to follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date! If you’re exploring how to shape your organisation’s sustainability goals for 2026, we’d love to connect. Our team will be back in early January to help chart the path forward.
Wishing you all a restful and meaningful end to the year. Let’s make 2026 count!
Laura McDermott
Founder & CEO, Colectivo | Collective Impact
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By the way, we’re closing out the year by offering our Sustainability in Practice course at a special discounted rate, ideal for anyone looking to build hands-on skills for 2026 and beyond.
🎓 Access the course here: Sustainability in Practice on Udemy
🎁 Use code SIPHOLIDAYSDEC2025 (valid until 14 Jan)
