As global temperatures continue to rise and consumers become increasingly conscious of their footprint, companies across the board are ramping up their sustainability measures.
In 2024, the world recorded its first calendar year where average global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Climate experts caution that this development brings us closer to surpassing the long-term 1.5°C limit established by the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“We must exit this road to ruin, and we have no time to lose,” urged United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in his 2025 New Year’s message, describing the past decade, which included the ten hottest years on record, as “climate breakdown.”
This barrage of record heat doesn’t mean all is lost, but it is a deafening wake-up call for countries and corporations to act swiftly. Many businesses are stepping up for their bottom line as much as for the planet. Consumers are demanding genuine sustainability and accountability, and as Gen Z and Millennials continue to gain spending power, brands that fail to take real action risk being left behind.
Multiple surveys underscore this generational shift. One study found that 62% of Gen Z shoppers prefer to buy from sustainable brands (and 73% are willing to pay more for sustainable products). Another study found that virtually all Millennial and Gen Z investors are interested in sustainable investing.
“Both Gen Z and Millennials expect sustainability to be part of the baseline – not just a brand add-on,” explains Philippa Cross, founder and CEO of Marshall Sustainability.
She further clarifies, “Research also shows the vast majority of Millennials and Gen Z want to work for companies with strong environmental values.”
With those cohorts projected to make up 74% of the global workforce by 2030, businesses must adapt if they want to attract the next generation of talent.
More companies are setting net-zero targets, greening their offices, and engaging employees in eco-initiatives.
“Companies excel at handling cyber, geopolitical, and operational risks; sustainability should be no different. To win with Gen Z, companies need to understand the risk of inaction or inauthentic action, weigh that against the risk of lost market share, and lean into ESG and sustainable values hard, all underpinned by transparency,” notes Adriel Lubarsky, founder of the climate start-up Beehive Climate.
Token gestures and greenwashing that once sufficed will no longer cut it. Regulators and stakeholders are also turning up the heat. Frameworks like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are forcing greater transparency and accountability from businesses.
“As sustainability matures, the focus is shifting from glossy commitments to real delivery, especially at the product and service level,” Cross said. She emphasises that true credibility comes from tackling core impacts (like sourcing raw materials responsibly), not just from peripheral tweaks such as recyclable packaging.
How are companies around the globe meeting this challenge? From Patagonia to Apple, several big-name brands are taking concrete steps to reduce their carbon footprints, embrace circular economy principles, and build environmental responsibility into their operations.
Patagonia: Woven in purpose
US-based Patagonia’s retail stores reflect the brand’s ethos of repairing, reusing, and recycling outdoor apparel to extend product life. Patagonia, the adventure clothing brand and certified B-Corp, has been a sustainability trailblazer since 1973. The company, under renowned rock climber and environmentalist Yvon Chouinard, began donating 1% of its sales to environmental causes in 1985.
Chouinard even co-founded the “1% for the Planet” network to encourage other businesses to follow suit, a global movement that now has roughly 5,000 member companies contributing a portion of their revenue to green initiatives.
Over the decades, Patagonia has contributed more than $140 million to grassroots environmental groups, while implementing numerous eco-friendly practices in-house. The company uses only “preferred materials”, such as organic cotton, recycled polyester and nylon, in its products, and it powers 100% of its own retail stores and offices with renewable energy.
The brand actively advocates for a circular economy approach. Its Worn Wear programme invites customers to trade in used Patagonia gear for resale (keeping clothing out of landfills), and its Patagonia Action Works platform connects people with environmental causes.
Patagonia hasn’t shied away from activism either; in 2017, it even joined a lawsuit against the US government to help protect Native American lands (fighting the reduction of Bears Ears National Monument).
Then, in 2022, came perhaps the boldest move: Chouinard transferred ownership of the $3 billion company into a trust and a nonprofit organisation called the Holdfast Collective, ensuring that all Patagonia’s future profits (around $100 million per year) are devoted to fighting climate change and protecting nature.
“We are going to give away the maximum amount of money to people who are actively working on saving this planet. I never wanted to be a businessman… Now I could die tomorrow, and the company is going to continue doing the right thing for the next 50 years, and I don’t have to be around,” Chouinard told The New York Times about the decision.
Patagonia stands as a shining example of aligning profit with purpose, and its approach has clearly resonated with consumers. The company’s revenue reportedly surpassed $1 billion in 2024, showing that a deep commitment to the planet can go hand in hand with business success.
IKEA: Conscious living made truly accessible
IKEA is investing heavily in renewable energy, from massive rooftop solar arrays to wind farms, as it strives to become climate positive. Swedish furniture giant IKEA, long associated with affordable (and often disposable) home goods, has taken significant strides toward sustainability.
Circularity is central to many of its initiatives. For example, IKEA’s buy-back and resell programme lets customers return used IKEA furniture for store credit, giving furnishings a second life rather than sending them to the landfill.
The company is also investing heavily in clean energy. By 2024, 75% of IKEA’s global operations were powered by renewable electricity, and its Ingka Investments arm has committed a total of €7.5 billion to wind and solar projects to power the business.
IKEA is electrifying its delivery fleet as well, rolling out electric vehicles for home deliveries to cut emissions. These efforts support the retailer’s broader climate goals, including a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain by 2030 (relative to 2016 levels) and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.
Engaging with local communities is another priority. “In 2024, IKEA supported over 81,000 people through community programmes and expanded efforts in refugee employment and biodiversity,” notes Karen Pflug, IKEA’s Chief Sustainability Officer, in an interview with World Finance.
In the United States, IKEA even designed and donated a small sustainable home to a community village in Texas for vulnerable residents, using “trauma-informed design” principles to make it supportive and welcoming.
Experts often cite IKEA as a leader in corporate sustainability.
“They don’t shy away from the tough conversations, including the role that affordable goods play in driving overconsumption. Instead, they tackle it head-on with initiatives like sourcing FSC-certified wood, improving product durability, and experimenting with circular models. I also appreciate their transparency: they openly share the challenges they face and invite feedback, which is key to building trust and real progress,” Cross said.
A key focus for IKEA is now making sustainable living easy and affordable for customers.
“We know people want to take more climate action, but often face barriers like cost and convenience. We are focused on making sustainable living more accessible, through services like buy-back and resell, and by improving how we bring products and solutions that help people live more sustainably every day,” Pflug said.
In the coming years, IKEA looks poised to continue forging a more sustainable path, proving that even a global retailer known for low-cost convenience can embrace green innovation.
Renault: Reinventing mobility with purpose
At Renault’s iconic Refactory facility in France, used vehicles are repaired, retrofitted, and recycled as part of a circular approach to automotive manufacturing. French automaker Renault is working to reconcile cars and sustainability. In 2021, it opened the Refactory in Flins, Europe’s first circular economy factory dedicated to mobility.
This facility focuses on extending vehicle lifespans through what Renault calls a “retrofit, re-energy, recycle and restart” programme. At the Refactory, Renault repairs and refurbishes used cars and electric vehicle batteries, retrofits older vehicles with electric drivetrains, and recycles materials, creating a closed-loop system to reduce waste.
Renault has also set ambitious climate goals: achieving carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040 (and globally by 2050). A big part of this is electrification; the company expects 90% of its vehicle sales in Europe to be electric by 2030.
Progress is underway: Renault’s overall carbon footprint fell by 28% between 2010 and 2023. In 2022, it launched The Future is NEUTRAL, an initiative to expand recycling and reuse across the industry as part of a push toward “resource neutrality.”
Renault is steadily increasing recycled content in its new models as well. The electric Scenic E-Tech SUV introduced in 2024 contains about 25% recycled materials in its parts, and overall, 90% of the vehicle’s mass is designed to be recyclable.
The upcoming Renault 5 E-Tech city car, launching in 2025, is engineered to have a 35% lower carbon footprint in manufacturing than its predecessor (the Renault Zoe) by 2030.
Even biodiversity is on Renault’s radar. The company has a project in Thailand (with its tyre supplier Michelin), training local farmers in agroforestry to reduce the impact of rubber production on forests.
While the auto industry as a whole has a long road ahead to reach true sustainability, Renault is demonstrating how a legacy carmaker can begin to drive change through innovation and circular thinking.
Apple: Carbon neutral by design
Apple’s latest “Apple Watch” models include the company’s first carbon-neutral products, identified by a special green logo on their packaging. Consumer electronics giant Apple, not historically known for its eco-friendliness, is now making significant moves toward sustainability.
In April 2025, Apple announced it had slashed its overall greenhouse gas emissions by over 60% compared to 2015 levels, marking major progress toward its pledge to be carbon neutral across its business (including its supply chain) by 2030.
Apple introduced its first fully carbon-neutral products in 2023, several models of the Apple Watch, by cutting product emissions roughly 75% and offsetting the rest with high-quality carbon credits, which are invested in forest conservation.
Later in 2023, Apple released a carbon-neutral version of its Mac Mini computer (built with over 50% recycled content), and in early 2025, it unveiled a new MacBook Air made with over 55% recycled content.
The tech company has aggressively pushed the use of recycled and responsibly sourced materials. All Apple-designed batteries now use 99% recycled cobalt, reducing reliance on newly mined minerals.
To keep old devices out of landfills, the Apple Trade In programme offers consumers credit for turning in used devices, which Apple then refurbishes or recycles.
Apple’s latest Environmental Progress Report highlights other milestones: every Apple facility worldwide has been powered by 100% renewable energy since 2018, and that commitment is spreading to suppliers. Apple’s suppliers have brought 17.8 gigawatts of clean energy online around the world to power their operations.
Apple is also investing in clean energy projects to match the electricity that customers use to charge their devices, through its Power for Impact programme supporting renewable energy in communities from the Philippines and Thailand to South Africa.
The company is likewise backing natural carbon removal through its Restore Fund, which finances projects like reforestation of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil, now filled with native tree species that might otherwise have been lost.
Apple is also tackling waste and water in its supply chain: in 2024 alone, suppliers diverted around 600,000 metric tons of waste from landfills, and since 2013, the Supplier Clean Water Programme has saved over 90 billion gallons of water through recycling.
There is more work ahead, but Apple’s progress shows how innovation can drive sustainability even in a resource-intensive industry, all while the company continues to thrive. Notably, Apple’s revenue grew by more than 65% during the same period that its emissions were reduced by 60%, illustrating that profitability and sustainability can go hand in hand.
As Gen Z and younger consumers increasingly make purchase decisions based on their values, the efforts of companies like Apple, IKEA, and Patagonia to put the planet alongside profit may well become the new standard for long-term business success.
A new paradigm for corporate responsibility
The case studies of Patagonia, IKEA, Renault, and Apple offer a compelling narrative: a new business paradigm is taking root. This shift is neither cosmetic nor performative; it is structural, intentional, and increasingly non-negotiable.
In an era where global temperatures are rising and resource depletion is accelerating, sustainability is no longer a competitive advantage; it is a baseline expectation.
What differentiates the brands highlighted in this article is not merely that they are reducing harm, but that they are redesigning their models to actively regenerate, restore, and rethink what responsible capitalism can look like.
This shift is underpinned by three interlocking forces: rising consumer consciousness, tightening regulatory frameworks, and the changing values of the emerging workforce. Gen Z and Millennials don’t just speak out about climate issues; they use their buying power, social media influence, and job choices to support companies that take real action.
The fact that 73% of Gen Z is willing to pay more for sustainable products is not just a trend; it’s an inflexion point. These generations will soon dominate both market demand and global employment, creating a feedback loop that reinforces sustainability as a core business imperative.
Regulators, too, are sharpening their focus. Frameworks such as the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) are setting higher standards for accountability. Voluntary ESG pledges are giving way to mandatory disclosures and legally enforceable targets.
This ensures that sustainability is no longer the domain of well-meaning corporate social responsibility teams but of CEOs, CFOs, and boards who are being held financially and reputationally accountable for long-term environmental impact.
Equally significant is the cultural shift occurring within many of these companies. For years, sustainability was treated as a marketing concern, external-facing and often limited to optics. That has changed. Today, the brands leading the charge are embedding sustainability into their supply chains, innovation pipelines, employee incentives, and financial planning.
IKEA’s resale programmes, Patagonia’s activist ownership model, Renault’s circular economy factories, and Apple’s green product design aren’t isolated acts; they’re ecosystemic. They demonstrate a commitment to transforming not just products, but the very processes and philosophies that underpin their existence.
There is also a growing recognition that solving the climate crisis requires collective intelligence and cross-sector collaboration. Apple partnering with forestry initiatives in Brazil, IKEA engaging refugee communities, or Renault working with Michelin in Thailand on agroforestry. These are not charity projects, but investments in system resilience. They show a more mature approach to business, where environmental and social issues are closely connected to financial success.
However, challenges continue to persist. Greenwashing is still prevalent, particularly in industries where accountability is lacking and consumer education is insufficient. The real risk is in performative sustainability—branding that overstates its environmental efforts and carbon offsets that disguise rather than actually reduce emissions. Consumers, regulators, and watchdogs must continue to scrutinise such claims. Transparency, third-party verification, and measurable impact are critical in maintaining credibility.
Additionally, there are structural contradictions that companies must grapple with. Can a business model built on selling ever more products truly be sustainable? How do we reconcile economic growth with planetary boundaries? While circularity, carbon-neutral goals, and renewable energy use are important steps, deeper questions about consumption, inequality, and ecological regeneration remain. It is here that the next frontier of corporate sustainability lies.
Looking forward, we are likely to see three major developments: integrated value accounting, stakeholder governance, and decentralised innovation.
Companies will move beyond quarterly profits to account for their environmental and social externalities. Metrics like biodiversity impact, water usage, and material circularity will become part of mainstream reporting, supported by tools such as the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD).
Shareholder primacy will continue to be challenged by models that emphasise stakeholder value. Employee ownership, along with community investment and long-term stewardship, as seen in Patagonia’s ownership structure, will become more prevalent, especially as activist investors and ESG-oriented funds gain influence.
As climate risks become more localised, companies will adopt region-specific sustainability strategies. This means empowering local teams, decentralising supply chains, and partnering with indigenous knowledge systems to co-create solutions that are both effective and equitable.
As this shift gathers pace, it will be remembered not just as a response to climate catastrophe, but as the dawn of a more conscious, connected, and courageous form of commerce. A new chapter in capitalism is being written, one where responsibility is not a burden but a source of innovation, resilience, and ultimately, relevance.