As sustainability becomes increasingly critical for business success, new global research highlights the power of cross-functional collaboration to drive real impact and value creation.
The 2025 Sustainability Value Triangle report, conducted by the Sustainability Value Creation Partnership, surveyed 320 senior executives across corporate finance, IT, and sustainability roles. The findings reveal that while two-thirds of leaders view sustainability as crucial for commercial success, only 37% report it as highly integrated into their core business.
This integration gap poses a significant challenge, as the research shows that companies with deeply embedded sustainability practices reap substantial rewards:
- Increased innovation
- Improved sales performance
- Enhanced brand reputation
- Better cost control
The key to unlocking this value lies in what the report calls the ‘Sustainability Value Triangle’ – the collaborative efforts of sustainability, finance and IT functions working in concert:
- Sustainability teams identify the most impactful opportunities
- Finance quantifies and prioritizes based on financial impact
- IT enables data-driven decision making through automation and analytics
Breaking Down Silos
The research illustrates how each function brings unique strengths that the others rely on:
Sustainability: Subject matter expertise, stakeholder engagement, impact measurement Finance: ROI analysis, capital allocation, risk assessment IT: Data infrastructure, predictive modeling, process automation
When these teams work closely together, it allows for deeper integration of sustainability into core strategy and operations. This integration is the linchpin for driving real commercial value and impact.
Recommendations for Business Leaders
To capitalize on the Sustainability Value Triangle, the report recommends:
- Foster cross-functional collaboration between sustainability, finance and IT
- Invest in data infrastructure to enable sustainability measurement and reporting
- Align sustainability goals with core business metrics and KPIs
- Empower sustainability teams with financial acumen and IT literacy
- Integrate sustainability criteria into capital allocation processes
The Path Forward
As regulatory pressures mount and stakeholder expectations rise, the ability to create value through sustainability will become a key differentiator. Companies that can effectively leverage the Sustainability Value Triangle will be best positioned to thrive in an increasingly complex business landscape.
The 2025 research builds on previous work examining the gap between sustainability ambitions and operational realities. By highlighting practical strategies for collaboration, this latest report offers a blueprint for closing that gap and driving meaningful change.
As we look to the future, it’s clear that sustainability is not just about risk mitigation or compliance – it’s a powerful engine for innovation, growth and long-term value creation. The Sustainability Value Triangle provides a framework for unlocking that potential.
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