Thank you for taking part in this short survey. We welcome responses from Chief Sustainability Officers, VPs or Heads of ESG/Sustainability, Directors, and others who work closely with executive leadership and the Board on sustainability-related matters.

The survey contains 12 questions and should take 5–7 minutes to complete. Your insights will contribute to a research report shared with our global community, highlighting the priorities, plans, and emerging trends shaping sustainability leadership in 2026 – including perspectives on sustainability-linked executive compensation.

All survey responses will be aggregated and anonymized in the resulting report. If you choose to provide your name and email address, this information will allow us to share the report with you directly or contact you for a follow-up conversation, but it will not be linked to your individual responses in the published results.

Thanks again for taking part.

*1.What is your seniority?(Required.)

Board member

Chief Sustainability Officer

VP/Head of ESG / Sustainability (or equivalent)

Senior Director

Director

Other (please specify)

2.What are your top three strategic sustainability priorities for the next 12 months?

3.Which external forces are having the biggest influence on your sustainability strategy? Please select all that apply from the list below.

Regulatory change

Investor expectations

Supply chain pressures

Emerging risks

Competitor/peer actions

Internal governance demands

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

4.What are the biggest internal challenges in coordinating sustainability work across functions? Please select all that apply from the list below.

Ownership & accountability

Time & resources

Regulatory understanding

Lack of evidence/insights

Silos/lack of communication

Competing priorities

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

5.Which emerging ESG risks are you most concerned about over the next 12 months? Please select all that apply from the list below.

Biodiversity

Climate resilience

AI ethics

Supply chain

Labor standards

Human rights

Water

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

6.How confident are you that your organization can identify emerging risks early enough to act?

1 - No confidence

2 - Slightly confident

3 - Confident

4 - Very confident

5 - Extremely confident

7.Which teams are most actively involved in sustainability decision-making today? Please select all that apply from the list below.

Sustainability

Risk

Legal

Compliance

Finance

Investor Relations

HR

Procurement

Operations

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

8.Which areas of sustainability management would benefit most from improvements at your organization? Please select all that apply from the list below.

Risk assessment

Strategy development

Reporting

Board communications

Stakeholder engagement

Target setting

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

9.To what extent is your board engaged in overseeing sustainability risks and opportunities?

Highly engaged

Moderately engaged

Minimal engagement

Not engaged

Don’t know

10.If you would like to, you can provide additional context on your answer to the above question.

11.Which of the following best describes how sustainability performance influences executive compensation in your organization?

Metrics linked to annual incentive plans

Metrics linked to long-term incentive plans

Metrics linked to both annual and long-term incentive plans

A qualitative assessment linked to annual or long-term incentives

Discussed informally but not formally measured

Planning to implement within the next 12 months

Not linked

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

12.What factors are driving your organization’s decision to link executive compensation to sustainability performance? Please select all that apply from the list below.

To achieve the company's commitments

To respond to investors' expectations

To respond to board expectations

To signal that sustainability is a priority

To meet regulatory requirements

To respond to business partners or customer expectations

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

13.What are your organization’s reasons for not incorporating sustainability performance into executive compensation? Please select all that apply from the list below.

Lack of buy-in from the board

Concern about the ability to achieve the goals

Concern about the ability to measure performance reliably

Not convinced that metrics influence executive performance

Want to avoid adding complexity to executive compensation programs

Use other approaches to drive performance

Don’t know

Other (please specify)

14.If you could change one thing about how your organization approaches sustainability over the next year, what would it be?

15.If you would like access to the report or are open to participating in future research, please select the relevant option(s) below. Your contact details will only be used for the purposes you select. Please indicate your preferences from the list below:

Early access to the report

Participation in future research

Willing to be contacted for a follow-up interview

Other (please specify)

16.Contact details (name and email address) (please note: Providing your contact information is optional, and you will only be contacted for the reason(s) you selected above).