Barriers to sustainable transformation

What is holding back corporate sustainability? What challenges do companies face when implementing their sustainability strategies, and what drives them? These and other questions are addressed in the Sustainability Transformation Monitor 2025 published by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, a survey of approximately 600 sustainability managers in the German economy.

A key finding of the study is that political and regulatory uncertainties are increasingly becoming obstacles to sustainable transformation in companies. This was stated by 71% of respondents in the real economy and 79% in the financial sector. As a result, the implementation of planned measures is not progressing as expected, even though sustainability strategies are firmly anchored in many companies. Only 13% of companies have actually implemented their climate target plans, and 10% have abandoned their sustainability goals altogether.

And yet, politics continues to be seen as a driver of transformation by the majority of companies. However, future generations are an even stronger motivator: almost three-quarters of respondents cited young people and future employees as drivers. At the same time, however, many companies feel that there is a lack of financial incentives for implementing sustainability strategies.

On a positive note, with an increase to 51%, more and more companies now have a sustainability department, and around 91% of respondents are now aware of their carbon footprint, in some cases even along their entire value chain.

We were also interested in the following topics:

• Discrimination in the home office: Regular home office work leads to poorer career opportunities. Those who work from home three to four days a week are perceived as less committed and productive. Childless people are particularly disadvantaged, as a report by the Hans Böckler Foundation shows.

• Age discrimination: According to a survey, almost half of Germans over the age of 16 have experienced age discrimination at some point, especially in their professional lives. Based on the assumption that certain skills are no longer or not yet possessed, both younger and older people are affected, reports Tagesschau.

• Overtime: The overall level of overtime remains high, and more than half of it is unpaid. It is also striking that more overtime is being worked in home offices. However, these developments not only have a negative impact on the quality of work, but also on health, as a new study by the DGB shows.

We also have these event tips for you:

• IRRE - Congress for Political Culture 2025: To kick off the new legislative period, the Hertie Foundation will discuss the future of politics with politicians at all levels, young politicians, journalists, and academics on March 27. You can participate in the event via livestream!

• CHECKPOINT Political Consulting: Is politics your passion and would you like to be at the heart of it? Take a look behind the scenes of the political arena and get to know renowned consultancies at our networking and career fair, CHECKPOINT. For more information, visit ckpt.org.

This text first appeared as an editorial in the weekly politjobs newsletter. If you would like to receive this newsletter with the latest jobs in politics directly by email every Wednesday, you can subscribe to it here.

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