2026 Sustainability Trends: From Performance to Action | Alex Smith & Polly Milne
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Welcome to our new bitesize episodes - a new series of shorter conversations (around 10-15 minutes) where members of the FuturePlus team discuss what we're actually seeing in sustainability right now.
In this first episode, CEO Alex Smith and COO Polly Milne talk about what 2026 holds.
Despite regulatory rollbacks and green claims pressures, there's a clear shift happening: sustainability is moving from performative to action-driven, and businesses are doing it because it genuinely makes them stronger.
What we cover:
- 00:37 - Why 2025 was tough for sustainability teams
- 01:57 - Sustainability as business resilience, not just marketing
- 03:28 - Evidence and verification in procurement
- 04:01 - AI's role in sustainability (and its challenges)
- 07:04 - The ethics and carbon footprint of AI
- 07:29 - The future of lean sustainability teams
- 09:47 - Embedding sustainability across departments
About FuturePlus: FuturePlus is a sustainability intelligence platform helping businesses measure, manage and improve their environmental and social impact. Our platform brings together climate, environment, social, economic and diversity & inclusion data in one accessible framework.