Trend 4

Dynamic Grounding

Moving the lines to pursue purpose and preserve culture.

51%

of Americans now support corporate activism, up from 38% last year.

Public Affairs Council, 2025

The show's over for performative purpose. Under the crushing weight of anti-ESG litigation and regulatory scrutiny, "purpose" has shifted from a marketing asset to a legal liability. So what's the mandate for 2026? Move from "cultural positioning" to "regulatory survival."

In 2026, the most effective leaders will decouple impact from ideology – standing firm on the result, adapting the language. It is the art of changing the vocabulary to ensure the survival of the values.

The pragmatic ally

2025 was the year of the "Great Rename." 2026 is the year of the "Great Embed."

If you listen to the headlines, DEI is dead. If you look at the P&L, it's alive and well. Leaders aren't abandoning the work. They're changing how it shows up.

They're moving from moral frameworks to compliance-proof strategies. From acronyms to operations. Inclusion is being wrapped in the language of merit, growth, performance and delivery.

Pragmatic allies are making sure the work survives. Not by shouting louder. But by becoming invisible to the censors.

"Warner Bros. Discovery said in a staff memo it remains committed to building an "inclusive team" but would rename its DEI programs to simply "inclusion"... and implement a "uniform and consistent application process""

Forbes, 2025

Don't preach. Embed.

The green profit

The EU has scaled back its ESG rules, and the headlines say the green era is over. However, the balance sheets say it's just getting started. 92% of CFOs plan to significantly increase sustainability investments this year, despite financial pressures (Kearney, 2025).

In 2026, sustainability will move from the comms team to the growth team. It's no longer designed to polish reputation, it's a capital investment in the future. Because when sustainability becomes "business as usual," you don't issue a press release. You just report the ROI.

"Sustainability is in a new era of realism where it is trying to reboot and readjust itself by not having the spotlight."

2026 Outlook: the year ahead, Natixis

How to move from campaign to capital

Blue is the new green

UN University warns that the world has entered an era of global water bankruptcy, and 70% of major aquifers are in decline, leading to "irreversible" loss of natural capital.

Water is no longer an environmental issue. It's a survival metric. While the world spent a decade counting carbon, it forgot to count the drops. In 2026, the sustainability spotlight shifts from the air to the ground. This year's Davos has been dubbed "Blue Davos," kicking off the WEF's "Year of Water."

"In 2026, securing a resilient water supply will be a defining global challenge… The focus will shift from water scarcity to water security."

Global Water Intelligence

From utility to asset

New eldorados of purpose

While North America and Europe debate terminology, the Global South is becoming the new engine for social innovation. Here, purpose isn't optics. It's economic necessity.

"Most social innovation research in scientific literature focuses on cases in the Global North. The various experiences in institutionalising social innovation in the Global South have given rise to multi-faceted innovation referred to as territorial–institutional innovations in contrast to the Global North."

Saray Bucio-Mendoza, José Alberto Solis-Navarrete, in Pubmed

The rise of the Global South

Refocus

Put purpose to work. Stand firm on the impact you seek, soften the language if you must, and turn values into systems that work – even when no one is watching.