Companies have a positioning problem: by trying to please everyone, they risk satisfying no one. They’re torn between regulatory orders, social expectations, and political flip-flops. At some point, they have to choose—and the choice is simple: either go full steam ahead with social and environmental transformation, or become complicit in the status quo and prepare to pay the price.
Because the backlash is real. Across Europe, pressure is mounting to slow, dilute, or even bury transparency and accountability requirements like those in the CSRD (see the Omnibus law). Some executives cling to this uncertainty to justify waiting—or backtracking. Serious mistake. While the reluctant stall, others take the lead with a model that, like it or not, will prevail. Multiple studies since early 2025 confirm that despite political turbulence, the CSRD is already taking root in corporate practice.
1. The illusion of retreat: believing that inaction is a safe bet.
The weakening of the CSRD and Europe’s political hesitation may seem to give you leeway to scale back on sustainability. But you’re underestimating a key actor: society itself. Pressure from citizens, investors, and employees isn’t easing—it’s rising. This is no longer about being “virtuous” to polish your image; it’s about avoiding outright rejection by new generations. In a world where talent and capital flow to companies that accept their social responsibility, choosing inaction sets you up for slow decline. Worst of all, you may wake up too late, unable to catch up with standards that will eventually become the norm, no matter what.
And AXA says it: the climate crisis is the top systemic global risk. Its Future Risks Report 2025 (3,600 experts, 57 countries) puts it first for 66% of respondents—ahead of geopolitics, cybersecurity, and AI. Multiplying risk, it destabilizes infrastructure, supply chains, and public health, and fuels tensions and migration: floods in Europe in 2024, hurricanes in the United States, declining crop yields. Behind it, ecosystem erosion deprives economies of critical resources. Yet public preparedness is slowing: only 12% believe public authorities are ready. And social fragmentation is worsening: 74% of experts describe ideological polarization against a backdrop of inequality and disinformation, which turns the transition into a backlash battleground. The reminder is clear: the transition must be just and inclusive—and is more urgent than ever.
Skepticism and massive rejection: companies are not united. A striking data point: according to a survey by the WeAreEurope collective in partnership with HEC Paris, 61% of European companies support the current CSRD, and 51% reject the Omnibus proposal. That’s significant: a substantial share of businesses see Omnibus not as progress, but as a threat to transparency and accountability. Source : Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
She spent 12 years in industry, working for Bolloré Technologies, among others. She co-founded Business Digest in 1992 and has been running the company since 1998. And she took the Internet plunge in 1996, even before coming on board as part of the BD team.
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