We're ready for regeneration - we already have strong ESG targets. "Which statement is the most likely to be hidden trap?

We’re ready for regeneration – we already have strong ESG targets. “Which statement is the most likely to be hidden trap?

Correct answer: A

The white paper is explicit: minimizing negative impacts is no longer sufficient; regenerative approaches move from net degradation toward net positive outcomes for social-ecological systems.
It also argues no business “is” inherently regenerative; what matters is building regenerative capacity in context, over time, with systemic effects.
So A is the executive comfort blanket: it keeps strategy in “less harm” mode and avoids the harder shifts in time horizon, ecosystem relationships, and business design.

If you have 30 more minutes to go further

The Regenerative Shift

By Laurence Lehmann-Ortega & Sarah Dubreil

HEC Paris – Climate & Earth Center, 2025.

Learn more

This is the must-read white paper for anyone serious about shifting from “sustainability” to regeneration. It offers a clear framework built on 7 core attributes and 7 business archetypes, grounded in 39 pioneering case studies. The starting point is a brutal observation: we are exceeding planetary boundaries. From there, the authors show how companies can strengthen—not deplete—the health of social and ecological systems. It’s both a strategic blueprint and a reality check: a way to assess your regenerative maturity, surface blind spots, and redesign your business model, governance, and local roots. In short: a practical guide to move from good intentions to systemic

Food for thought for executives

If your sustainability story vanished tomorrow, what would still be true in your operating model: decision rights, incentives, financing logic, supplier relationships, and territory-level commitments?
Which of the seven attributes are you actually building (system-level impact, temporal orientation, relation with ecosystems), versus merely reporting on?
If you had to choose one archetype to move toward (e.g., capacity builder, system convener, regenerative providers network), what would you stop doing next Monday?

Published by Françoise Tollet

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. 