This Earth Month, the Verdis Group team took some time to assess the sustainability landscape — the policies, the data, the corporate trends, and the climate itself. This year’s State of Sustainability report lands on Earth Day 2026, and the picture it paints is one of real tension: the work has never mattered more, and it has never been harder.

Here are the highlights. But trust us, the full report is worth the read.

Americans still care. A lot.

Despite a turbulent political environment, public support for climate action hasn’t budged. A November 2025 Yale/George Mason survey found that 64% of Americans are at least somewhat worried about global warming, and the share of Americans who classify as “Alarmed” has more than doubled since 2015. Across party lines, roughly eight in ten Americans believe both government and companies have a responsibility to act on climate. That’s a strong foundation that’s easy to lose sight of in a noisy news cycle.

Corporate sustainability is alive, even if it’s gone quiet.

Many companies have pulled back on how loudly they talk about sustainability, a trend the industry is calling “greenhushing.” But the underlying work continues. Research from The Conference Board found that 87% of S&P 500 firms disclosed climate-related targets in 2025. A separate EcoVadis survey found that 87% of large companies have quietly increased sustainability spending. The business case is intact. The global green economy has surpassed $5 trillion and is projected to reach $7 trillion by 2030.

The 2030 gap is real, and it needs to be named.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth our report doesn’t shy away from: many companies are behind on their stated 2030 emissions targets. The grids, supply chains, and policy environments that those targets assumed haven’t transformed fast enough; AI-driven electricity demand has surged unexpectedly; and geopolitical instability has eroded long-term certainty. Our systems are moving more slowly than our ambition. 

The era of target-setting is behind us. What comes next is the harder, more important work: honest measurement, credible gap analysis, and real engagement with what’s holding progress back.

Federal policy has worsened. States are stepping up.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (signed into law in July 2025) rolled back key wind, solar, and EV tax credits in ways that will be much harder to reverse than earlier executive actions. The EPA rescinded its 2009 Endangerment Finding, the legal foundation for federal greenhouse gas regulation. At the same time, California and New York are filling the void. California’s SB 253 requires companies with over $1 billion in revenue doing business in the state to report Scope 1 and 2 emissions, with a first deadline of August 10, 2026. New York’s equivalent is advancing fast. If you haven’t started building your GHG reporting infrastructure, the runway is getting short.

Clean energy is breaking records, with a catch.

Wind and solar hit 17% of US electricity generation in 2025, a new record. The US added 50 gigawatts of clean energy capacity — the first time annual deployment crossed that threshold. Globally, renewables overtook coal as the largest source of electricity generation for the first time in history. But the One Big Beautiful Bill accelerated the expiration of key tax credits, and the IEA revised its US renewable forecast downward by nearly 50% through 2030 as a result. The post-2027 outlook is more uncertain than the headline numbers suggest.

The climate damage is mounting.

2025 saw 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters totaling $115 billion in damage. The January 2025 LA wildfires alone cost $61.2 billion — roughly twice the previous record for a wildfire event. The average time between billion-dollar disasters has shrunk to just 10 days, down from 82 days in the 1980s. And 2025 was actually the least costly year since 2019. The trajectory is clear.

What this all means: it’s time to execute.

The companies that will earn credibility over the next four years are the ones willing to measure honestly, acknowledge the gap plainly, and do the unglamorous work of closing it, while building resilience for a climate that is already more disruptive and unpredictable.

That’s exactly the work we’re built for. Read our full report for more details, and reach out if you want to chat. 

Download the full 2026 State of Sustainability report here.

---

Let’s talk!

We’re here to help your organization understand the state of sustainability and to adapt in times of disruption. Reach out today to learn more.