SUSTAINABILITY TLDR NEWSLETTER: EDITION 40

2026 Sustainability Landscape Webinar

This webinar was hosted by Responsible Business Consulting Ltd. in collaboration with the Global Compact Network Kenya. It provided a reading of the sustainability landscape rather than a prediction of what 2026 will actually bring.
This discussion brought together renowned speakers to share their reflections on the sustainability landscape and what this landscape will mean for businesses, particularly in Kenya, in 2026. The webinar speakers were: Beth Knight, Head of Social Sustainability, Lloyds Banking Group, Judy Njino, Executive Director, Global Compact Network Kenya and Susan Njoroge, Managing Director, Responsible Business Consulting Ltd.

GLOBAL

Ai Generated, Crystal Ball, Sphere royalty-free stock illustration.

The evolving global risk landscape

The big picture assessment was anchored in global risk conversations shaped by the World Economic Forum’s global risks report 2026, and highlighted the tension between short-term pressures and long-term systemic risks. Key short-term risks covered included:

• Geo-economic confrontation and resource nationalism (especially around strategic resources such as critical minerals).
• Mis-information/dis-information and the societal effects of polarization and protectionism behavior.

However, it was also highlighted that while extreme weather may appear to have ‘move down’ the risk rating in some shorter-horizon discourse, the 10-year horizon flips back decisively to climate- and nature-driven disruption, including biodiversity loss and broader Earth-systems instability.

This global exploration brought out three practical executive lessons and leadership messages for business:

1.  Materiality beats marketing. Build clarity on what is truly material to the business—so that the organization can get ahead of shocks rather than react once disruption is already underway.
2. Social sustainability is not secondary. Emphasising rising social stressors e.g. reduced mobility, disenfranchisement and migration pressures, among others; as integral to business resilience, not simply ‘nice to have’ topics.
3. ESG is becoming polarized, despite this, sustainability must still be integrated. Distinguishing sustainability as a strategic framing, and ESG as a financial/portfolio lens, business leaders are urged to ‘stitch’ these risks into business strategy, goals and outcome measures. This first part of the landscape closed with three provocations for businesses:

• • Don’t treat sustainability as content or marketing—treat it as a design framework for how value is created.
  • Consider that the biggest sustainability risk may be social, and lead with people across both short- and long-term horizons.
  • Cooperation and partnership are non-negotiable given the complexity of the problems.

AFRICA AND KENYA

The next part of the conversation shifted to highlighting reflections on the shifting landscape on the African continent and Kenya. The conversation explored 3 considerations for sustainability:

1. Human development as a strategic sustainability priority

Sustainability was reframed for African and Kenyan leaders as the urgency of human development (not only economic development/GDP), particularly in a context of youth employment needs and transitions in energy systems.
Some key structural shifts were covered that businesses should treat as core strategy issues:

• Renewable energy-enabled economic models are driving cleaner industrialization across the continent e.g. Ethiopia’s Dam, Kenya geothermal, solar panels equivalent to 11.2M homes imported from China. This is showing that Africa is already building new economic models not ‘trapped’ in fossil fuels.
• Governance, trust, and leadership are now economic issues, influencing stability and operating context (including the business impact of public sentiment and protest dynamics).
• A rise in brand social activism and a reminder to businesses that consumers are citizens. There will be increasing expectations that companies demonstrate ethical conduct, human rights alignment and visible societal contribution, that aligns with the human development needs of citizens.
• Aid cuts / reduced donor funding are increasing pressure on public systems, which in turn will raise societal expectations of business contribution to fundamental human development needs e.g. healthcare, education, food, community wellbeing and this will make businesses social license to operate more central to sustainability strategy.

2. Sustainability related reporting and compliance moves sustainability to the board and senior leadership level and is now a financial condition

Regulations and new norms are coming into play in 2026 that will influence Kenyan companies strategic and operation dynamics:

• IFRS S1 and S2 reporting begins in Kenya in 2026: positioning climate and sustainability disclosures as part of how an organisation’s financial value and health is being evaluated. Kenya has adopted a phased, mandatory roadmap for IFRS S1 (General Requirements) and IFRS S2 (Climate-related Disclosures), starting with voluntary reporting from 1 January 2024, followed by mandatory adoption for Public Interest Entities (PIEs) by 1 January 2027, large non-PIEs by 2028, and SMEs by 2029.
• Kenya’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): commencing in Kenya in February rooting circular models into business operations, supplier practices and consumer behavior.
• Carbon markets go mainstream: as governance expectations and project benefits-sharing becomes tighter; and the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism kicks in for exporting companies in cement, steel, fertilisers and others. This is only the beginning as other countries e.g. China, Japan, UK are also looking at their own CBAM policies.
• Sustainable finance is becoming the new normal: as lenders expanding green lending to help them better manage their credit risks; and redirect financial flows for more resilient business models

3. Missing the 1.5 degrees Paris Agreement target globally: this is now inevitable and that means climate impacts are now very real for the long, long term. Adaptation will no longer be a policy term and operational continuity and resilience, disaster management will pick up pace.

BUSINESS RESPONSE

Reflections on business response and collective action

2026 is likely to be the year where businesses must respond to converging pressures (economic, governance and social); and the private sector can no longer remain a bystander on societal issues that ultimately shape market stability.
Two strong themes that stood out:

1. Collective action as a differentiator: Collaboration is a game-changer for private sector and stakeholders. It is imperative that stakeholders, grow together and rebuild social contracts to citizens (who are consumers) with business as an active contributor.
2. Moral courage and constructive engagement: Business leaders must be willing to get uncomfortable and engage on governance and social challenges. It is the reality that societal failure erodes the foundations on which business can thrive.

Insights from the Questions and Responses Session

Question on: Artificial Intelligence, jobs, and AI-driven sustainability reporting

• AI will bring productivity gains and transparency/real-time access to information, but will also displace or transform roles, with sector-specific impacts.
• The leadership stance would ideally be to treat AI as a ‘wave’ that cannot be stopped. Therefore, adopt an adaptive mindset so change happens with you, not to you.
• Three sustainability-relevant AI themes were presented:
  1. Responsible AI: covering resource intensity such as water, biodiversity impacts, and inclusion/equity considerations.
  2. Human intent: in digital leadership so that AI can be used AI without eroding the people component of work and society.
  3. Frugal AI: avoid hype and ‘racket’ solutions i.e. profit-driven deception. More importantly, focus on real value and transparency about what tools truly do.
• It is critical to remember that AI is a tool: outcomes depend on ethical use and the choice to apply it toward environmental protection, social mobility, livelihoods and skills-based job creation.

Question on: How realistic are net-zero commitments in the context of ESG and climate backlash as well as policy shifts?

• Pullback by major powers set progress back, especially given their historical contribution to climate and other crises.
• The Global South must brace for difficult times by strengthening resilience and adaptation capacity and at the same time, push for accountability and fairness in how global commitments are implemented.
• It is imperative that business leaders stay on course, avoid scaling back ambition, and instead crowd in support (including finance and incentives) to keep companies moving forward.
• There will be multiplicity of incoming regulations, and businesses based in Kenya and the region are at risk of being ‘on the receiving end’ of regulation developed in other regions and countries; rather than Africa shaping its own plans and responses.
• For sustainability to endure locally, it must make business sense and avoid creating requirements that make action ‘almost impossible’ for the private sector i.e. context matters.

Session closing reflections

The panelists provided the following points as final reflections wrapping up the sustainability landscape conversations:

• Prioritise impact-based actions that survives tough times: ESG and the SDGs are lived realities and also innovation and value-creation opportunities. Private sector needs to ground sustainability in measurable impact (people, environment and business) so it does not become the first budget line cut when conditions tighten.
• Focus, resilience, and collaboration: understand the risks that could destabilise the organisation, do a simple materiality/heat-map exercise, and then focus. Avoid ‘doom-mongering,’ instead reinforce Kenyan resilience and new market opportunities for products that address social and environmental needs for consumers/citizens. Business leaders stay focused on their sustainability priorities (ignore the noise) and convene collaboration around issues where their investments are best placed. Be clever, get focused, and build your support network.
• Leadership for sustainability in an emerging-economy context: 2026 intensifies questions around what kind leaders for sustainability businesses and decision makers will choose to be for society and for the environment. Sustainability will need to be grounded in Kenya and Africa’s development reality with private sector as a development actor for human development and an economy that works for citizens.

Some useful 2026 practical actions for businesses and their sustainability agenda:

Based on the webinar’s insights, here are eight key points, businesses and sustainability champions can seek to integrate in 2026:

1. Refresh materiality and risk mapping: quarterly (not annually) and translate it into operational priorities.
2. Treat social sustainability as business-critical: looking at workforce resilience, customer trust, social/civic stability.
3. Strengthen social license: demonstrate ethical practice and visible contribution as citizen expectations rise.
4. Prepare for sustainability disclosure: as a finance and board agenda item building leadership and operation team capability, data and controls.
5. Plan for circular economy compliance: including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) related responsibilities as producers, responsibilities for your customers, responsibilities for your suppliers; and leverage ecosystem partnerships.
6. Build an AI workforce strategy this will mean role redesign, reskilling, and responsible use, it is not just about tool adoption.
7. Avoid hype spending on AI: prioritise frugal, transparent, value-adding solutions.
8. Collaborate deliberately: across sectors and value chains to match the scale/complexity of your and your industry’s risks.