CSR still has its say!

In this opinion column published in Les Echos in January, Cédric Baecher, Sustainability Partner at Wavestone explains why regardless of regulatory changes and any “backlash”, the question for businesses is not whether to support sustainable transformation, but rather how to stay on course.

For several months now, the term “backlash” has been used to describe a supposed setback threatening recent advances in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Popularized by American author Susan Faludi in her 1991 feminist essay, this notion refers to a form of counter-offensive, of organized resistance to major societal progress.

Opinion pieces call for the spirit of CSR to be saved, prophesying the dismantling of regulations such as the CSRD. Studies claim that managers are more interested in artificial intelligence than CSR… In short, a conspiracy to “return to the world of before”, blind and deaf to the challenges of our time, must be foiled. Yet, sustainable transformation is underway! All the transitions that underlie it will continue this year, for three main reasons.

You need to be pragmatic

Firstly, CSR has moved on and can no longer be reduced to an ideological dimension. Its “cocktail” has shifted from 80% activism and 20% operational pragmatism to the opposite proportions. That the flame must be kept alive is a fact, but the question is no longer whether one is “for” or “against”.

Many companies – insurance, banking, industry – have understood the challenges of the transition for the sustainability of their economic models: regulatory risks, physical vulnerabilities, access to markets, etc. In 2025, CSR will be the business of all departments – finance, HR, information systems – driving new ways of collaboration to collectively deliver the commitments made by senior management.

Secondly, CSR is now associated with clear political projects. In Europe, the Green Deal expresses an ambition of leadership and sovereignty for the Union. While it may be seen as imperfect and in need of adjustments, it won’t simply disappear with a wave of a magic wand, nor will the regulatory frameworks that set the new rules. And we are not the only ones concerned with CSR!

Operating methods differ, but the world’s major economies are adopting measures to support the transition. In 2025, the United States will struggle to do without the hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies injected into the economy by the Inflation Reduction Act, and China, defying expectations, could reach its oil peak this year.

Stop-and-go is costly

Finally, CSR will increasingly establish itself as a source of solutions to help companies cope with the geopolitical upheavals that will continue in 2025. As described in “La civilisation de la peur” (XO, 2024), the economy is now dominated by geopolitics.

The imperatives of security of supply – raw materials, water, energy – will encourage organizations to increase their measures of efficiency, frugality and recycling, all of which are part of sustainable transformation. In a complex and unstable world, it will be even more important to “stay the course” – “stop-and-go” is costly – and to continue to capitalize on already made investments.

Companies that have understood these issues will continue their efforts with consistency and confidence, moving from reporting to action, from strategy to impact. They will be the winners in the long term.

Those who prefer to be fooled by the “backlash” theory will let down their guard, justifying “pauses” in their environmental and social ambitions, with the comfortable illusion of being right in the short term. Their awakening, in a few years’ time, will be painful.