Dive Brief:
- While the geopolitical environment has changed, most companies who published sustainability reports last year opted to publish again this year. However, fewer are publicizing their reports, and their language around sustainability continues to evolve, according to a recent report by global advisory firm Teneo. The firm provides counsel to CEOs and senior leaders at large companies.
- The Sept. 11 report examined 250 sustainability reports from S&P 500 companies that were published between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31 of this year. The firm found that 87% of companies who published a report by this time last year also published one in 2026.
- Despite continuing to release sustainability reports, just 32% of companies issued a press release to go with their reports, down from 62% of companies in 2022. And while 49% of reports used the term “sustainability” in the title, a growing number of reports are using an iteration of “impact” or “purpose” and fewer companies are using “ESG” in the title, according to Teneo’s findings.
Dive Insight:
This is the sixth year Teneo has analyzed the state of corporate sustainability reports; the firm said the report is designed to help companies plan for reporting in 2027. Teneo found that just 4% of reports had “ESG” in the title, down from 35% in 2022, and the term “ESG” was also disappearing from the content included in these sustainability reports, appearing as little as 10 times, exhibiting a 50% decrease from 2025.
While fewer companies are publicizing their sustainability reports and changing the terms inside, the report found a growing number of companies are conducting double materiality assessments — which examine business impacts on the environment and broader stakeholders, in addition to financial impacts — and planning for international disclosure frameworks, according to the report.
“The sustainability landscape remains marked by heightened scrutiny and uncertainty, as ongoing political conflicts and evolving global regulation continue to shape the expectations of key stakeholders,” the report said.
With the additional scrutiny, Teneo found that “many” of the 2026 sustainability reports it examined were published later in the year than in 2025, “likely due to additional legal and market review.” The report also said that receiving external third-party assurance has become “table stakes,” as 75% of companies received external assurance for data within the reports. That percentage has risen steadily since 2022, when 54% disclosed receiving assurance for data in the reports.
The 2026 sustainability reports also marked when companies had to report how they did on their 2025 targets. The percentage of companies disclosing progress against ESG goals remained steady at 30%, but 12% of companies reported being “off track” for at least one goal and another 12% reported repositioning a goal, up from 9% and 2%, respectively.
“Expected compliance requirements … and political scrutiny have likely increased the focus on establishing the credibility of reported sustainability data,” the report said.
As artificial intelligence continues to proliferate, more companies are disclosing AI governance policies alongside sustainability and ESG data, Teneo said. Fifty-five percent of companies referenced having an AI governance policy in their sustainability reports this year, with 12% of those companies providing specific details.
Though companies are looking to disclose their AI policies, workforce demographics disclosures are dropping out of reports as scrutiny on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives heats up. Teneo found that 72% of companies included an inclusion section of their report, but the number of companies disclosing workforce demographic data fell from 92% in 2025 to 64% in 2026.
