Futerra’s Plans To Support You In 2026

2026 is going to be an odd year for sustainability. Weather louder than politics? CHECK. Politics louder than the facts? CHECK. And everyone is still expected to be on track for 2030 Net Zero. DOUBLE CHECK.

Which is why I feel oddly calm about it.

Futerra has always done our best work in difficult times. Not because we enjoy choppy waters. We love upwaves more than downwaves. But because uncertainty forces clarity. When the easy marketing stops working, you either become more straightforward, more strategic, and more imaginative - or you get left behind, or drop out altogether.

So, what does 2026 have in store for our work?

Our strength: ‘human intelligence’.

Right now, the world needs people who understand the nuances, risks and opportunities in sustainability policies and strategies, supply chain transformation, corporate comms, behaviour change, audience insight, and the psychology of trust.

Futerra’s advantage in 2026 is our deep bench. Many of our team are sustainability thought leaders in their own right. Others have decades of leading in-house teams as a corporate CSO.

You might notice that I haven’t yet mentioned ‘AI’. Futerrans are adept with AI as a tool, which is increasing our speed and productivity. But let me be clear: Futerra clients return to us for decades because of our incomparable human expertise, influence and connection to the global stakeholders. Not for AI churned reports and benchmarks, or Chat written messaging.

HI (Human Intelligence) is aided by AI in Futerra, it’s never replaced.

Our experts can walk into a Boardroom and help sell in your strategy. They can call five of your most influential stakeholders and ask for feedback, because Futerrans have worked with those stakeholder for years, and have their respect. When we benchmark, when we develop narratives, when we hone goals, or build campaigns, there’s always an expert hand at the tiller.

This discernment is what clients like Google, Danone, L’Oréal, IKEA, Grupo Bimbo, Sky and others come to us for, over years of partnership. And we’ve recently added new ones, from Boots and Panasonic, to Project Dandelion and FEMSA Coca Cola.

In 2026, our human expertise will be put firmly in service of clients navigating these tricky waters.

Changing the sustainability story

Here is a truth that will annoy some people: sustainability communications must transform in 2026. Fewer ‘claims’ by brands, more ‘benefits’ to consumers. Less about your purpose, more about your consumers’ needs.

In some cases, sustainability might need a total redraft. We’re working right now to replace terms like ‘ESG’ with more widely understood language like ‘responsibility’, ‘transparency’, ‘protecting nature’ and ‘respecting communities’. This has helped to protect sustainability in places where senior leadership are seeking to avoid controversy.

In 2026, the best sustainability marketing will focus relentlessly on audience benefits. Real value: better lives, better products, better communities, better resilience, better performance. The organisations that win will be the ones who can translate sustainability from “what we promise” into “what you get”.

For example, we partnered with Crocs in developing a central sustainability concept that built on their core brand proposition of ‘everyone being comfortable in their own shoes’ by making sustainability about creating ‘a more comfortable world for all’.

The inside game: staff engagement becomes the main stage

For years, companies treated employee engagement as an internal newsletter problem. In 2026 it becomes a core capability. Because in a challenging climate, the people who make sustainability real are the commercial teams, the procurement leads, the product designers, the operators, the managers, the regional teams, and the frontline staff. They are also the best and most credible storytellers a company has, if they believe what they are saying.

See our recent work on creating a rewards-driven training program for British Airways and Grupo Bimbo E-learning.

We will do more work helping organisations bring staff with them: building internal narratives that are honest about trade-offs, and equipping teams to sell the organization’s sustainability commitments.

Global, not generic: US, EU, South America, Asia

In 2026, sustainability is regional. The global picture of regulation varies, as does politics and, crucially, cultural expectations. That makes the risks and opportunities different in each market. A message that lands in the EU can backfire in the US, and a tactic that works in one LATAM market might need an entirely different framing in another. We’re finding that Asia’s pace and scale of delivery on sustainability demand a level of practicality and partnership that Western frameworks sometimes forget.

Futerra’s work across the US, EU, South America, and Asia is growing. We have welcomed new partners, such as FEMSA Coca-Cola and the Tsao Family Foundation.

What 2026 really has in store

My key word for this year is tenacity. A decisive move away from performative sustainability and towards sustainability that can take a hit and keep moving.

Futerra is built for that. Built to anticipate what is next, because we watch culture as closely as we watch policy. We can navigate difficult waters, because we have been doing it long enough to know that what we do in the down waves sets the scene for the upwaves.

We’d love to partner with you, and hear what you have in store for 2026.