From Ambition to Action: What the 2025 Global Sustainability Barometer Means for ANZ Tech and Sustainability Leaders
Posted by Tim Prosser | Founding Director, Sustainably Digital
The pressure on organisations to deliver tangible environmental results is intensifying. For technology and sustainability professionals in Australia and New Zealand, the mandate is no longer just about setting ambitious net-zero targets—it's about execution.
The recently released third edition of the Global Sustainability Barometer Study, conducted by Ecosystm, provides a timely pulse check. Surveying 1,286 enterprise leaders across 20 countries, the 2025 report reveals a critical shift: the line between environmental responsibility and business performance has disappeared.
Here is a breakdown of the study's key findings and what they mean for ANZ leaders looking to bridge the gap between sustainability planning and progress.
1 . ROI is the Ultimate Catalyst for Momentum
Globally, 85% of organisations rate environmental sustainability as a top strategic priority, yet only 17% have embedded it as a core driver of innovation and long-term resilience.
What separates the leaders from the laggards? The business case.
The study highlights that momentum relies heavily on identifying clear financial value. In fact, for Australian organisations that accelerated their sustainability efforts this past year, the biggest driver was "measurable ROI or new revenue opportunities". Globally, 54% of organisations that sped up their initiatives did so thanks to a stronger business case, while 48% of organisations cite a lack of clear ROI as their biggest barrier. To keep sustainability programs alive in ANZ, leaders must explicitly link green initiatives to operational efficiency, cost savings, and new revenue streams.
2. IT Must Become the Enterprise Sustainability Engine
Technology teams are uniquely positioned to drive environmental impact, and their role is rapidly expanding. 57% of organisations now report that IT goes beyond managing its own carbon footprint to actively support enterprise-wide sustainability goals, a significant jump from 38% in 2024.
However, true strategic alignment remains rare. Only 26% of sustainability leaders hold a formal role in IT governance. For ANZ organisations to thrive, IT and sustainability teams must break down their silos. IT needs to bake sustainability into every modernisation decision—moving away from pure "rip-and-replace" strategies toward a "blended modernisation" approach that evaluates infrastructure, cloud migration, and software design through an environmental lens.
3. The AI Advantage: Moving from Tracking to Autonomous Action
Artificial Intelligence is transforming sustainability from a reactive reporting exercise into proactive, data-driven optimisation.
Predictive AI: Organisations are increasingly using AI to look forward rather than just backward. 49% of organisations now forecast resource use and emissions to anticipate future impact, and 47% use AI to anticipate climate risks to operations and assets.
Agentic AI: The next frontier is autonomous action. Agentic AI can monitor data streams, identify inefficiencies, and execute corrective measures in real-time. While still in its early stages (only 9% are currently deploying it for sustainability), Agentic AI promises to close the loop between data insights and execution, optimising everything from energy use to supply chain logistics.
A critical caveat for IT leaders: As you scale AI, you must account for its massive energy consumption. Currently, only 43% of organisations consider the environmental impact when deploying AI solutions. Sustainable AI architecture must be a priority.
4. Overcoming the Data Integration Barrier
You cannot optimise what you cannot accurately measure. The study found that data management remains a massive hurdle, with 55% of organisations struggling to collect relevant data from multiple internal systems and 47% challenged by integrating sustainability data with core business systems.
To move forward, ANZ leaders must build unified digital platforms that centralise data, ensure audit-ready quality, and generate real-time dashboards. Without this foundation, AI tools will lack the high-quality data they need to function, and efforts will remain fragmented.
The Playbook for 2025 and Beyond
For technology and sustainability leaders in Australia and New Zealand, the path forward is highly collaborative. The organisations successfully making this transition—dubbed "Integration-Focused" in the study—do things differently:
They empower employees by linking performance to sustainability incentives.
They integrate data across all operational systems.
They prioritise measurable ROI to ensure continuous executive buy-in.
They deploy AI not just for analysis, but for action.
By aligning strategy, people, and advanced technologies, ANZ businesses can turn their environmental commitments into a measurable competitive advantage.
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