Sustainability and growth strategies? What may seem contradictory at first glance makes sense upon closer examination. To achieve sustainable (in the sense of lasting) success, companies must take sustainability seriously.

Sustainability in all its facets–ecological, social, and economic–represents one of the greatest challenges companies will face in the future. This involves:

• changing customer expectations, as customers expect companies to recognize their responsibility toward the environment and people; they expect companies to take measures to make their business operations more sustainable
• CSRD obligations under ESRS standards, which specifically address the business model and its impact on the outside world;
• supply chain responsibility (LkSG in Germany, EU Supply Chain Act),
• banks’ sustainability ratings and credit assessments, which influence financing costs
• and, last but not least, issues of energy supply and the associated sharp rise in energy costs.

In addition to the resulting pressure for change, however, these developments also open up numerous opportunities for new, sustainable growth. Meaningful and efficient corporate development must therefore always be sustainable corporate development–“Sustainable Business Development.”