Sustainability Value Triangle: Creating impact through Finance, IT, and Sustainability

Corporate sustainability is at a critical crossroads. While more private sector organizations than ever before are engaged in sustainability efforts, it has become increasingly more difficult to do this type of work. Are these efforts genuinely driving impact in a world that is pushing beyond its planetary boundaries? In light of growing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) backlash in some regions, will corporate sustainability work be limited to a narrower agenda and a more moderate approach? Or is there a path forward that accelerates corporate sustainability performance?

Despite these challenges, sustainability is becoming a core element of business strategy and operations. In that context, the business case for how sustainability can create value becomes even more important, both to build buy-in and to clarify specific action.

In 2024, GlobeScan and Salesforce published a report titled Sustainable Value Creation: Closing the gap between stated commitments and operational realities. This research identified major gaps between high ambitions on corporate sustainability and limited capital allocation and integration.

In 2025, this new research report – The Sustainability Value Triangle – builds on that work and focuses on solutions capable of closing the gaps identified previously. To conduct the research, we formed the Sustainability Value Creation Partnership, bringing together Accounting for Sustainability, SustainableIT.org, and the ERM Sustainability Institute, along with the original research partners, Salesforce and GlobeScan.

Together, we explore the roles of finance, sustainability, and information technology (IT) in terms of advancing sustainability integration and creating value. Each function plays an important role in creating the foundations of issue understanding, business case crafting, and reliable data that organizations need for all departments to execute on sustainability. Our study surveyed 320 business leaders globally across corporate finance, IT, and sustainability functions, and we conducted in-depth interviews with leading innovators. These practitioners’ expert insights help identify the key steps to sustainable value creation by enhancing integration into the business, making collaboration more effective, and improving timely decision-making.