The BMO Climate Institute 2025 Business Leaders Survey asked companies of all sizes what factors are driving business decisions associated with climate change.  More than half of respondents – 54% net – stated that taking steps to address climate change is good for their business. This result reflects what BMO is hearing from our clients and partners.  

Sustainable business decisions are increasingly being made with an eye toward profitability, competitiveness, and commercial outcomes. There is a growing awareness of the impact of climate change across value chains, and businesses may realize tangible financial, operational, and reputational gain from integrating climate change risks and opportunities into decision-making.   

But climate change is just one of many factors business leaders must consider when guiding their organizations in an increasingly complex environment. In some cases, climate considerations align with other organizational goals; but that is not always the case.  

The business advantages associated with sustainability can vary depending on sector, size of business, and geography. A recent internal survey of BMO’s commercial banking clients revealed: 

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  58% of respondents believe sustainability planning will have an impact on their company’s performance in the future, 

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  nearly a third believing the impact will occur in the next two years,  

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  61% of clients surveyed responded that they are mobilizing their company on climate action.  

BMO Climate Institute compiled some of the insights we have heard from clients and partners to understand how sustainability can align with broader organizational goals.  

Tom Steyer, Partner at Galvanize Investments, recently described at BMO’s Climate Solutions Conference: “Last year, 92% of new electricity generation globally was renewable. Nobody did it to be nice. It's cheaper, it's going to get even cheaper, and it's going to get a lot better.”  

Last year, 92% of new electricity generation globally was renewable. Nobody did it to be nice. It's cheaper, it's going to get even cheaper, and it's going to get a lot better.

-- Tom Steyer, Partner, Galvanize Investments  --

As technology matures and scales, sustainable business choices can result in financial benefits for companies of all sizes. One example of this is energy efficient equipment, including investments like renewable energy generation and storage equipment, heat pumps, and electric equipment or vehicles.  

This equipment can provide concrete sustainability benefits alongside financial benefits like reduced energy consumption and increased resilience to fluctuations in energy prices.  

Aysu Katun, Vice President of Sustainability at Greif, says “Sustainability is really integrated into our business strategy as a driver for performance. It enables us to reduce costs through greater, for example, energy efficiency or waste reduction, while also fueling revenue growth by offering responsible packaging solutions. This gives us a clear advantage with our customers who are making sustainability central to their procurement decisions.”   

Katun’s statement reflects trends uncovered by BMO Climate Institute’s 2025 Business Leaders Survey. One compelling finding was a shift in the key drivers cited by companies explaining why they are taking climate-oriented action. The share of companies citing customer expectations as a key driver rose to 38% in 2025, up from 31% in 2023, while those pointing to investor expectations increased to 25% from 22%.  

This growth signals that climate action is increasingly recognized by companies as a topic of importance for businesses’ external stakeholders. In 2024, 84% of the S&P 500 disclosed climate change risk factors in their public reporting, signifying that this information is increasingly expected by investors.   

Barbara Zvan, CEO of University Pension Plan, noted in a recent Sustainability Leaders episode that 35 jurisdictions globally – representing 60% of global GDP – have moved toward the adoption of sustainability and climate reporting standards. In Zvan’s experience, this shift has primarily been driven by investors. Recent research from Bain and the UN Principles for Responsible Investment echoes this sentiment, with 64% of private market investors surveyed agreeing that sustainability-linked value creation is important to the firm’s strategy and operations.  

Sustainable or climate-oriented products can actually be less expensive for consumers and customers – putting companies that invest in these products in a position to capture market value.

-- Angela Adduci, Senior Advisor, BMO Climate Institute --

On the customer side of the equation, climate action is also a growing expectation. While for some customers this may be a values-based expectation, it’s notable that sustainable or climate-oriented products can actually be less expensive for consumers and customers – putting companies that invest in these products in a position to capture market value.   

Torsten Lichtenau, who leads Bain’s global Carbon Transition Impact Area, recently told BMO “If you're a leader in low-carbon, if you have a good offering, if you're able to bring it to market, you can really get a commercial upside and get the flywheel working.” PwC’s 2025 Annual State of Decarbonization Report notes that products with sustainable attributes can achieve a revenue bump between 6%-25%.  

And ultimately, businesses who can meet customer expectations are well-positioned to help their customers capture financial benefits. As Tom Steyer put it: “Why do people want heat pumps? To be nice, or because they want a cheap effective way to heat their homes, so their bills are lower?”  

For investors and asset managers evaluating assets with a long lifespan, sustainable practices can provide a hedge against an evolving and often uncertain regulatory environment.

A prime example of this is commercial real estate. An analysis conducted by BMO Climate Institute in partnership with Forum Asset Management found that zero carbon buildings in Canada can be as profitable as buildings constructed to code, with the added advantage of resilience to future changes in building code, evolving investor expectations, and overall market value.

For investors and asset managers evaluating assets with a long lifespan, sustainable practices can provide a hedge against an evolving and often uncertain regulatory environment.  

A prime example of this is commercial real estate. An analysis conducted by BMO Climate Institute in partnership with Forum Asset Management found that zero carbon buildings in Canada can be as profitable as buildings constructed to code, with the added advantage of resilience to future changes in building code, evolving investor expectations, and overall market value.  

Paul Morassutti, Chairman of CBRE Limited, noted on the Sustainability Leaders podcast that “the parts of the industry that continue to stick their head in the sand… may end up with assets…that are not worth as much as other assets that have proper sustainability strategies in place.”  

Kathy Thurston, Executive Director and Director of Sustainable Finance for PGIM Real Estate, similarly notes a focus on protecting investment capital by maintaining the value of assets: “We focus on issues of sustainability like energy, water, waste reduction strategies, and developing and operating efficient buildings because that in turn will attract residents … when you think about operating very efficient buildings it just makes good business sense.”  

In an era of increasing uncertainty, sustainable practices can also align to operational resilience. One key example is on-site renewable generation and storage, which can create a buffer against grid disruptions and fluctuating energy prices.

Another business decision that can contribute to operational resilience is taking steps to understand and mitigate physical climate risk to assets, operations, and people.

Resilience is also an increasingly critical consideration for supply chains, which are vulnerable to disruption due to physical hazards and issues like water scarcity.  Recognizing and integrating resilience into supply chains can help minimize these disruptions.  

As companies face an evolving and increasingly complex global environment, corporate strategies that integrate climate and sustainability-factors can build resilience across a company’s value chain and drive financial performance.   

However, these opportunities are not always clear-cut, and there is still much for business leaders to consider when making sustainability-oriented decisions. Challenges including data sources, competing priorities, and cost considerations can present obstacles to the incorporation of climate into decision-making.  

But as our 2025 Business Leaders Survey shows, decision-makers are increasingly aware of the enduring benefits of integrating climate considerations into how they do business.