FRIDAY 06 FEBRUARY 2026
© Konstantin Z / Adobe Stock
January is often touted as the time to think about the year ahead, but with all the kick-off meetings and email catch-up, it often ends up being a hectic period for those of us working in sustainability and innovation. By February, however, the year is in full swing, which makes it perhaps a better time to really dig into the industry-level trends impacting sustainability and decarbonisation.
Matt Hempstead Commissioning Editor Springwise
January is often touted as the time to think about the year ahead, but with all the kick-off meetings and email catch-up, it often ends up being a hectic period for those of us working in sustainability and innovation. By February, however, the year is in full swing, which makes it perhaps a better time to really dig into the industry-level trends impacting sustainability and decarbonisation.
Matt Hempstead Commissioning Editor Springwise
To help you with your horizon scanning, we’ve convened a panel of 12 experts in manufacturing, maritime shipping, vehicle fleets, aviation, real estate, packaging, and construction to share their predictions for the year ahead and beyond.
Why these sectors? Some of them, such as maritime shipping and aviation, have clear innovation challenges, notably the transition to zero-emission propulsion. All of them impact the carbon footprint of most businesses, whether that’s through their direct operations or scope 3 emissions.
So, what were the high-level themes that emerged from our experts? For me, the stand-out takeaway is the transition from innovation in fundamental technologies to innovation in systems and scalability.
Several of our experts highlighted that the focus now needs to shift to collaboratively scaling the technologies we already have. We are now well into the second half of the decade, with 2030 (and its associated target deadlines) coming up quickly on the horizon. This is creating a new impetus to take sustainability-focused innovation seriously as a driver of operational change, rather than a splashy feel-good story. In short, innovation needs to move from the press release and the pitch deck to the balance sheet.
However the specifics of individual sectors play out, it is clear that businesses will be forced to experiment with new models of collaboration and new ways of thinking in our rapidly changing age."
Of course, it’s practically impossible in the current environment to avoid talking about AI. And with regards to the sustainability themes this report focuses on, I think there are two main ways it is having an impact beyond the efficiency benefits the technology itself promises.
First, AI has a tendency to take all the oxygen out of the room when it comes to startup funding. With such investor clamour for AI solutions, non-AI climate startups, especially those that develop hardware, are facing Darwinian pressure to articulate the business problem they solve and their path to scale (and revenue) more clearly than ever.
Second, AI disruption is driving corporates to embrace open innovation principles and startup collaborations. According to a 2025 report by consultancy Sopra Steria, 80 per cent of corporates now judge open innovation as ‘important’ or ‘mission critical’, up a whopping 20 per cent since 2023. The same research also found that more than three-quarters of corporates are planning to launch open innovation projects in the next two years, with the majority prioritising AI projects. This will create opportunities for innovators but also challenges, such as ensuring a cultural fit between very different organisations that optimises the respective strengths of larger and smaller businesses.
However the specifics of individual sectors play out, it is clear that businesses will be forced to experiment with new models of collaboration and new ways of thinking in our rapidly changing age.
We hope this report helps you as you think about these issues and we extend our heartfelt thanks to all our guest contributors for the time they’ve put into their sections.
It’s a cliché that is said every year, but 2026 needs to be a year of action – for the sake of people and planet.