How to foster more productive NGO-corporate relationships as a CSO

Civil society is a crucial driver of transformation for companies – but the relationship between NGOs and the corporate world is sometimes too conflictual to be productive. Sustainability leaders and nonprofits share their top advice for better collaboration.

At a convening of sustainability leaders in the summer of 2025, two Chief Sustainability Officers had a disagreement. One regretted that civil society was “taking a massive hit”, with Greenpeace fined US$660 million (later reduced to US$345 million) in a US lawsuit brought by oil company Energy Transfer. They wished for “a more coherent civil society voice” to help the business world hold the line around sustainability and climate goals, and missed their presence at the table.