Is there really a recession in sustainability recruitment?

There has been a lot of noise about a sustainability ‘recession’ this year – but what does recruitment data tell us? 

Based on exclusive data collected by CSO Futures, there were 44 senior sustainability appointments (Chief Sustainability Officer or equivalent) in the first half of 2025, that's 1.7 per week. April was the busiest month with 10 appointments.

This suggests a slight downward trend from 2024, which saw a total of 104 appointments. But several talent firms consulted by this publication confirmed that recruitment is likely to accelerate in the second half of the year.

This data tells many different stories – but the headline is in the sector distribution, with the financial sector representing nearly a third of the total.

Sustainability recruitment in the financial sector

The financial sector stands out as the top recruiter of senior sustainability professionals, making up nearly 30% of all hires. At a time when many banks and investment firms appear to walk back on at least some of their climate commitments, this trend is a positive sign that banks, insurers and investment firms still consider sustainability as a priority.

Alex Hyde, Principal Sustainability Executive Search Consultant at Venari Partners believes the level of hiring into financial services “isn’t a surprise and is very positive.” He explained: “Financial services is at the sharp edge of sustainability and climate. Despite pushback from the US, it’s pension funds, long-term investors, insurers and the like who are going to drive climate action, because the costs of inaction are too great. If financial services hiring had gone quiet, I think there would have been real cause for concern about the sustainability and climate agendas, and therefore leadership hiring. But in January, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock were in the market at the same time looking to appoint at a very senior level and we’ve since seen the likes of HSBC, Aviva, Lloyds, EBRD, Mizuho and Moodys actively hiring.”

Within the financial sector, banks hired the largest number of Chief Sustainability Officers in the first half of the year, followed by asset managers and insurance firms.

It is, however, interesting to look at the context behind some of these appointments. HSBC, for instance, entered the market for a new CSO at the end of last year after Celine Herweijer decided to step down after nearly four years – a decision she announced shortly after HSBC controversially demoted its top sustainability leader from the executive committee. Herweijer, who had joined after 12 years in PwC’s sustainability practice, was quickly replaced by Julian Wentzel, a banking veteran with little sustainability experience.

A similar story can be found at Wells Fargo: long-time CSO Robyn Luhning departed last year, leaving a leadership gap that was only filled in February by Jeffrey Schub as Head of Sustainability – not CSO.

Also in the first half of this year, both HSBC and Wells Fargo pushed or dropped some of their climate targets, and left the Net Zero Banking Alliance.

It’s worth noting that while banks were the largest single recruiter of Chief Sustainability Officers at the start of 2025, one bank (Barclays) lost its Global Head of Sustainability Laura Barlow, and chose not to replace her – transferring her responsibilities to Daniel Hanna as Group Head of Sustainable and Transition Finance.

Emma Hawker, Director at sustainable recruitment specialist Allen & York, comments: “We're finding more mid-range opportunities than Head of/Director level – despite there being a significant number of senior and exec candidates expressing interest in roles. There still appears to be a requirement for talent, however, it may be that the leadership element is being subsumed by existing roles at exec level – with the actual implementation and analysis being conducted at lower level.”

Consumer goods, food and minerals seek talent to tackle climate challenges

Beyond the financial sectors, these three industries – all heavily affected by the climate crisis – were the second-largest hirers of Chief Sustainability Officers or equivalent roles. 

Dagmara Kruczkowska, Founder and MD at LevelUp Sustainability Recruiting, says she has seen a similar sector breakdown in practice: “Certain sectors like finance, energy, consumer goods, FMCG, and tech are hiring senior sustainability talent more actively because these roles are now tightly linked to business strategy, risk management, and reporting obligations. Companies in these sectors face pressure from regulators, investors, and customers, so having senior expertise in-house is essential. At the same time, these roles allow organisations to drive real impact, embed sustainability across operations, and stay competitive in a fast-changing market.”

A few high-profile examples include Lululemon, which in May appointed former Nike CSO Noel Kinder as Senior Vice President of Sustainability, reporting to Ted Dagnese, Chief Supply Chain Officer; Mars, which in January elevated Alastair Child to Chief Sustainability Officer after 23 years at the firm – mostly in sustainability; and Australian exploration and mining company IGO, which named Suzy Retallack as Chief People and Sustainability Officer in June.

“That said, we are also seeing cases where companies replace senior sustainability leaders with more junior hires. This is often driven by cost-cutting or short-term thinking, but it comes with risks, reducing senior expertise can limit strategic impact, slow down ESG initiatives, and make it harder to navigate complex reporting and regulatory requirements. On the flip side, it also creates opportunities for smaller, growth-focused firms to attract experienced talent and shape sustainability strategy from the ground up,” Kruczkowska adds.

Where were CSO or equivalent roles eliminated in the first half of 2025?

Six companies lost their CSOs or senior sustainability leaders in the first half of this year and either eliminated the role (Pentair, HSBC Asset Management, BP) or have yet to announce a replacement (DP World, Decathlon, Dell). 

At the same time, two companies phased out the CSO position and replaced it with a different title: Barclays as mentioned above, and Interface, which promoted its Global Head of Sustainability Strategy Liz Minné as CSO Nigel Stansfield retired.

At least two companies demoted their CSO from the executive committee: HSBC and Inditex. And one company changed CSOs twice within six months: Schneider Electric.

“We’re seeing more companies re-position’ sustainability leadership, rather than get rid of them entirely, though this does often mean hiring at a different, less-senior, level,” notes Hyde at Venari Partners. 

“The above also needs to be considered in the context of a decline in peak sustainability or peak CSO hiring. The sustainability profession and function, and boardroom perceptions of it, are maturing as they become more business as usual, and the climate, ESG and sustainability backlash from the US has acted as a catalyst for a change that was already taking place, with it becoming more apparent how different businesses were really approaching the subject. Namely who is truly committed, who jumped on for the ride but weren’t prepared or didn’t see the need to really invest, those who would like to do more but have more pressing immediate and short-term challenges and those who are actively against.

“We also need to understand that many CEOs have come under increasing pressure from investors to decrease the number of direct reports to focus on ‘core-business’ in global economic conditions that are very different to those when we started seeing the emergence of the CSO around 2018-2022,” he adds.

Regional breakdown

The regional breakdown confirms recent surveys of sustainability professionals that showed that sustainability remains a priority for businesses even in the US, where the political environment has dramatically shifted since the start of 2025.

The EU saw the largest number of appointments (14), followed by the US and Canada (13) and the UK (10).

Role breakdown

Chief Sustainability Officer remains the most used title for top sustainability leadership, followed by ‘CSO+’, ie. Chief Sustainability and Communications/People/Strategy Officers. 

At least 14 of the senior sustainability leaders appointed by June 30, 2025 are the first CSO or Head of Sustainability appointment at the company, while at least 20 were not the first in the role. A large majority (at least 25) report to their CEO or managing director.