Guest Article
By Rachel Decelis

Some months ago, when the EU Omnibus[*] was still being negotiated and the sentiment around sustainability regulation felt particularly hostile, I posted on LinkedIn about how lonely sustainability can get. Within hours, a message arrived from a fellow professional:

“Your post today really hit home. We didn’t choose the easiest career. Our sustainability compass keeps us on course, despite the raging storms around us. Sometimes it is so lonely, and so much easier to give up. But when you know what is happening in the world is not fiction but fact, you can’t ‘unknow’. Even just one person willing to listen can make that difference.”

We met for tea. An hour in, we were still talking.

This is not an isolated story. I have worked in sustainability for two decades, supporting clients in various sectors. And I’ve noticed a critical risk embedded in many organisations: the profession whose entire job is to make other sectors sustainable is, in many organisations, designed to be unsustainable.

Why has sustainability been designed as a solitary profession?

HR has teams. Finance has teams. Marketing has teams.

But the sustainability “team” is, in most of the companies I’ve worked with, one person. Occasionally two.

This little team holds the environmental, social and governance weight of an entire organisation – climate, human rights, biodiversity, data, assurance, and value chain impacts, now including AI – and is expected to handle this alone.

It’s work that often matters deeply to the person doing it, with real consequences for the organisation and the world. But it rarely has a real budget, or the authority the role requires.

The sustainability identity crisis

Many of us are now navigating a perfect storm. With the Omnibus package finalised in early 2026, the number of EU companies within CSRD scope dropped from 50,000 to 5,000. The rest are large companies navigating a no-man’s land. Their suppliers, investors, lenders, and customers still expect them to ‘do something’ – even if that ‘something’ is unclear; the climate is still warming, as this summer’s heatwaves across Europe remind us; and every email with the word ‘sustainability’ arrives in their inbox.

And yet, justifying their role has gone from something taken for granted to an uphill struggle.

I recently met a friend for coffee whose company, despite its early fervour for sustainability, is now thinking of folding her role, on the basis that, now they’re out of scope of CSRD, she ‘no longer has a job to do’.

Another was asked to produce a cost-benefit analysis weighing the company’s sustainability spend – his salary included – against the returns. Quantifying the energy and water savings was the easy part – though even that was met with, “Isn’t that Engineering’s job?” The impossible part was putting a number on reputation, risk reduction, and the customers and investors attracted to the company because of its sustainability credentials.

The Bermuda triangle: Stress, burnout, and impostor syndrome

This constant second-guessing takes a toll. Post-CSRD, many of my peers are asking: what even is sustainability, and what is my role – coordinator, implementer, reporter, all of the above? How do I show I’m adding value? Should I take on more, just to prove I’m still relevant? It leads to tragic bean-counting, where, instead of getting on with your job, you pour your energy into justifying your existence. All while knowing, because you’ve studied it and experienced it first-hand, that poor sustainability performance results in real human and environmental impacts, and risks to the organisation.

No wonder sustainability professionals are experiencing burnout in large numbers.

And ESG burnout often brings a friend: impostor syndrome. Classic impostor syndrome manifests as a high-achieving professional feeling like a fraud, despite the evidence. It’s common: three-quarters of senior women in one KPMG study said they’d experienced it.

The ESG twist is that you genuinely don’t know everything. Nobody does. Nobody can. When sustainability is so broad, it’s impossible to be an expert on everything.

Yet sustainability leads are expected to have the answer to anything with an E, S or G label. CSRD, CBAM, CSDDD, EUDR, the list goes on. And because we care – and are scared for our jobs – we try to make it work.

Impossible deadline? I’ll work late. Outside my field of expertise? I’ll research it. No budget for software? I’ll do it manually. CEO has no time? I’ll make the decision myself.

Something went wrong? Then it must be me.

I have news. It’s not you.

“The sustainability girl”

Overwhelmingly, it is women who carry this burden. Women made up 65% of US public-company CSOs in 2025. Two-thirds of Futur/io’s 100 leading European corporate CSOs are women.

The numbers look encouraging. But having the title of CSO is not the same as having a budget or a seat at the commercial table. Indeed, as research undertaken by the Women in Sustainability Network and Newcastle University in 2022 to explore gender parity in climate leadership shows, women may be at the table, but often they do not feel they are able to influence decision making. Several of those stories shared in that report echo my own experience, as well as that of many women I’ve worked with.

The following may sound trivial, but the compounded impact of it is not. Some of the women I’ve worked with find themselves being introduced internally as “the sustainability girl.” The framing is often affectionate. Rarely hostile. But it is always diminishing.  And this shapes how seriously sustainability is taken, who gets invited to the strategic conversation, and whether her ask for a second hire is treated as a real request or a nice-to-have.

I’ve been the only woman in a boardroom more times than I can count. Interrupted mid-sentence many times. Over the years I’ve developed my own ways of handling it – a knowing half-smile, describing myself pre-emptively as a “fanatic”, the occasional, “sorry, I didn’t realise you hadn’t finished”, dropping my pitch a register so I’m heard.

As my authority has grown, I’ve learnt to use it for others: “Let’s hear what so-and-so thinks”, or “I’m conscious X has something to share and hasn’t spoken yet”. The real-time, practical input from male allies in this regard is also vital. 

Sustainability cannot be designed as a solitary profession

A 2024 Oxford Brookes Business School and Climate Change Coaches report underlines how much coaching, soft skills training and mentoring matter in keeping sustainability professionals well. A strong peer network is also a crucial part of the equation.

I was recently invited to a networking event organised by the local alumni chapter of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. We met at a bar on a Wednesday night. Ordered beer and cocktails – the place does happy hour – and talked. All of us, without exception, shared similar values and struggles. For once, it was a relief not to have to make the business case, again.

Before we left, someone said, “This is like therapy!” And it was. The connection was cathartic. We went home reassured that our struggles were not imaginary, and with a WhatsApp group to act as a helpline on difficult days.

“Remember you are not alone. Nor are you supposed to know everything. Nobody is. The rest of us are here.”

What’s the fix?

In my view, the fix is shared between employers and practitioners.

To employers. Done right, sustainability is a driver of strategy, resilience and long-term value. Someone has to lead the work of managing a company’s impact on people and planet, and the risks both pose back to the business. So stop second-guessing your hire. As one client recently put it, out of scope of CSRD does not mean off the hook for sustainability.

The role is increasingly a strategic, change-management one that runs on collaboration and coalition-building. Hire at the right level of seniority and support accordingly.

If you’re a large organisation, treat the function the way you treat Finance or Legal: with a team, a budget, and authority.

If you’re a small organisation, a “team of one” may be all that’s feasible. But support is not optional. Fund coaching, peer networks and external mentorship as you would fund training for any other role. The ROI is large – and the risk of failure without it is larger. Don’t let them do it alone.

To practitioners. Build your community. Join professional networks – such as the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP), Women in Sustainability Network, and the growing sector-specific networks worldwide.

And where the network you need doesn’t exist, build it. At KPMG, I co-founded the ESG in Gaming Roundtable, bringing together heads of sustainability from leading gaming groups worldwide. I started it because every lead I spoke to mentioned how lonely their role was, and how much more we could do together. We meet quarterly – once a year in person in Malta – and share challenges and solutions. At our last event, one member shared how she was looking for ways to ‘give better’ through their CSR programme, so I made her aware of the Academy of Givers, whose focus is exactly that. Other members compared notes on supplier engagement for Scope 3 emissions. Create what works for you. 

Find a mentor or coach a few years ahead of you. Someone who can both back you and challenge you. I’ve found coaching invaluable, in tough times and for growth. Look inside your organisation first; if the right person isn’t there, ask your employer to sponsor an external one. Ask around, check LinkedIn, and get a feel for fit before you commit.

And if you can, answer the LinkedIn message. Reply to the email. Take the call. Connection eases eco-anxiety.

Remember you are not alone. Nor are you supposed to know everything. Nobody is.

The rest of us are here. And this community – that you either join or create – will help you keep well, and keep doing work that matters. 

Rachel Decelis is a chartered environmentalist and Fellow of ISEP. She runs her own environmental and sustainability consulting firm, where she also mentors sustainability professionals. She is always glad to answer a LinkedIn message.

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[*] The EU Omnibus Package refers to a set of legislative proposals by the European Commission aimed at simplifying and streamlining various EU regulations, particularly in the areas of sustainability reporting and corporate due diligence. This initiative sought to reduce administrative burdens on businesses while maintaining high environmental and social standards. The package was approved earlier in 2026.