Building Business Resilience in a Changing Climate
Climate change is no longer a future risk for businesses, it is already affecting operations, supply chains, costs, investment decision and long-term competitiveness. Irish businesses are increasingly recognising that sustainability is not just about reducing environmental impact, it is also about building the resilience to adapt and thrive in a more uncertain world.
Research from the Skillnet Climate Ready Academy shows that while many organisations have strong sustainability ambition, they are still developing the capability, systems and skills needed to respond effectively to climate risk and translate strategy into operational reality.
The Green Skills Driving Competitiveness in Irish Enterprises: Insights from the Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing and Technology Sectors explores how Irish organisations perceive their sustainability capabilities and workforce competencies across three key sectors. Drawing on research with over 100 companies across Ireland, the findings point to a growing gap between sustainability ambition and the systems, skills, and execution capability needed to deliver measurable impact.
The report comes at a critical time. Businesses are navigating increasing climate risks, regulatory requirements, investor expectations, supply chain pressures, and changing customer demands. At the same time, the transition to a low-carbon economy is accelerating alongside rapid digital transformation. Together, these forces are reshaping the skills businesses need to remain competitive.
Sustainability ambition is strong
One of the clearest findings from the research is that Irish organisations are not lacking ambition. Across all sectors surveyed, businesses reported high maturity in sustainability mission, vision, and strategy. Many organisations have developed sustainability goals, aligned sustainability with corporate purpose, and recognised the strategic importance of climate action.
However, the research found a noticeable drop in maturity when organisations assessed their ability to execute sustainability strategies and create measurable business value from them. In practical terms, many businesses know what they want to achieve but are still developing the governance structures, operational systems, data capabilities, and workforce skills needed to make sustainability part of day-to-day business performance.
The challenge is no longer awareness. It is implementation.
Green skills are becoming business-critical
The report highlights that the green transition is fundamentally a skills transition. Sustainability capabilities are no longer confined to specialist environmental roles. They are increasingly becoming essential across leadership, operations, procurement, finance, risk, HR, and supply chain functions. At the same time, digitalisation is accelerating what researchers describe as the “twin transition” – the combined shift towards a low-carbon and more digital economy. Businesses now need people who can work across sustainability, data, technology, and operational transformation simultaneously. The strongest organisations are not simply building sustainability knowledge in isolation. They are integrating sustainability into decision-making, governance, reporting, innovation, and operational planning.
The report findings suggest that organisations perceive themselves to make faster progress and demonstrate stronger maturity when sustainability capability systems and workforce competencies evolve together. In contrast, where participants report a disconnect between these elements, they also report significantly slower progress.
Some areas are progressing faster than others
The research also identified major differences in capability across environmental domains. Climate change and pollution were the areas where organisations reported the highest levels of maturity. This is likely due to stronger regulation, clearer reporting requirements, and more established business practices.
However, areas such as biodiversity, water stewardship, resource efficiency, and circular economy capability remain significantly less developed across all sectors. This matters because future competitiveness will depend on a much broader understanding of sustainability risk and resilience.
The report also found that around half of participating organisations had not yet completed a comprehensive double materiality assessment – a process used to identify how sustainability issues impact the business and how the business impacts the environment and society. Without this level of analysis, businesses risk underestimating future operational, regulatory, and supply chain vulnerabilities.
Sector differences are emerging
The report identified clear differences in sustainability maturity between sectors.
Pharmaceutical companies demonstrated the strongest alignment between sustainability ambition, operational capability, and workforce competency. Manufacturing organisations showed progress but with uneven capability across different sustainability domains. The technology sector displayed strong ambition but the largest gap between strategy and operational delivery.
The findings reinforce an important point: sustainability transformation is not achieved through strategy alone. Businesses need leadership capability, technical expertise, operational systems, data literacy, governance structures, and workforce development working together. Organisations that build these capabilities in parallel are far better positioned to respond to climate risk, regulatory change, and market disruption.
From compliance to competitiveness
One of the strongest themes emerging from the research is that sustainability capability is increasingly linked to long-term business resilience and competitiveness.
Organisations that can effectively measure environmental impacts, understand climate risk, integrate ESG considerations into operations, and respond strategically to changing conditions will be better placed to attract investment, retain customers, strengthen supply chains, and identify new market opportunities.
For Irish enterprise, the transition is no longer about preparing for a future challenge. It is already reshaping how businesses operate today. The question is no longer whether organisations need sustainability capability. It is whether they can build it quickly enough to remain competitive in a rapidly changing economy.
You can access the full report by clicking the button below.