SECTION 06
ESG and Sustainability
Most North American workers say it matters that their company works to reduce environmental impact
The worker-level picture in North America is clear: environmental responsibility matters to people. 78% of North American workers say it is important to them that their company actively works to reduce its environmental impact (USA 78%, Canada 77%). This is up from 72% in 2025, a meaningful rise that holds firm despite the political headwinds around ESG in some markets.
More than half of workers in both countries also said they felt their company had focused more on sustainability in 2025 than in previous years (USA 56%, Canada 52%, North America 55%), up from 51% in 2024.
North America has a high proportion of companies working according to ESG frameworks
of North American workers say their business operates according to an ESG framework or guideline (USA 48%, Canada 46%). This is a dramatic increase from 33% in 2025. It’s a 14-point jump that makes ESG framework adoption one of the most significant year-on-year shifts in this year's data.
However, despite this growth, 27% of North American workers (USA 26%, Canada 28%) say they still don't know what an ESG framework is. This figure is up from 24% in 2025, suggesting that as corporate ESG adoption accelerates, the gap between what organizations report and what employees understand is actually widening. As frameworks are adopted and reported on at the corporate level, organizations clearly need to invest more in internal communication and employee education to bring their workforces along.
In terms of regulatory context: in the USA, California's climate disclosure laws including SB 253 (requiring large companies to disclose scope 1, 2, and 3 greenhouse gas emissions) and SB 261 (requiring disclosure of climate-related financial risk) have set a new bar for corporate sustainability reporting. These laws apply to companies doing business in California regardless of where they are headquartered. In Canada, the Canadian Sustainability Standards Board (CSSB) is working to align national standards with global frameworks such as ISSB.
As sustainability reporting obligations grow on both sides of the border, the gap between ESG adoption at the corporate level and genuine employee understanding will need to be actively closed.
