Recalibration, Omnibus, Decathalon, Visualisation & Nox
Good Business - Sustainability | Strategy | Impact
June 20, 2025
1. Recalibrate, recharge, revitalise
2025 has turned out to be an interesting year so far, to put it mildly. The populist movement has continued to gather storm, and it’s sometimes felt as though every time we refresh our news feed there is another body blow to the sustainability movement. As we approach the year’s halfway point, we thought it was worth taking a step back and collecting our thoughts on where we are, and how we get back on the front foot, balancing the short-term reality with the long-term imperative for change. Our full response can be found here, and we would love the opportunity to discuss it further with any and all of you, and hear your own thoughts, reflections and ideas.
Long story short - we’re optimistic that this can be done. And we have never wavered in our belief in the power of business to create change, and the benefits to business of doing so. But we think it’s time for a bit of an internal reckoning as well. To face in to some of the critics of sustainability. To admit that there have been times when proclamations of promise outstripped the reality of progress and performance. And to accept that as the world changes, business needs to change with it.
This means a recalibration of target and goals makes sense, in many contexts. It is a time for delivery. And for locking sustainability ever closer to business resilience and value.
Maybe this is a growing up, a maturing of sustainability. A necessary step to provide the defences we need to stand firm to critics. And the foundations for powering business towards a transformative future.
2. Sustainability hits the brakes
A major shift is underway in the EU’s approach to corporate sustainability and it’s raising more questions than answers.
A tug of war is playing out between the European Commission and the Parliament and Council over how far and fast to push ESG regulation. The Commission has sought through the Omnibus to narrow the scope and ease obligations, especially for smaller companies, citing administrative burdens. The EU standards body EFRAG has also announced plans to significantly reduce mandatory datapoints under the sustainability reporting rules, aiming to cut them by more than 50%. The EU Council has pushed back, defending key parts of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). This back-and-forth is a standard part of EU policymaking, with the two institutions now headed for negotiations to hammer out a final compromise.
But this week, Jörgen Warborn, the European Parliament’s chief negotiator on the EU Omnibus, has published a draft report proposing sweeping changes to the regulation that go even further than the Commission’s earlier rollbacks.
One of the most significant changes proposed by the Omnibus was a dramatic reduction in scope for CSRD, raising the threshold to cover only companies with more than 1,000 employees, from the current 250 employee threshold. This new proposal raises that even further to 3,000 employees and introduces a €450 million turnover requirement.
It also introduces major changes to CSDDD, including the removal of mandatory climate transition plans (CTPs), eliminating the requirement for companies to show how they intend to decarbonise. In a world racing to limit the impacts of climate change, that’s a glaring omission.
There’s also a subtle but meaningful change in language: replacing “value chain” with “chain of activities.” It may sound minor, but this narrower definition would likely reduce the breadth of disclosures and undermine transparency.
The proposal further limits data collection from suppliers. While the Commission’s Omnibus introduced voluntary SME standards (VSMEs) to reduce reporting burdens, Warborn’s draft goes further, retaining the VSME limits, raising the SME threshold and allowing companies to meet obligations by explaining their efforts to obtain information and relying on data already public or previously obtained unless adverse impacts are suspected.
WWF warned the proposed changes would “effectively dismantle the reporting ecosystem” relied on by banks, insurers, and investors. Green MEPs and others have already indicated their intent to defend the original ambition of the legislation.
Final positions from the Parliament and Council are due in October, which will then kick off three-party negotiations, so we may still end the year uncertain about the outcome. However, if this proposal is taken forward, the future of EU sustainability reporting could look very different — and far less robust. We’ll be keeping a close eye on how things unfold, and we’ll let you know if (or when) the plot thickens.
3. In-store? Out-store…
Decathlon is turning up the heat this summer. With two initiatives promoting circularity, they’re meeting the moment as festival season and the sunshine call people outside in droves.
The first of Decathlon’s two initiatives kicks off in the Czech Republic, where they’re making it easier than ever to get moving. In partnership with YourLOX, Decathlon is rolling out “LOXs”: smart sports lockers placed in parks and outdoor spaces, stocked with free-to-rent gear like footballs, rounders bats, and badminton sets. It’s a clever way to encourage play, promote equipment sharing, and cut down on waste, all while making spontaneous fun just a locker away.
Decathlon’s second initiative takes aim at the mountain of waste left behind after UK festivals. Specifically, abandoned tents. This summer, they’re expanding their Summer Tent Pledge into a full-blown tent buyback scheme, allowing customers to return any Decathlon-branded tent (purchased between 10th June and 14th September) for its full value in the form of a gift card. Previously limited to a single model, the updated pledge broadens the scope, making it easier for festivalgoers to keep gear in use and out of landfills.
Two initiatives, one clear direction. Decathlon is making it easier to do good while getting out there - and living up to one of its core values: enriching people through responsibility.
4. Climate Change, Made Visible
How do you communicate the impact of nearly two centuries of climate change, in just a couple of minutes? Increasingly, the answer lies in creative visualisation. Show, don’t just tell. Two recent pieces from the New York Times caught our eye for doing just that.
The first, How Close Are We to Climate Tipping Points? uses spinning globes to map the fragile thresholds of our planet’s systems, from coral reefs to permafrost, ice sheets to ocean currents. It’s a powerful reminder that we’re closer than we think to irreversible change. The second, Bad Future, Better Future, is designed for children, but its message resonates with all ages. Through gentle watercolour illustrations, it tells the story of how we got here, and the two paths that lie ahead. One bleak. One hopeful.
What makes both pieces stand out is their use of creativity to cut through the noise. Climate change is often communicated through dense graphs and heavy data. But here, movement, colour, and storytelling bring the science to life, and make it stick.
One of the early examples of this approach was Warming Stripes, a minimalist visualisation of rising global temperatures since 1850. At first glance, it looks like abstract art. But look again, and you see the story of a warming world told in a single glance.
Why does this matter? Because how we communicate climate change shapes how we understand it, and how we act. The more accessible, emotional, and immediate we can make it, the better.
We’re always on the lookout for creative depictions that bring the climate crisis into focus. Seen something that made you stop and think? We’d love to hear about it.
5. Sleeper hit
A new contender is joining the European mobility game...and no, it’s not another budget airline charging £25 for extra air to breathe. Meet Nox Mobility, a Berlin-based startup that wants to take you across Europe via overnight trains with private rooms (solo or double). Think hotel room on rails, but at flight-level prices, starting at just €79 for a single and €149 for a double.
Launching in 2027, Nox plans to connect over 100 European cities by 2035, letting you doze off in Berlin and comfortably wake up in Barcelona, Prague, or Amsterdam. It’s slow, premium travel without five transfers or five-star prices. By offering a convenient alternative to flying, Nox also makes it more likely that business travel could shift to rail – a win for companies and the environment!
Some of our readers will know that Good Business has a slow travel policy, so this one has us especially excited. Greener, comfortable travel that’s actually within reach? Yes please! It’s still a couple of years away, but we’re already mentally booking our 2027 team retreat via Nox. Somewhere with excellent croissants, maybe.
Check them out and maybe start plotting your own guilt-free getaway while you're at it.
