For years, the sustainability agenda was built around ambition. Today, it is defined by choices.
Companies are expected to decarbonize, protect biodiversity, strengthen supply chain resilience, accelerate circularity, drive social impact, adopt AI, and deliver growth - all at the same time. Yet resources, capital, talent, and management attention are finite.

As economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, and technological disruption intensify, sustainability leaders face a new reality: not every priority can move at the same pace. The question is no longer whether to act, but where to focus first.

What deserves investment when budgets tighten? How should leaders balance short-term business pressures with long-term climate commitments? Can companies pursue growth, resilience, innovation, and sustainability simultaneously, or will difficult compromises become unavoidable?

Moving beyond vision statements and targets, this session focuses on the decisions that leaders are making today and the consequences those choices will have for the future of business and society.

For Bosch Electrified Motion, the transition to electrified vehicles goes hand in hand with reducing CO2 emissions across the value chain. A competitive “cradle-to-gate” CO2 performance is becoming an increasingly important consideration alongside other key business requirements.

This session will explore how Bosch is approaching the evolving landscape of CO2 requirements, including some of the challenges and considerations involved. It will also look at the role suppliers can play in supporting progress towards a more decarbonized and competitive value chain.

Innovation is considered key to the sustainable transformation of companies. However, not every new technology, pilot project, or product idea automatically leads to measurable improvements. Faced with limited budgets, rising expectations, and growing transformation demands, companies are challenged to deploy innovation initiatives strategically where they have the greatest impact.

The panel will discuss how sustainable innovations can be evaluated, prioritized, and scaled to create genuine environmental, social, and economic value. The focus will be on questions such as whether technological solutions or new business models generate the greater impact, how companies can strike a balance between sustainability impact and economic viability, and what role startups, partnerships, and internal innovation processes play in this process. This is not about innovation for its own sake, but rather about the crucial question: Where does sustainable impact arise that goes beyond individual projects and enables genuine transformation?

To this day, nearly 100% of seagoing vessels rely on fossil fuels. This has significant consequences for the environment, the health of people in port cities, and, not least, the climate. Solutions are available, both in terms of regulations and technology, to make ships more environmentally and climate-friendly. A few companies are leading by example, but the industry as a whole remains far behind its potential. Unfortunately, many continue to prioritize cheap and dirty options, at the expense of people and nature. How can this be changed, and who has the solutions?

In preparation

Here you can see innovative startups that present clever new solutions on sustainability topics. The best three will receive a Sustainability Summit Startup Award - vote!

Sustainability only has an impact when it is not viewed in isolation but is deeply embedded within the company. This panel discussion will explore how to successfully transition from individual initiatives to a holistically integrated sustainability strategy. The focus will be on how companies embed sustainability into their processes, decisions, and structures, thereby achieving genuine transformation that goes beyond symbolism and creates measurable impact.

The best three speakers on this stages are to be honored. You decide which speakers you found particularly inspiring, charismatic and innovative. At the end of the day, we will honor the best speaker of the day on each stage. Voting takes place via our app.

Rising energy prices, raw material shortages, extreme weather events, and increasing regulatory requirements are putting pressure on companies. Sustainability is becoming a decisive factor for stable supply chains and resilient business models. Companies that use resources efficiently, close loops, and reduce dependencies increase their resilience to disruptions and remain capable of taking action.

In this panel discussion, experts will explore how companies can make their supply chains more robust, identify risks early on, and strategically leverage sustainability to ensure security of supply, competitiveness, and long-term stability.

From current market trends to CSRD requirements and specific financing examples: This keynote presentation demonstrates how sustainable finance works in practice and how banks, as strategic partners, contribute to the successful implementation of sustainability strategies.

Strategies have been formulated, but implementation remains the biggest challenge.
Where do companies really fall short?

AI is considered a driver of efficiency, innovation, and sustainable transformation. At the same time, its energy and resource requirements are rising rapidly. Data centers are being expanded, electricity consumption is reaching new heights, and the demand for water, infrastructure, and critical raw materials is growing. This raises an uncomfortable question: Will artificial intelligence itself become one of the greatest sustainability challenges of the coming years?

The panel will examine the environmental impacts of the global AI boom and discuss how companies, technology providers, and policymakers can address the rising demand for resources. Where are the greatest environmental burdens occurring? Can efficiency gains offset the growing emissions? And how can innovation and sustainability be reconciled as the demand for computing power continues to rise?

The circular economy is considered key to a sustainable and resilient economy. However, between ambitious regulatory requirements and the realities of business operations, there are often high costs, complex supply chains, and a lack of markets for circular products. In this fireside chat, we’ll have an open discussion about where regulation provides necessary momentum, where it hinders companies, and under what conditions the circular economy can actually become economically viable.

Fair wages, safe working conditions, and genuine equality of opportunity are on every agenda, while at the same time costs, competitive pressure, and regulatory requirements are on the rise. Companies are increasingly caught in a dilemma where social responsibility is desired but not always consistently implemented. This panel addresses the uncomfortable question of how much social sustainability is actually possible under real market conditions. The discussion will explore where companies are consciously making compromises today, which conflicting goals cannot be easily resolved, and how social standards can still be advanced credibly and effectively without jeopardizing their own competitiveness.

The best three speakers on this stages are to be honored. You decide which speakers you found particularly inspiring, charismatic and innovative. At the end of the day, we will honor the best speaker of the day on each stage. Voting takes place via our app.