The Net Positive Playbook … building a new generation of businesses that give more than they take … from Allbirds to Climeworks, Interface and Oatly … reinventing organisations for sustainable growth

May 19, 2025

The New Zealand footballer and his woolly sneakers, the Swiss climate entrepreneurs in remote Iceland, the French energy innovator who creates prosumers, the 87 year old fisherman who stood up to Trump, and the Swedish oat milk pioneer who can’t sing … How can they help you to innovate with more impact, and deliver more sustainable growth?

Challenge as Opportunity

As global challenges mount—climate change, biodiversity loss, inequality, resource scarcity, a new generation of companies is not only responding but thriving.

These sustainability-driven innovators are reframing capitalism, embedding environmental and social goals into the core of their strategy, and leveraging breakthrough concepts like circularity, regenerative design, stakeholder capitalism, and systems thinking.

They represent the vanguard of a new economic era—one in which commercial performance and positive impact are not in conflict but are mutually reinforcing.

Sustainability is no longer a compliance exercise or marketing trend. It is a core driver of innovation, competitiveness, and resilience. The most advanced sustainable innovators are those who view environmental and social challenges not as constraints, but as opportunities to innovate products and services, grow in new ways, and reimagine value creation.

They are leading the way toward an economy that is not only profitable, but also just, regenerative, and future-fit.

As pressures mount from investors, regulators, consumers, and the planet itself, more companies will be forced to follow this path. The future will belong to those who can align their business models with the well-being of people and the planet—and turn that alignment into enduring advantage.

Net Zero to Net Positive

Sustainability in business has long been framed by concepts like CSR, ESG, net zero, and circularity. While these remain critical, the next wave of innovation demands that companies go far beyond managing risk or reducing harm. Today’s leading businesses are embracing bold, transformative approaches that position sustainability as a powerful driver of innovation and growth, unlocking entirely new possibilities.

One of the most exciting shifts is the move toward regenerative economics and business models. Rather than simply minimizing environmental impact, companies are designing systems that actively restore natural capital and rebuild communities. This regenerative mindset pushes businesses to innovate products and supply chains that regenerate soil health, replenish biodiversity, and revive local economies—turning sustainability into a net positive force.

Conventional sustainability (CSR, ESG, and most “green” and “circular” initiatives) have typically been about causing less damage, making the world less bad, getting to net zero. Now is the time to go beyond those conventions – it’s time to give back more than you take, to make the world better, to create net positive impact. After all, every business should have a purpose as a fundamental premise, about how it creates a world better than if it didn’t exist.

Reinventing business

To truly transform, companies are also adopting systems thinking—understanding the complex interconnections between their business, society, and the environment. This systemic perspective drives cross-sector collaboration, where competitors, NGOs, governments, and communities co-create solutions to challenges no single actor can solve alone. From regenerative ocean farming coalitions to circular electronics ecosystems, this collective approach unlocks scale and impact.

Purpose-driven ecosystem leadership is another emerging trend. Here, companies act as platforms or hubs, orchestrating innovation networks and enabling suppliers, startups, and partners to align around shared sustainability goals. Embedding purpose deeply into governance and culture transforms sustainability from a compliance task into a strategic advantage and growth engine.

Nature-positive innovation is also redefining product development. Companies increasingly draw inspiration from biomimicry and invest in nature-based solutions that provide climate, biodiversity, and social benefits simultaneously. Advances in synthetic biology and biofabrication enable breakthroughs like lab-grown leather and mycelium packaging, disrupting traditional resource-intensive industries.

Digital sustainability and climate tech offer game-changing tools. AI, blockchain, IoT, and digital twins bring unprecedented transparency and precision to carbon tracking, resource efficiency, and supply chain optimization. New frontiers include carbon removal marketplaces and tokenized nature assets, opening fresh pathways to monetize and scale impact.

Embedding sustainability into human experience through behavioral design and well-being further advances impact. Products and services are crafted to nudge sustainable habits, connect people to nature, and support mental health—recognizing that personal and planetary health are intertwined.

Resilience and antifragility gain prominence as companies design systems that don’t just withstand shocks but thrive in disruption. Distributed energy, adaptive governance, and diversified supply chains prepare businesses for uncertainty while fostering long-term stewardship.

Finally, decentralization and democratization give communities, employees, and customers direct roles in sustainability through blockchain-enabled DAOs and crowdsourced innovation—making sustainability a shared, transparent endeavour.

Positive and profitable

Many business leaders have lost confidence in sustainability as a business priority over recent years. This is because most sustainability initiatives were developed separately from the core business model – for compliance, for reputation, and usually as a cost. They fail to deliver profits, and sustainable growth. But these ideas are absolutely not incompatible.

The term net positive, first used by former Unilever CEO Paul Polman, seemed like a distant ambition at the time. Today, with a new generation of companies on the rise, and new technologies to support their radical business models, it has now become far more possible. Climeworks, the direct air capture business, is a great example of this progress.

Business can be a force for good. Social regeneration and inclusive prosperity—moving beyond philanthropy to rebuild social capital and equitably value creation. Innovative business models like cooperatives and profit-sharing foster inclusion, while social metrics on well-being and equity, become as vital as environmental KPIs.

The best “net positive” companies do more for the world, and for their shareholders too. They create products and services that are good for the environment and society, but also better than competitors too. It tastes better, looks better, performs better. This requires more thoughtful innovation. Their brands align with the values of conscious consumers, and their propositions are more desirable and worth paying more for too.

They can grow, although maybe less physically, and deliver profits. Indeed, as investment gurus like BlackRock’s Larry Fink realised, they typically deliver more sustained (and sustainable) value creation. By rethinking how they innovative, how their business models and ecosystems work, and how they deliver mutual value for all stakeholders.

Look at the examples below, Allbirds to NextEra, Schneider Electric to Oatly. And many more.

At the heart of these trends lies transformative leadership and culture change. Leaders who embrace complexity, humility, and empathy cultivate cultures of experimentation and learning—turning sustainability into a continuous journey of innovation and impact.

Allbirds … Reinventing sneakers from wool, trees, and sugarcane

Allbirds, the San Francisco-based footwear company founded in 2016 by Tim Brown and Joey Zwillinger, has emerged as a standout example of how sustainability can be embedded in the DNA of a business—driving innovation, market differentiation, and financial growth. Born from the simple idea of creating a more sustainable shoe, Allbirds has transformed the footwear industry with radical transparency, regenerative materials, and a bold commitment to carbon accountability.

From the outset, Allbirds challenged the norms of an industry plagued by synthetic materials and high carbon footprints. Instead of petroleum-based fabrics, the company focused on natural, renewable alternatives—most notably, merino wool sourced from New Zealand, sugarcane-based EVA (branded as SweetFoam), castor bean oil insoles, and tree fiber uppers from FSC-certified eucalyptus. Each material choice was a deliberate attempt to lower the environmental impact while enhancing performance and comfort.

But Allbirds didn’t stop at sustainable materials—it reimagined the entire business model around carbon-conscious decision-making. In 2019, Allbirds began labeling every product with its carbon footprint, much like nutritional facts on food packaging. This level of transparency set a new standard in consumer goods and pressured competitors to follow suit. By internalizing the true cost of emissions, the company made sustainability a tangible and trackable part of its brand proposition.

Leadership has played a critical role in this transformation. Zwillinger, with a biotech and cleantech background, brought a systems-thinking approach to scaling green innovation. Together with Brown, they have fostered a culture that integrates design, science, and sustainability at every level of decision-making—from product R&D to supply chain logistics.

Allbirds also took the unusual step of open-sourcing its SweetFoam technology, allowing competitors to adopt the carbon-negative innovation in an effort to reduce the overall industry footprint. This move underscores the company’s belief in collaborative impact over competitive secrecy—a principle that has resonated with climate-conscious consumers and investors alike.

As of 2024, Allbirds has expanded into performance running shoes and apparel, while continuing to refine its carbon reduction goals. It became one of the first fashion brands to commit to near-term science-based targets (SBTi) and a net-zero trajectory by 2030. However, growth has not been without its challenges—especially in maintaining profitability during expansion and responding to shifting consumer demand post-COVID. Nevertheless, the company’s focus on innovation and long-term impact has positioned it as a resilient and future-facing brand.

The result is a business that not only delivers stylish, comfortable shoes but also serves as a proof point for how purpose and profit can be mutually reinforcing. Allbirds exemplifies the next generation of climate-native brands—those that view environmental urgency not as a constraint, but as a launchpad for rethinking everything.

Sustainability pillars:

  • Using natural materials like merino wool, eucalyptus fiber, and sugarcane-based EVA.

  • Developing carbon-negative foam and partnering with Adidas on the lowest-emission sneaker ever made.

  • Aligning its entire business with Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) and SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative).

Allbirds is proof that sustainability can be both stylish and scalable.

More about Allbirds

Climeworks … accelerating decarbonisation through direct air capture

Climeworks, a Swiss startup founded in 2009 by engineers Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher, has positioned itself at the frontier of climate innovation by building one of the world’s first commercially viable direct air capture (DAC) companies. In a time when decarbonization alone is no longer enough, Climeworks has reimagined what it means to lead in the climate economy—not by reducing emissions, but by removing them from the atmosphere entirely.

The company’s mission is both ambitious and urgent: to empower a climate-positive world by permanently removing CO₂ from the air. Climeworks’ proprietary technology uses modular DAC machines that capture atmospheric CO₂ using specialized filters and low-grade heat. Once captured, the CO₂ can be either stored underground—via partnerships like the one with Carbfix in Iceland—or reused in industrial processes. Unlike traditional offsets, which often come with questions around permanence and verification, Climeworks focuses on verifiable, measurable, and durable carbon removal.

In 2021, Climeworks launched Orca, the world’s largest DAC facility at the time, built in just 15 months in Iceland. Orca permanently stores around 4,000 tons of CO₂ per year underground in basalt rock formations. In 2024, it unveiled Mammoth, its second-generation facility with ten times the capacity, as part of its roadmap to scale carbon removal into the megaton range by the end of the decade.

Climeworks’ innovation is not just technical—it’s strategic. Recognizing that voluntary carbon markets were fragmented and often untrustworthy, the company set out to build an entirely new category of carbon removal, certified by independent standards and embraced by climate-conscious brands. Its early clients included Microsoft, Shopify, Stripe, and Swiss Re—companies that saw carbon removal not just as an offset, but as an investment in future-proofing their operations.

The leadership of Gebald and Wurzbacher has been defined by bold vision and patient capital. Rather than chasing short-term profits, they focused on scaling infrastructure, refining cost curves, and building long-term trust. In 2022, Climeworks raised over $600 million in the largest-ever investment in the DAC sector, a vote of confidence in its scalable model and technological credibility.

Climeworks also invests in public transparency and education, offering individual subscriptions for carbon removal and communicating openly about its methodologies and progress. This “consumer layer” adds visibility to a complex sector and helps normalize the idea of permanent carbon removal in everyday decision-making.

As the climate crisis accelerates, carbon removal is gaining acceptance not as a niche add-on but as a critical pillar in achieving net-zero and eventually net-negative emissions. By leading the commercialization of DAC, Climeworks is helping to define what responsible, science-based climate leadership looks like in the 21st century.

More than a startup, Climeworks is emblematic of the next wave of businesses built around planetary limits, systemic change, and regenerative innovation. It is not merely adapting to environmental challenges—it is shaping the very architecture of a decarbonised future.

Visiting Climeworks in Iceland

Danone … from food giant to a healthy planet, and sustainability champion

Danone, the French multinational food company, has repositioned itself over the last two decades as a pioneer of responsible capitalism—driven by a mission to “bring health through food to as many people as possible.” This strategic reinvention has touched every part of the business, from governance and branding to sourcing and innovation.

Former CEO Emmanuel Faber played a transformative role in turning Danone into a purpose-led enterprise. Under his leadership, Danone adopted a “dual project” model—pursuing both economic and social goals—and in 2020 became the first listed company in France to adopt Entreprise à Mission legal status. This change hardwired environmental and social objectives into the company’s bylaws and oversight mechanisms.

Danone has embedded sustainability into its supply chain, particularly through regenerative agriculture programs for dairy and plant-based ingredients. It is one of the world’s largest B Corp-certified corporations, with over 70% of its global subsidiaries independently certified for social and environmental performance. Its strategy includes reducing greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain and aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050.

The company has expanded its portfolio toward plant-based nutrition (via acquisitions like Alpro and Silk) and medical and early-life nutrition, aligning growth with health outcomes. Despite facing investor pressure that led to Faber’s departure, Danone’s purpose-driven model continues to influence how global food companies define performance—combining nutrition, sustainability, and stakeholder value.

More about Danone

IKEA … designing a circular and climate-positive future for furniture

IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, has undergone a major transformation to integrate sustainability into the heart of its business. Once associated with mass production and disposable products, IKEA is now reengineering its entire value chain—from sourcing to product design to end-of-life recovery—to align with a circular and climate-positive strategy.

Under the leadership of Jesper Brodin, CEO of Ingka Group (which operates most IKEA stores), the company set bold goals: to become climate positive by 2030, using only renewable or recycled materials, and ensuring all products are designed for reuse, refurbishment, or recycling. It has already phased out single-use plastics and is transitioning toward regenerative sourcing for wood and cotton.

IKEA is pioneering circular retail with furniture take-back, repair, and resale programs in multiple markets. It has launched services for leasing furniture and developed modular, disassemblable products to extend product life. The company also invested heavily in renewable energy—installing solar panels on stores and becoming one of the largest corporate buyers of wind and solar globally.

This reinvention has been critical to maintaining relevance with younger, sustainability-conscious consumers while unlocking new revenue streams and efficiencies. IKEA’s vision blends environmental impact with affordability—proving that a circular economy can be accessible and profitable at scale.

Interface … from carpets and flooring tiles, to mission zero and climate take back

Interface, a global flooring manufacturer, is a pioneer in sustainable business reinvention. In the mid-1990s, founder Ray Anderson underwent a personal epiphany after reading The Ecology of Commerce, shifting the company’s trajectory from a conventional carpet tile maker to an environmental leader.

Anderson launched Mission Zero—a commitment to eliminate all negative environmental impact by 2020. Interface overhauled its supply chain, shifted to recycled and bio-based materials, and developed closed-loop recycling for its products. It redesigned carpets to be modular and glue-free, reducing waste and enabling easy replacement.

More recently, Interface launched Climate Take Back, aiming not just to reduce harm but to reverse global warming. The company introduced the first carbon-negative carpet tile, using materials and processes that sequester more carbon than they emit. It also created a roadmap for regenerative design, using biomimicry and cradle-to-cradle principles.

Interface has demonstrated strong financial performance alongside its environmental mission, consistently ranking among the most sustainable companies in the world. Its journey has inspired entire industries to rethink what’s possible in manufacturing.

Its next challenge is “Climate Take Back”, aiming not just to reduce harm but to reverse global warming by:

  • Creating carbon-negative carpet tiles.

  • Using bio-based and recycled materials.

  • Leveraging life cycle thinking and industrial ecology to design regenerative systems.

Interface exemplifies deep systems change through innovation and purpose.

Next Era Energy … from electricity utility to clean energy leader

NextEra Energy, based in Florida, has transformed from a traditional electric utility into the largest producer of wind and solar energy in the world. Its reinvention is a case study in turning regulatory and environmental pressure into innovation and market leadership.

Led by visionary former CEO Jim Robo, and now by John Ketchum, NextEra invested early in renewable energy through its subsidiary NextEra Energy Resources. Instead of resisting change, the company embraced the clean energy transition, pouring billions into wind farms, solar parks, and advanced battery storage systems.

NextEra also modernized its grid infrastructure and began using data and digital tools to improve efficiency and resilience. It shuttered coal plants, committed to net-zero by 2045, and positioned itself as a leader in decarbonizing the U.S. energy system.

The company’s green transformation has been rewarded by markets: NextEra’s market cap has surpassed most of its fossil fuel peers, and it has become a preferred partner for corporations and governments seeking clean energy solutions.

NextEra proves that a fossil-based utility can reinvent itself not only to survive but to thrive in the renewable era, combining environmental leadership with long-term profitability.

Oatly … reimagining milk for the climate-conscious age, and having fun too

Oatly, the Swedish oat milk company, has turned a niche product into a global movement. Founded in the 1990s and relaunched in the 2010s under CEO Toni Petersson, Oatly’s reinvention is based on a provocative, purpose-driven brand and a climate-forward mission: to shift the world away from dairy.

Oatly’s business model directly addresses the environmental impact of livestock agriculture, which is a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions, land use, and water consumption. By offering a plant-based alternative that requires 80% less land, 60% less energy, and 80% fewer emissions than cow’s milk, Oatly presents sustainability as a delicious and mainstream choice.

The company’s packaging and marketing are bold and transparent, often including detailed carbon footprints and advocacy messages. Oatly has also committed to supply chain transparency, regenerative farming, and localizing production to reduce environmental impact.

The brand has scaled rapidly across Europe, the USA and Asia, with a successful IPO in 2021. It now partners with major foodservice brands and retailers, helping plant-based options go mainstream. Oatly’s reinvention of a commodity—milk—demonstrates how sustainability, storytelling, and innovation can create new categories, consumer loyalty, and global growth.

On … Swiss engineering for sporting excellence, great shoes and a better world

Founded in Switzerland in 2010, On Running emerged as a performance footwear disruptor, blending elite athletic engineering with a deep commitment to sustainability. The company’s breakthrough innovation was its patented “CloudTec” cushioning, offering a unique running feel. But what sets On apart is how it has embedded sustainability into its product lifecycle, supply chain, and innovation engine.

Under the leadership of co-founder Caspar Coppetti, On has pursued a bold vision: create high-performance sportswear that leaves the smallest possible environmental footprint. In 2021, On launched the world’s first fully recyclable running shoe, the Cyclon, made from castor beans and available only via a subscription-based circular economy model. Customers return worn shoes for recycling and receive new ones—decoupling revenue from raw material extraction.

On’s sustainability strategy includes using recycled polyester, reducing carbon-intensive materials, and eliminating harmful chemicals. Its partnership with Climeworks—a Swiss carbon capture startup—further underscores its climate-forward thinking. It even used carbon emissions to create a running shoe (Cloudprime) in collaboration with CarbonBuilt and Novoloop.

The result? Rapid growth and IPO success in 2021. On’s revenues have soared past $2 billion, and the brand has won loyal consumers who value both performance and purpose. It has reinvented not only what a running shoe can do—but what a sustainable brand can be.

Patagonia … pioneer of regenerative business, fighting climate change with every cent

Patagonia has long been the gold standard for environmental activism in business. Founded by Yvon Chouinard, the outdoor apparel company has used its business as a platform for change. But in 2022, it redefined corporate sustainability entirely—by giving away the company.

Chouinard transferred ownership to a specially designed trust and nonprofit (Holdfast Collective) that directs all profits not reinvested into the company toward fighting the climate crisis. This radical move capped decades of Patagonia integrating sustainability into every part of its model.

Patagonia’s innovations include the Worn Wear platform (for repair and resale), using recycled and organic materials, and pioneering regenerative organic agriculture. Its supply chain is audited for fair labor practices and environmental impact. The company champions corporate activism—suing the Trump administration to protect national parks, and calling out greenwashing in the industry.

Patagonia has grown into a $1+ billion business, proving that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive. It has reinvented outdoor apparel, influenced generations of brands, and challenged traditional models of ownership and value.

Patagonia’s innovations include:

  • Regenerative agriculture in its supply chain to draw down carbon and restore ecosystems.

  • A thriving Worn Wear program for repairing and reselling gear to extend product life.

  • Transparent B Corp practices and a strong advocacy stance on political and environmental issues.

Its model demonstrates how mission-driven capitalism can create lasting brand value and deep customer loyalty.

Schneider Electric … digitalising the future of energy with microgrids and prosumers

Schneider Electric, the French energy and automation giant, has undergone a profound transformation over the last two decades—shifting from a traditional electrical equipment firm to a global leader in sustainability-enabling technology.

Under CEO Jean-Pascal Tricoire, the company aligned its strategy with solving the world’s energy paradox: how to provide more energy to more people, while reducing carbon emissions. Schneider’s digital platform EcoStruxureempowers companies to monitor and reduce energy consumption and emissions in real-time—enabling entire industries to decarbonize.

Internally, Schneider has committed to net-zero across its operations and supply chain by 2050, and already uses 100% renewable electricity in many facilities. The company also helps suppliers meet ESG targets, turning sustainability into a shared ecosystem challenge.

Named the world’s most sustainable corporation by Corporate Knights in 2021, Schneider’s innovations are driving both impact and income: it has consistently delivered strong financial performance and shareholder returns, while helping thousands of companies meet climate goals.

Schneider has reinvented its role—from a utility equipment vendor to a catalyst for sustainable transformation across the global economy.

Core innovations include:

  • EcoStruxure, an IoT-enabled platform for real-time energy monitoring and efficiency.

  • Services in microgrids, smart grids, and renewable integration.

  • Sustainability-as-a-service, helping clients decarbonize operations and supply chains.

Schneider Electric’s “Impact Company” model emphasises resilience, empowerment, and ESG-driven leadership.

Unilever … you can still enjoy great ice-cream, and make the world better at the same time!

Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant behind brands like Dove, Ben & Jerry’s, and Lifebuoy, has redefined what a global FMCG company can be. Over the past 15 years, it has placed sustainable living at the core of its strategy, driving brand growth and business transformation.

The shift began under former CEO Paul Polman, who launched the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan in 2010. The plan aimed to decouple growth from environmental impact, while improving health and livelihoods for billions. Unilever tackled climate emissions, water use, waste, and sourcing across its value chain.

Today, 80% of Unilever’s agricultural inputs are sustainably sourced, and many of its brands are carbon-labelingproducts. Dove’s campaigns promote real beauty and self-esteem; Lifebuoy improves handwashing habits; and Ben & Jerry’s speaks out on social justice—all while delivering strong margins.

Under current CEO Hein Schumacher, Unilever is focusing even more on climate resilience, circular packaging, and supply chain inclusion. It plans to reach net-zero emissions by 2039 and halve the footprint of its products by 2030.

Unilever’s purpose-led brands are growing faster than others in its portfolio. The company has proven that sustainability is not a cost—but a competitive advantage, enabling reinvention at scale in one of the most resource-intensive industries on the planet.

Unilever’s strategic frameworks include:

  • The Sustainable Living Plan, which linked sustainability to innovation and growth.

  • “Brands with Purpose”, where brands like Dove and Ben & Jerry’s are used to drive social and environmental impact.

  • A deep integration of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) into product and sourcing strategies.

Despite market volatility, Unilever has consistently outperformed peers in ESG rankings and brand trust.

New metrics of a net positive business

As the world transitions into an era defined by planetary boundaries, social inequality, and digital acceleration, the question is no longer whether companies should be sustainable—but how to measure what truly matters. Traditional corporate responsibility metrics, framed by CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance), have helped integrate sustainability into business. Yet, they often remain compliance-driven and incremental.

Today, a growing number of companies are aiming not just to reduce harm, but to create net positive impact—to put more into the world than they take out. These are businesses that deliver superior financial performance and systemic societal and environmental progress. To do this credibly, they need new metrics: ones that are strategic, integrated, forward-looking, and regenerative by design.

1. True Value Creation: Profit with Purpose

At the heart of any business performance system lies profit. But in a sustainable and net positive business, profitability is contextualised by how it is earned—with what impact on people and the planet. Contemporary metrics look not only at shareholder returns but multi-capital value creation.

  • Integrated Value Metrics: These combine financial, manufactured, natural, human, social, and intellectual capital to assess how businesses create or erode value across systems.

  • Value-to-Society Accounting: Pioneered by companies like Novo Nordisk and SAP, this approach monetises positive and negative externalities to reflect the company’s real contribution (or cost) to society.

  • Profit per Impact Unit: Forward-thinking firms begin to express profit not just in dollars but relative to the positive impact delivered—e.g., profit per tonne of carbon avoided or per low-income customer served.

2. Net Environmental Contribution: Beyond Carbon

Most companies now measure their carbon footprint, but a net positive organisation seeks to go further: to become nature-positive and climate-regenerative. This requires a broader and more ambitious set of metrics.

  • Carbon Handprint vs Footprint: The handprint measures the positive carbon impact of products or services (e.g. emissions avoided by using a clean-tech product) and is increasingly used alongside footprint.

  • Science-Based Targets (SBTi) + Beyond Value Chain Mitigation: Companies like Microsoft and Ørsted now set SBTs that include Scope 3 emissions and commit to removing more carbon than they emit—factoring in nature-based solutions, removals, and restoration.

  • Biodiversity Net Gain: Leading firms like Holcim and Nestlé have adopted biodiversity metrics, such as hectares of habitat restored, or improvements in species richness on company-managed land.

3. Circularity and Regenerative Flows

Circular economy metrics go beyond recycling rates. They assess how effectively companies decouple growth from resource extraction, redesign systems for reuse, and regenerate ecosystems.

  • Material Circularity Indicator (MCI): Developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, it quantifies how restorative the material flows of a product or company are.

  • Circular Revenue Ratio: Measures the share of revenue derived from circular business models—products-as-a-service, resale, remanufacturing, etc.

  • Water Positivity: Companies like PepsiCo and Google aim to return more water to the environment than they withdraw, with metrics on replenishment volumes and watershed restoration impact.

4. Social Impact and Equity Outcomes

Contemporary social metrics go far beyond headcount and charitable donations. Net positive companies measure the depth, scale, and sustainability of their impact on human lives, especially among underserved communities.

  • Decent Work Index: Tracks not just jobs created but their quality—wages, rights, progression, and security. Used by groups like Unilever and Accenture.

  • Social Return on Investment (SROI): Converts social outcomes into financial value to assess how effectively a company creates impact for each dollar spent.

  • Access and Inclusion Metrics: How many people get access to essential products and services—clean energy, education, healthcare—especially in low-income or marginalised areas? d.light and Safaricom use these metrics to track impact at scale.

5. Wellbeing and Human Flourishing

Employee experience is no longer measured only by engagement scores. A regenerative business recognises people as whole humans, and tracks wellbeing, growth, and purpose as part of organisational health.

  • Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): Captures how likely employees are to recommend the company—used as a proxy for loyalty and morale.

  • Psychological Safety Index: Gauges whether people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and innovate—key to adaptive, inclusive cultures.

  • Purpose Activation Score: Measures how well individual employees connect their work to the broader purpose of the company—a concept applied by companies like Danone and Lush.

6. Governance for Regeneration

Strong ESG governance is critical—but in net positive companies, governance is more than compliance. It actively steers the business toward long-term value creation and stakeholder balance.

  • Stakeholder Engagement Index: Tracks how systematically and transparently the company involves stakeholders—customers, suppliers, communities—in shaping decisions.

  • ESG-Linked Compensation: The proportion of executive and board pay linked to ESG and net positive outcomes. Schneider Electric, DSM, and Intel integrate such metrics.

  • Purpose Compliance: In countries like France, companies with “Entreprise à Mission” status must report how effectively they deliver on their legally embedded purpose.

7. Transformation and Innovation Capacity

A sustainable organisation isn’t one that simply avoids harm—it’s one that adapts and leads change. That requires investment in innovation, agility, and the ability to scale transformative ideas.

  • Impact Innovation Ratio: Percentage of R&D or capital invested in sustainable, regenerative, or inclusive innovation—e.g., low-carbon tech, inclusive fintech.

  • Transition Readiness Score: Measures how aligned a company’s assets, culture, and capabilities are to a sustainable future—pioneered in ESG risk frameworks like Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI).

  • Speed of Scaling Positive Impact: How fast can the company scale solutions that address climate, health, or social equity challenges?

8. Reputation and Trust as Strategic Assets

Trust and reputation are among the most valuable yet intangible assets of any company. Net positive organisations earn trust through action and accountability.

  • Trust Index: Often measured via global reputation surveys (like Edelman Trust Barometer), or customer trust scores.

  • Transparency Scores: From public disclosures, third-party ESG ratings, and real-time dashboards—used by companies like Patagonia and Tesla to signal openness.

  • Net Trust Gap: The difference between what stakeholders expect and what the company delivers across key environmental and social dimensions.

Examples of metrics in companies

  • Interface, the carpet manufacturer, measures its “Climate Take Back” progress via carbon-negative product sales, gigaton-scale carbon reduction targets, and employee sustainability engagement metrics.

  • IKEA tracks the circularity of its entire product portfolio, sets science-based climate and forest-positive goals, and uses wellbeing indicators across its global workforce.

  • Climeworks, a Swiss carbon capture firm, quantifies its positive climate impact by the tonnes of CO₂ permanently removed—not offset—and has third-party verification in place.

The shift to a net positive business is also a shift in mindset. It redefines success—not as being less bad, but as being actively good. It values long-term over short-term, systems thinking over silos, and deep purpose over shallow PR. And crucially, it builds new metrics to make these ambitions real.

The new performance frontier asks bold questions:

  • Are we helping the world thrive, or just survive?

  • Are we solving problems we helped create—or preventing them in the first place?

  • Are we creating value for all stakeholders—not just shareholders?

In answering these, the best companies are not only building better futures—they are measuring them, managing them, and proving that profit and purpose are not trade-offs, but a route to more holistic success.

Exploring more

Net positive companies—those that aim to give more to the world than they take—can be among the most profitable and value-creating because they align their growth with solving social and environmental challenges. Rather than seeing sustainability as a cost, these companies treat it as a source of competitive advantage, innovation, and long-term resilience.

Achieving net positive impact often requires deep business reinvention: rethinking core strategies, reimagining products and services to deliver environmental or social benefits, and designing new business models that generate value through regeneration, circularity, or shared prosperity.

This transformation demands bold leadership—leaders willing to challenge short-term thinking, set ambitious goals, and embed purpose across the organization. Companies like NextEra, Patagonia, and Schneider Electric show that when sustainability drives innovation and is integral to strategy, it can unlock new markets, reduce risk, attract top talent, and build strong, trusted brands. In today’s economy, doing more good isn’t just ethical—it’s a smart, future-focused way to grow.

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