Why net zero will only happen if we all play our part.
Businesses across the world have made bold commitments to achieve Net Zero. Targets are set, roadmaps created, strategies launched and dashboards built. But there are two truths a truth behind it all: many have stalled in their ambitions, and no business can achieve its ambitions unless its people get actively involved.
That may sound obvious. But I’ve started to wonder whether sustainability has reached the same point that building safety first cultures did years ago. We all know it matters. We all agree it’s important. We all believe it’s everyone’s responsibility. And perhaps because of that, many people assume it simply happens and fail to recognise their own responsibilities and important role they have to play.
Health and safety only works, because thousands of people take small actions every day. Sustainability is no different.
Has Sustainability Become Yesterday’s Trend?
A few years ago, sustainability was the topic everyone wanted to talk about. Net Zero commitments, climate pledges, reusable cups, electric vehicles, carbon footprints. There was energy and real momentum. But perhaps some of that enthusiasm has faded.
Maybe people have become overwhelmed at the overall challenge, believing they can’t make enough difference as an individual to make an impact. That could be one of the biggest barriers we face.
When you consider climate change as an individual, the challenge feels enormous. You switch off your lights. You recycle. You reduce waste. You make more conscious choices. Then you see wildfires, floods, record temperatures, and headlines telling us that global emissions continue to rise.
You naturally ask yourself: will my small actions really make any difference?
The Barrier isn’t Denial. It’s Doubt.
Research suggests that one of the biggest barriers to action is not climate denial. It’s ‘impact doubt’. Many people care deeply about climate change but hesitate because they believe their own actions are simply too small to matter.
I can understand that.
No single action changes everything, all at once. But that was never the point. Sustainability was never meant to be about one person changing the world. It has always been about scale.
One person making a small change can feel insignificant. A thousand people making the same small change start to matter. A hundred thousand people making that change becomes a powerful movement. And when you consider organisations with large workforces and wide customer and partner networks, the opportunity becomes extraordinary.
The Case for Collective Action
OCS employs more than 140,000 colleagues worldwide, and we’re continuing to grow. Every day, our people work in hospitals, airports, manufacturing sites, office workspaces, schools and in communities. If every colleague took one positive action at work or at home, the cumulative impact would be significant. But it doesn’t stop there.
Think about the organisations we support, their people, and the communities we collectively influence. The impact keeps compounding. Real change doesn’t happen through one grand gesture. It happens through millions of small ones.
A major independent study, drawing on responses from almost 130,000 people across 125 countries, found that 69% were willing to contribute personally to climate action. More striking still, 86% supported pro climate social behaviours. Yet people consistently underestimated how willing others were to act.
I find that fascinating.
Perhaps we all think nobody else really cares. Perhaps we think we’re the only one trying. Perhaps we’re all waiting for someone else to move first. The irony is that most people do care, so this may not be a motivational problem at all. It may be a visibility problem.
What Drives People to Act?
Do people genuinely believe their own behaviour contributes to climate change, or does it still feel too distant and abstract?
Research increasingly suggests that people become more engaged when climate impacts become personal. The world’s largest climate opinion survey found that 43% of people believed extreme weather had worsened over the previous year, while nearly two-thirds said climate change was already influencing decisions about where they live and work, and what they buy.
That made me stop and think.
Perhaps we only really pay attention once climate change stops being someone else’s problem and becomes ours: flooding, heatwaves, extreme weather, and disruption to communities and livelihoods. Do we act only once it arrives on our doorstep?
Regulation Alone Won’t get us There
Around the world, political priorities shift. Regulations strengthen and weaken. Reporting requirements emerge, only to be challenged or delayed. That creates uncertainty, and uncertainty breeds hesitation.
Yet research shows that four out of five people globally want stronger climate action from governments. People are not disengaged. They appear to be waiting for stronger signals and clearer leadership.
But businesses cannot afford to wait. Colleagues, customers and communities cannot assume that sustainability belongs to somebody else. Real change rarely starts with regulation. It starts with behaviour and personal accountability.
Making it Personal
Most people already acknowledge that sustainability matters. The harder work is helping people believe their own actions matter. These are genuinely different challenges.
Reducing waste, switching off equipment not in use, minimising unnecessary travel, choosing lower-carbon transport where practical, reducing food waste, reusing rather than replacing. None of these feel revolutionary, and they’re not meant to. The important thing is consistency and collective action.
There’s another message we perhaps don’t talk about enough: protecting our planet for future generations. For many people, carbon data and emissions metrics don’t evoke an emotional connection. But children and grandchildren do. The question shifts from emissions targets to something more personal: what kind of world do we want to leave behind or build now for the future?
Small Choices. Lasting Impact.
Resilience Week 2026 carries a clear message for the ESG pillar: the small choices we make every day, individually and together, shape the world we are building for younger generations.
Net Zero will not be achieved by sustainability teams alone, nor by strategies on a page. Progress happens because everyday people make small, positive decisions every day. If enough of us act together, the impact becomes significant. Thousands of people making small choices consistently over time: that is how real change takes place.
Sustainability has never lived in a single commitment. It lives in the people who turn off a screen or a light when they leave a room, choose differently, and think about the next person before they think about their own convenience. That is what this week is about. The small moments and quiet, positive decisions that ensure we all keep building a better future, in every workplace, every community, and in every country where we operate.
