American workers and shareholders should be alarmed that the boardroom has quietly handed a new crown to a growing class of executives. Forbes’ State of Sustainability research finds that roughly four out of five large companies now employ a chief sustainability officer, a rapid institutionalization of an agenda that used to be the domain of PR teams and outside activists.
What used to be a token title has become a seat at the table: the survey shows CSOs increasingly report directly to CEOs or boards and are being positioned alongside the most powerful corporate leaders. That concentration of influence happens without the same market discipline that governs CFOs and COOs, allowing political priorities to be dressed up as corporate strategy.
Money follows power, and the money is flowing: an overwhelming share of CSOs expect bigger sustainability budgets next year, signaling that these programs will expand whether they prove their value or not. When corporate leaders funnel capital into ideological initiatives rather than clear profit-making investments, ordinary investors and employees pay the price.
Executives themselves now tell researchers that sustainability has climbed into the top ranks of corporate priorities, with a majority calling it a top-three issue and dozens more planning to increase spending. That shift in priorities is often defended in the name of innovation and long-term value, yet Forbes also reports a growing struggle to actually prove the return on those sustainability investments.
The data should make any skeptic sit up: firms are finding it harder to demonstrate measurable ROI from sustainability programs, with a sharp drop in the number that can consistently prove financial returns. If companies can’t show economic benefits, then elevating CSOs to policy-making roles amounts to managerial mission creep, not prudent corporate governance.
Worse, in the largest firms it isn’t just executives but boards themselves that are driving sustainability agendas, turning what should be fiduciary oversight into a vehicle for social engineering. When directors start prioritizing political optics over shareholder value, they invite regulatory scrutiny, activist litigation, and unstable strategy that can cost jobs and raise prices for consumers.
Patriotic Americans who care about jobs, affordable energy, and honest accounting need to demand accountability. Insist that any sustainability program be measured by clear, audited financial metrics, not buzzwords and press releases, and that boards remember their legal duty to owners, not to trending political causes.
If our companies are to succeed they must focus on serving customers and creating real wealth, not chasing status with certifications and activist goals. Shareholders, elected officials, and everyday workers should push back now, before a new managerial class cements power and expensive experiments become permanent corporate policy.
