CSO headcount at US companies falls for first time in 15 years
After a couple of years of significant growth, according to a long-running survey, the number of CSOs has fallen 10 percent. Read More
- 193 US companies had chief sustainability officer roles as of July 1, down from 216 last year.
- The trend is being driven by companies deciding not to fill vacant CSO positions.
- Companies are also merging sustainability roles — and the function more broadly — into other areas of their businesses.
The number of chief sustainability officers at publicly listed companies in the U.S. has declined for the first time in 15 years, data from recruiter organization Weinreb Group shows.
CSO ranks surged in the first half of this decade following a period of slow if steady growth during the 2010s, according to previous editions of the survey, which the group conducts every 18 to 24 months.
The latest count indicates that the total dropped 10 percent to 193 as of July 1. The fall, from 216 in 2025, is largely due to departing CSOs not being replaced, said Ellen Weinreb, the group’s founder.
CSOs at publicly listed U.S. companies
A thinning of CSO ranks could be interpreted as another sign of what some call the “sustainability recession,” a downturn in corporate efforts triggered in part by opposition from the current U.S. administration and earlier anti-ESG efforts by other GOP leaders. Some companies created CSO positions for the optics; with the pressure to be seen to be acting on climate lessened, leaders felt free to leave vacant roles unfilled.
Positive forces
Weinreb suggested that other more positive factors are also at work. In some cases, she noted, CSOs have taken on additional responsibility and while “sustainability” has been dropped from their job title it remains part of their remit. In May, for example, Tara Hemmer swapped the CSO position for the chief operating officer role at environmental services firm WM. Elsewhere, sustainability responsibilities have been integrated into other areas of the business — a sign, Weinreb argued, of intent to operationalize the function rather than cut costs.
The trend is consistent with Trellis’ State of Sustainability Profession in 2026 report, a survey of more than 500 sustainability professionals at firms with at least $1 billion in revenue that was released this May. That report found that most businesses have continued to expand their sustainability staff over the past two years, albeit at slower pace than earlier in the decade. In 2024, 74 percent of companies had increased their staff size, with only 4 percent cutting it. This year, 50 percent of companies added people and 26 percent reduced headcount.
How has the number of people working on sustainability changed in the last two years?
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