Impact sourcing steers formal employment toward those historically left on the sidelines, melding social equity with enterprise performance. Yet this model’s success depends massively on a steady supply of job-ready talent. Consequently, training institutions – from government academies and CSR cohorts to vocational colleges and digital learning platforms – have shifted from the margins to becoming central to the ecosystem, translating inclusive intent into market-validated capabilities.  Across this ecosystem, demand for adaptive skills is sparking inventive pedagogy. Programs now blend online scalability with in-person mentorship, compress months of theory into high-intensity bootcamps, and embed continuous upskilling into earn-and-learn pathways, ensuring income does not pause while skills evolve. Meanwhile, widespread connectivity, cross-sector partnerships, and analytics that tether training inputs to workplace outcomes are turning previously distant communities into reliable talent reservoirs.  The Viewpoint traces this terrain – exploring institution archetypes, demand drivers, delivery logics, curriculum strategies, inclusion mechanisms, and the enabling technologies and partnerships that bind them together. It brings together high-level analysis and practical frameworks to help stakeholders navigate complexity and unlock value across the impact sourcing landscape. 

Hyperscalers, such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, accelerated partnerships with nuclear energy providers for energy procurement in H2 2024. This shift raises a key question: Why are hyperscalers turning to nuclear energy? Rising energy demands, limitations of renewable energy sources, and net-zero commitments are driving nuclear energy adoption. Data center capacity expansion and AI and gen AI adoption growth lead to high power demand and electricity consumption. Renewable energy depends on local weather conditions and requires massive land use for power generation compared to nuclear plants. Net-zero commitments and regulatory pressures compel hyperscalers to seek low-carbon energy alternatives. Historical mishaps, untested nuclear technologies, environmental considerations, and health and safety concerns contribute to the public’s perception of nuclear power. Simultaneously, nuclear projects face complex regulatory frameworks requiring multiple permits, licenses, and approvals. Despite these challenges, the industry outlook remains positive, with nuclear capacity expected to hit a record high in 2025 due to small modular reactors’ safety and scalability. Policy and regulation changes, technology advances in the energy transition sector, and waste management considerations could be potential challenges. In this Viewpoint, we suggest strategic options for energy procurement, innovation capacity, and regulatory compliance.

Sustainability is no longer a corporate compliance mandate; it is a competitive advantage that improves operational performance. Several enterprises on their sustainability journey struggle to make their IT infrastructure, particularly data centers, more sustainable. Data centers power modern economies but consume large energy and resource quantities, leaving significant environmental footprint. Rising data volumes, AI adoption, the expected gen AI boom, carbon neutrality commitments, and climate change are driving data centers toward sustainability. What makes data centers sustainable? This Viewpoint answers this question by identifying a sustainable data center’s six key characteristics. These characteristics are energy efficiency, renewable energy use, advanced cooling systems, effective waste management, reduced embodied carbon, and emerging technologies across data center operations. In this Viewpoint, we explore a sustainable data center’s key characteristics and notable investments by data center operators and hyperscalers. The report highlights implications for enterprises aiming to enhance their data centers’ sustainability and improve their corporate sustainability performance. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we: Examine a sustainable data center’s key characteristics Identify market trends shaping the sustainable data center market Analyze implications for enterprises working to improve their sustainability performance Membership(s) Sustainability Technology and Services Cloud and Infrastructure Services Sourcing and Vendor Management

In the face of escalating climate change impacts, the demand for effective carbon removal technologies has never been more pressing. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) stands out as a promising suite of solutions aimed at mitigating carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources and power generation. This report provides analyzes in-depth the current state and future potential of CCS, emphasizing the urgent need to scale these technologies to meet net-zero emission targets. Despite its potential, the CCS sector faces significant scalability challenges. This viewpoint centers on digital technologies’ transformative role in addressing these hurdles. It explores how advances in digital solutions can enhance key performance indicators such as cost, efficiency, safety, and reliability within the CCS landscape. Furthermore, the report evaluates the current digital solution provider ecosystem in the CCS space and introduces Everest Group’s CATER framework, which serves as a guide to identify successful digital use cases to scale CCS operations. This comprehensive report is aimed at industry stakeholders, policymakers, and sustainability professionals seeking to understand CCS and digital technology’s intersection, providing actionable strategies to harness these innovations to drive meaningful climate action. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we examine: The urgent need to scale CCS technologies The challenges hindering the CCS industry’s scalability Digital technologies’ role in enhancing CCS Digital solution providers’ landscape for CCS Everest Group’s CATER framework to identify effective digital use cases Membership(s) Sustainability Technology and Services Sourcing and Vendor Management

As the world grapples with climate change, resource scarcity, social inequality, and evolving consumer expectations, sustainability has transitioned from a mere buzzword to become a strategic imperative reshaping industries and influencing corporate decision-making. This report focuses on a critical concern amid this increasing focus on sustainability: the pronounced shortage of talent in the field of sustainability services. In a comprehensive exploration of the talent-related challenges that sustainability service providers face, this report offers insights into the specific skills and expertise required to thrive in this dynamic landscape. It also sheds light on the development of comprehensive sustainability strategies aligned with corporate objectives. In response to industry challenges, the report offers practical guidance and best practices for developing short- and long-term talent strategies tailored to the unique needs of service providers. This report is a valuable resource for sustainability professionals, corporate leaders, and talent managers and offers a roadmap to navigate the complex terrain of sustainability talent acquisition, development, and retention. It not only provides a clear understanding of the challenges within the sustainability services talent market but also outlines actionable strategies that service providers can implement to thrive in an era where sustainability and business success are inseparably intertwined. By uncovering the trends shaping the sustainability talent market and offering practical solutions for sourcing, skilling, and organizational structuring, this report equips readers with the knowledge and insights needed to excel in the dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of sustainability services. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we: Discuss the trends shaping sustainability talent market dynamics Look at service providers’ efforts to address the skill gap Recommend an approach to elevate your sustainability talent strategy Membership(s) Sustainability Technology and Services Sourcing and Vendor Management

COVID-19 has compelled organizations to take a hard look at their business models and associated societal license to operate. Organizations recognize that they cannot go about their businesses in isolation from their people, society, and environment. CFOs and finance leaders need to play a key role in ensuring that Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations are a part of their companies’ core strategies and integrate them into business decision-making. As a finance leader, it is imperative to define a robust governance framework aligned with the organizational strategy to implement ESG initiatives and demonstrate success through a set of measurable and standardized metrics. Initiatives such as climate accounting, ESG investing, and carbon disclosures are the first steps in the right direction. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we explore the role of finance organizations and CFO offices in the context of ESG and examine: Evolution of ESG programs over the years Key drivers and expected benefits from ESG Overview of a purpose-driven ESG program ESG integration with investment, accounting, and business decision-making ESG performance metrics – financial and non-financial Membership(s) Finance and Accounting Sourcing and Vendor Management