How to create a positive environmental impact with your business

Operating with a positive environmental impact is the main priority businesses are future-focusing on, according to the latest YPO Global Impact Report – and South American companies are leading the way.

Almost half of all CEOs surveyed cited having a positive environmental impact and reducing pollution or emissions as their top priority. In South America, 54 percent of those surveyed had short-term carbon reduction compared with 47 percent of businesses surveyed in Europe, 46 percent in Asia, 38 percent in Africa, 20 percent in North America and 10 percent in Oceania.

To aid this movement toward a more environmentally friendly way of doing business, 61 percent of South American companies in the survey had a full-time sustainability leadership position, compared with 19 percent in North America. The region also led the way by being most likely to have a decarbonization strategy and long-term net zero goal.

YPO has 35,000 members worldwide, with US$9 trillion of combined revenues and 22 million employees. It gives a snapshot of the focus and direction companies feel compelled to work toward and the legacy they wish to leave. The report noted that smaller companies were less likely to have environmentally focused goals, even though there was a desire to take a positive stance on the issue.

Everyone can play a part

Nooshin Behroyan, Founder and CEO of Paxon Energy, is the recipient of the 2025 Global Impact Award and has environmental action at the core of her company, which focuses on improving critical infrastructure in the energy industries to curb methane pollution.

She believes there are ways to make a difference even if your company is not oriented in the environmental space, and everyone at every level and size can work towards net zero – and even do better.

"The quickest way is look at your supply chain," Behroyan advises. "If you want to eat healthy, you start with yourself, you start going organic and so on. When you look at your company, look at your supply chain. Where do you buy, where you shop, where all your materials and equipment coming from?

"That's an area where you can make some quick changes that will affect your footprint. Start small and then slowly grow. Supply chain is probably the quickest path where you can make decisions or changes that will have a direct effect into the rest of the work you’re doing."

This is echoed by Geetha Murali, CEO of Room to Read, who was also honored this year for her work in advancing literacy and gender equality around the world. She acknowledges that understanding the nuances and best practice of sustainability and net zero is a journey.

"It can be very overwhelming, especially for smaller organizations," Murali says. "It’s hard to make any changes if you have nowhere to start and nothing to measure, so understand what you’re trying to measure and give yourself space to make small steps in the right direction.

"We partner with others to understand how they’re doing things such as collaborating with suppliers, customers and local governments."

A 2025 YPO Honoree, Yariv Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of Ignite Energy Access (Ignite) – which is committed to bringing energy through solar power to 100 million people in underserved communities in Africa – agrees that all the adaptations every company embraces will collectively create huge change.

"Everything adds up," he says. "We need to do the geo-engineering, the carbon reduction, waste reduction. Everybody has a role to play, no matter how small."

Ignite was founded thanks to a YPO project in Rwanda in 2012 and is an outstanding example of how impactful cross-collaborations can flourish when like-minded leaders have a space to connect and share experiences.

Collaboration for clarity

Taking the time to interact with peers can be transformative to your approaches and strategy. YPO member companies are twice as likely to have a net-zero plan in place (21%) compared with an average of eight percent of companies globally, so it’s fair to say the leaders it attracts are like-minded.

"Peer learning and having a space to ask those questions to other leaders who are going through it – or have been there – is really important," Behroyan adds. "What somebody else is experiencing now might be something I have come across in the past, or what the other person is experiencing might be something that I’ll experience in future."

And Murali agrees peer conversations are a great way to find solutions that are most likely to yield the desired results and ways to action them within your own company.

"I’ve met YPO members who are leading organizations based on circular economy models or regenerative agriculture across industries and geographies. You get a lot of exposure to different ways of thinking and that's really helpful," she says.

"Sustainability and some of these themes we’re dealing with don’t move forward through perfection. They scale because of momentum. You keep doing things and learning and iterating. YPO has given me a great opportunity to learn from some incredible leaders who think about the world in that way."

Good for the planet – good for business

Growing an awareness and responsibility to achieving net zero is not just great for the planet – it’s good for business too. Applying a genuine commitment to purpose in your company objectives can revolutionize your company culture and results too.

All of the YPO leaders who have been recognized this year notice the great motivation and passion that comes from purpose being the driver of their organizations.

"Having impact as a focus gives a purpose to people," Cohen explains.

"When they work for a company that is purpose-driven, it also becomes a big part of their identity and motivation.

"We're getting better employees than we would otherwise, and they work harder because they really care about what we do. They perform better because there is the impact of being engaged."

As well as boosting morale and productivity, Murali highlights how important being a responsible business is for consumers too.

"All the research tells us that being impact focused is an economic positive as well," she explains.

"If you look at customers and their willingness to purchase one product over another, I think there's a pretty clear mandate that purpose matters. Even if you only care about the economics, there's still a very strong business case to be made."