This past week, CATÓLICA-LISBON School of Business & Economics hosted Lisbon Sustainability Week 2026, bringing together business leaders, policymakers, academics, and professionals for three days of dialogue centered on a key question: Should sustainability be viewed as a driver of competitiveness, resilience, and value creation?

The opening day set the stage by exploring how responsible leadership, innovation, and sustainability-driven strategy can help organizations navigate an increasingly complex world. Through presentations by internationally renowned speakers, insights from business executives, and real-world business cases, participants reflected on the growing role of companies in addressing global challenges while strengthening their competitive position. John Elkington emphasized that we are entering a new era of sustainability, a transition from soft sustainability to hard sustainability, in which sustainability is no longer a peripheral issue but becomes embedded across every aspect of a company’s operations. This shift was illustrated through practical examples from IKEA, Mota-Engil, and Siemens, demonstrating how sustainability drives core business activities through new business models, operations, and innovation.

The Center for Responsible Business & Leadership also premiered the teaser for its international documentary, When the Spotlight Fades, directed by Wim Vermeulen. The documentary explores what happens when sustainability appears to be “silenced,” while a silent majority continues to believe in its importance but requires stronger evidence, stronger leadership, and greater capabilities to turn conviction into action. The day concluded with the ECGI Wallenberg Lecture, delivered by Nobel Prize in Economics laureate Robert Engle, who emphasized that, in an environment of increasing volatility, organizations that understand, measure, and integrate climate and sustainability risks into their decision-making processes are better positioned to create long-term value. Ultimately, sustainability risk is financial risk.

Building on these discussions, the second day featured a series of parallel sessions focused on turning strategy into action by showcasing some of the latest research projects developed by the Center for Responsible Business & Leadership at CATÓLICA-LISBON SBE. Collectively, these sessions explored how improved measurement, innovation grounded in real business cases, and strategic foresight can help organizations prepare for an uncertain future while creating value for businesses, society, and the environment.

The 2nd Conference on Impact Accounting, organized in partnership with PwC Portugal, brought together academics, business leaders, and international experts to discuss the growing role of impact accounting in corporate decision-making. The presentation of the Center for Responsible Business & Leadership’s latest research note, Complementary, not Interchangeable: Impact Accounting and Financial Reporting, together with a discussion of the work carried out by the Value Balancing Alliance, particularly its latest Playbook, reinforced one central conclusion: Impact Accounting does not replace financial reporting. Instead, it serves as a complementary management tool that enables organizations to integrate sustainability into strategic decision-making, capital allocation, and long-term value creation.

The Business Case for the Blue Economy session, developed in partnership with Fórum Oceano, demonstrated how the challenges facing Portugal’s blue economy can be transformed into tangible business opportunities. By presenting 25 business cases and 123 practical examples, the study illustrates how companies can integrate ocean-related challenges into their business strategies while contributing to Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14) and complying with the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS). The discussion also highlighted the importance of collaboration among startups, investors, innovation platforms, and established companies to accelerate innovation and unlock new opportunities for sustainable growth.

Finally, the SDG Meetings: Future and Trends session challenged participants to look beyond today’s challenges and prepare for multiple possible futures. Following the presentation of the second edition of the SDG Observatory in Portuguese Companies, experts examined the megatrends reshaping the business landscape before participants took part in a collaborative foresight exercise. Across every scenario explored, one conclusion consistently emerged: organizations that invest today in new skills, data management capabilities, strategic foresight, adaptability, and sound governance will be significantly better positioned to thrive in an increasingly uncertain world.

Throughout these two days, one consistent message resonated across every keynote, panel discussion, and workshop: sustainability is a strategic capability that enables organizations to anticipate change, strengthen resilience, and create lasting value. By bringing together rigorous research, practical business cases, and open dialogue among academia, businesses, and public institutions, the event reflected one of the Center for Responsible Business & Leadership’s core missions: harnessing the power of collaboration to build a more competitive, resilient, and sustainable future.