Nouveaux impératifs de durabilité dans une ère de polycrise systémique

Viviane de Beaufort ()
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Viviane de Beaufort: ESSEC Business School

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Abstract: This working paper analyses the new sustainability imperatives facing CAC 40 companies in a context of systemic polycrisis marked by the intensification of climate, geopolitical, technological and social risks. As sustainability has become a central determinant of economic resilience and long-term competitiveness, the study examines the combined effects of the European regulatory framework stemming from the European Green Deal and its recent weakening, materialised by the so-called "Omnibus" directive. The analysis is based on a comparative review of the first sustainability reports published in 2024 by ten CAC 40 groups, prepared in accordance with the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and grounded in the double materiality assessment. It reveals a genuine but still uneven appropriation of ESG issues, both in the quality of the data disclosed and in the strategic integration of sustainability within business models and governance structures. While some companies use the CSRD as a genuine strategic steering tool, structuring their climate transition pathways, risk management and innovation strategies, others continue to approach it primarily as an exercise in regulatory compliance The paper highlights the tensions generated by the easing of the European framework, including a loss of data comparability, a weakening of due diligence requirements, increased regulatory uncertainty and the risk of a downward levelling of ambitions. These developments occur paradoxically at a time when international pressures, the expectations of investors, insurers and civil society, as well as already transgressed planetary boundaries, are reinforcing the need for profound corporate transformation. The study concludes that the strategic choices currently being made by CAC 40 companies, between minimal compliance and voluntary leadership on sustainability, will shape their access to capital, their credibility and their resilience to future shocks. Sustainability thus emerges not as a short-term constraint, but as a structural driver of performance and long-term economic viability

Keywords: Sustainability; devoir de vigilance; European Green Deal; business models; ESG governance; double materiality; Entreprises du CAC 40; finance durable; directive Omnibus; Pacte vert européen; modèles d'affaires; gouvernance ESG; double matérialité; CSRD; Durabilité (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01-26
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://essec.hal.science/hal-05488923v1
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