As organisations across Africa and the rest of the world seek to translate sustainability ambitions into business outcomes, new research from Project Management Institute (PMI) and Green Project Management, reveals a critical challenge – many are struggling to deliver measurable sustainability outcomes.
The findings, according to a statement, come at a time when the world is running out of time to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
According to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Report 2025, only 35% of SDG targets are currently on track or making moderate progress, while nearly half are advancing too slowly, and 18% have regressed. Against this backdrop, PMI’s latest research highlights execution as challenge that receives far less attention than policy or funding debates.
The report, Executing Sustainability Strategy: When Ambition Meets Reality, surveyed nearly 1,600 professionals across 35 countries and found a significant disconnect between strategic confidence and execution readiness.
While 85% of sustainability executives believe their organisations will achieve their sustainability goals, only 43% of Project Management Office (PMO) leaders share that confidence. Among project professionals responsible for implementation, just 20% are extremely confident in their organisation’s ability to deliver.
The study also found that although 79% of respondents believe sustainability is important to long-term success, only 41% say it is fully integrated into projects and daily operations.
For Africa, where projects underpin everything from infrastructure and energy development to healthcare, mining, agriculture, and digital transformation, the findings point to a challenge that is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
“Sustainability is no longer a separate conversation from business performance. Across the continent, governments and businesses have set bold targets and made significant commitments. The real challenge is delivery.
“A strategy does not build a power station, expand broadband access, or improve water security – projects do. If sustainability is not embedded into project delivery, organisations will struggle to achieve the outcomes they are aiming for,” says George Asamani, Managing Director, PMI Sub-Saharan Africa in the statement.
The research found that organisations most successful in delivering sustainability commitments typically share two characteristics: leadership alignment around a clear definition of success and strong organisational capability to translate sustainability priorities into project-level decisions and actions.
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