2025 National Partners: State of Play

Sustainability management and reporting, understood as the processes by which companies identify, measure, monitor, and disclose their material environmental, social, and governance risks, opportunities, and impacts, has become increasingly essential to how businesses build competitiveness, resilience, and trust in today’s economy. At the same time, sustainability management and reporting are a critical foundation for system-level impact transparency, particularly when adopted consistently across value chains. Yet for most small and medium enterprises (SMEs)—especially in emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs)—the business case remains unclear, and the pathway to implementation often feels out of reach. Limited resources, capacity and technical know-how, combined with emerging sustainability-related reporting requirements designed primarily for large corporations, make it difficult for SMEs to engage meaningfully.

One of the most frequently cited reflections on strategy is: “The best 
way to predict the future is to create it”. So what does creating the 
future look like? It goes far beyond isolated innovations. Think of 
how by creating the first commercially available electric light bulbs, 
Thomas Edison then needed to develop the electrical grids needed 
to power them. Innovation at scale isn’t just about making products, 
it’s about building the platforms and infrastructure that others can 
build upon.

This guide is for National Partners (NPs) looking to adapt their financial 
sustainability models, and for Taskforces developing one. 
Drawing on GSG Impact’s experience supporting NPs, it outlines 
principles we encourage National Partners to apply when shaping their 
funding approaches. and includes practical examples from across the 
network.
The guide is not prescriptive: NPs are encouraged to adapt approaches 
to their national contexts. Case studies, templates, and tools are included 
in the appendices to illustrate options, and provide starting points to 
adapt from