Beyond the CSR office: the employees quietly reshaping corporate climate action

As corporate sustainability struggles to move beyond marketing spin and annual reports that outline ambitions but rarely lead to real operational change, a quieter yet determined movement is taking root inside companies — driven by employees, not executives.

Arthur Gauthier-Penhirin, a researcher at ESCP, has spent the past few years studying these internal actors. His findings — and the voices he’s amplifying — offer a window into the new front line of the ecological transition in business: the workforce itself.

This is an increasingly vital force. Observed each year on April 22, Earth Day serves as a global reminder of the urgent need for environmental action — and a timely backdrop for the rise of employee-driven sustainability efforts.

[The employees] care deeply about their company and are willing to put in many extra hours — as they usually act on a voluntary basis — to help it become more sustainable.

“The employees I have been interviewing are extremely committed and knowledgeable about their topics, although self-taught. They care deeply about their company and are willing to put in many extra hours — as they usually act on a voluntary basis — to help it become more sustainable,” he says.

Their contributions, Gauthier-Penhirin explains, often extend well beyond what formal corporate social responsibility (CSR) teams can achieve. Not because CSR lacks ambition, but because it faces institutional limits — and often, simple understaffing.

“CSR teams’ scope of action is extremely wide, complex and ever-expanding,” he notes. “But CSR teams are usually quite small and it may be difficult for them to develop and maintain a proper expertise on all those topics.”

That’s where employee-led initiatives come in — grassroots networks of volunteers using their insider knowledge and their moral authority as colleagues to push for environmental reform from the bottom up.

This theme was also the focus of a dedicated study day held last month at ESCP, where researchers and professionals gathered to examine how employees can help accelerate their companies’ shift toward environmental sustainability. The event, supported by the ESCP Sustainability Institute, TSM-Research (Université Toulouse Capitole), and IRISSO (Université Paris-Dauphine, PSL), combined research presentations with collaborative workshops to explore practical strategies and shared challenges.

From fringe to force

France, Gauthier-Penhirin says, has become something of a bellwether. A national movement of employee-led environmental networks has taken hold in the past decade. According to LES COLLECTIFS, a national association that supports these groups, such networks now exist in roughly 250 companies.

The impact of these networks can be surprisingly far-reaching.

“Some networks have been very successful at getting recognition from their company and have managed to gather over 1,000 members. They use their visibility to try and influence their colleagues and management,” Gauthier-Penhirin says.

One of the most common tools deployed by these groups is an educational workshop based on IPCC reports produced by Climate Fresk, a non-profit organisation. Gauthier-Penhirin explains that what begins as informal training sessions often catches the eye of CSR or HR departments, which then endorse the tool more broadly. In some cases, the networks have gone further — training executive committees, or even hosting full-day seminars for top management teams. 

Yet even these successful examples point to a deeper challenge.

“I have not seen widespread transformation in most cases. It seems that top-down direction is necessary to drive real business reform,” says Gauthier-Penhirin. “Once decided, business leaders can certainly count on CSR teams and employee networks to accelerate transformation.”

Tools of influence

So what works? What tactics allow employees to influence companies without a title or budget?

Gauthier-Penhirin says a “small wins” approach remains foundational — starting with practical, non-threatening changes like promoting vegetarian options in canteens, encouraging commuting by bike, or organising knowledge-sharing events.

But employees are also becoming more strategic, aligning themselves with broader trends and external validation, he says.

“Building on the national movement is also useful for employees to legitimise their initiative and gain managerial support. They can argue that they form part of a wider trend and even quote companies within the same sector,” he adds.

External actors also play a role. NGOs, journalists and even shareholders can amplify messages that employees themselves may hesitate to voice internally. But Gauthier-Penhirin issues a caution here.

“Such relationships with external actors can be frowned upon or plainly forbidden and lead to risks for employees,” he states. 

Connect with like-minded colleagues. This is the best way to start building energy and momentum to act.

The personal cost of speaking up

While their commitment is often admired, employees who push for change from within still navigate real challenges. Gauthier-Penhirin identifies three main areas of concern.

“I have seen cases of employees perceived and mocked by their colleagues as radical ecologists, caricatured as Greta Thunberg,” he says, citing the Swedish climate activist known for inspiring a global youth movement through school strikes and blunt critiques of political inaction.

Others face ambiguity around management’s response. In some cases, employees have received formal warnings after engaging with external actors, Gauthier-Penhirin says. Some avoid participation altogether, fearing that it could stunt their career growth. 

But perhaps the most insidious risk is emotional exhaustion.

“This is the risk I have most directly witnessed,” he notes. “A combination of classical activism fatigue and cognitive dissonance, where employees experience a gap between their ecological convictions and day-to-day work.”

At the same time, many employees find great collective energy in these networks, draw strength from peer support and often receive encouragement from management for their engagement.

Start small, and don’t go it alone

For employees wondering how to begin, Gauthier-Penhirin points to the groundwork laid by LES COLLECTIFS. The first step? Find each other.

“Connect with like-minded colleagues. This is the best way to start building energy and momentum to act,” he says. 

From there, small steps and seizing opportunities become the blueprint for building momentum. One network he studied used a corporate takeover to advocate for the adoption of a purpose-driven corporate status. The campaign didn’t succeed in full, but it changed the conversation.

“They met with managers, trade unions, shareholders… Management decided that the company should define a purpose, and they did so,” he says. 

As Earth Day 2025 arrives, the story of sustainability efforts driven by employees is not one of revolution, but evolution. Quiet, complex and often under-recognised — but increasingly vital.

“Employees may constitute precious allies to CSR teams by acting as an additional, internal pressure,” says Gauthier-Penhirin. “That is something which CSR practitioners can leverage to argue to business leaders that employees themselves are asking for change.”

In a world of climate deadlines and slow-moving boardrooms, the grassroots may just be where the real momentum begins.

License and Republishing

The Choice articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Term of use.