Sustainability must be regarded as a core financial and operational priority, rather than a standalone ESG or compliance agenda, a group of retail execs argued at the World Retail Congress in Berlin.

etail executives from H&M, Zalando and FMI said climate change is now directly affecting margins, supply chains and long-term business resilience across both fashion and food retail, shifting sustainability firmly into the domain of financial risk management.

Adam Karlsson, CFO of H&M, said investment decisions must increasingly be assessed against the financial cost of inaction, as climate-related risks begin to affect earnings, cash flows and supply stability. “It’s no longer about whether we should do it, it’s rather how we do it,” he said.

For Zalando, the commercial case for sustainability is increasingly tied to growth, efficiency and customer relevance, rather than downside risk alone. “Keeping margins or preventing margin loss basically just keeps you in the business. But I think we all need more than that,” said Pascal Brun, VP of sustainability.

The panel also underscored the need for more effective collaboration across shared supply chains, where many of the sector’s emissions and inefficiencies are concentrated. Retailers, brands and industry groups were urged to move beyond broad commitments and develop scalable models for joint action and investment.

H&M’s Karlsson pointed to early progress in blended financing models that combine brand commitments, philanthropy and institutional capital to support decarbonisation at scale, saying the group’s new initiative with seven brands had already “doubled the effectiveness” of its investments.

Mark W. Baum, chief collaboration & commercial officer and SVP, Industry Relations at FMI, said sustainability is now closely linked to operational and commercial performance. “It’s become a business imperative, and it’s really directly tied to business performance, supply chain resilience, consumer trust, risk, financing,” he said.