FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Future 500 Releases 2026 “Force For Good Forecast” Highlighting a New Era of Political Risk, Resilience, and Corporate Accountability

San Francisco, CA – February 24, 2026 – Future 500, a nonprofit organization that builds trust between companies, advocates, investors, and philanthropists, today released its Force For Good Forecast 2026. The annual report maps the emerging social and environmental trends that will define corporate risk and stakeholder expectations in the year ahead.

The 2026 Forecast reveals a corporate landscape in transition. Faced with intensifying political polarization, a surge in greenwashing litigation, and a weakened NGO sector, companies appear to be moving away from bold public pronouncements toward a continuing [since we had greenhushing as a 2025 trend too] strategy of "greenhushing" and a focus on tangible, local resilience. The report suggests that the "virtuous race-to-the-top" seen in previous years has altered to a more cautious, relationship-driven approach to sustainability and social impact.

2026’s Most Urgent Themes

While the Forecast covers ten critical trends, Future 500 highlights three that will be especially consequential for business leaders in 2026.

Climate Resilience is the New Mitigation: As pure decarbonization strategies face political headwinds, companies and investors are shifting toward an integrated framework of mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. This shift is driven by a focus on long-term financial returns and a language of "storm preparedness" that holds broader cross-partisan appeal.Energy Affordability vs. Data Centers: Rising electricity prices have turned energy affordability into a top-tier political issue. Data centers, once symbols of innovation, are now emerging as targets for community activism and political scrutiny due to their massive energy and water footprints.The Responsible AI Gap: There is a widening mismatch between the speed of AI deployment and the maturity of corporate governance. With fewer than 1% of companies having fully operationalized responsible AI, civil society is mobilizing to hold companies accountable for AI-facilitated harms to workers, communities, and the environment.

Across all ten trends, the 2026 Forecast emphasizes that corporate success is no longer defined by global commitments alone, but by the strength of a company's local and private stakeholder networks. [I took this part out for repetition because we already talked about greenhushing above] The report concludes that the most resilient companies will be those that proactively engage their critics and partners in trust-based dialogue. By integrating human rights, energy equity, and nature-positive strategies into core governance, businesses can navigate a year of high political volatility while sustaining long-term value.

The Force For Good Forecast 2026 edition covers:

Advocates Face an Uncertain Path ForwardA Tale of Two Carbon Accounting ProtocolsA Fragmented Plastics Activism LandscapeEnergy Affordability vs. Data CentersThe Politics of NatureClimate Resilience is the New MitigationGreenhushing: A New Necessity?Greenwashing Litigation Takes on New DimensionsEvolving Corporate Accountability for Human RightsThe Responsible AI Gap

The full Force For Good Forecast 2026 is available at: www.future500.org

About Future 500

Future 500 is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that builds trust between companies, advocates, investors, and philanthropists to advance business as a force for good. Through stakeholder engagement, strategic advising, and cross-sector convening, Future 500 helps organizations navigate complex social, environmental, and political challenges to drive durable, systems-level change.