Beatriz García Fernández‑Viagas is an EU regional expert at sustainability intelligence firm Enhesa; Mary Foley is expert services strategy director at Enhesa; Nathaniel Gajasa is a US regional expert at Enhesa.

Those who have been closely following trends in corporate environmental impact reporting and compliance may have felt a disturbance in the force over the last few weeks. Suddenly, the break-neck pace of new proposals and complex reporting requirement introductions was replaced by a notable slow-down in the pace of reform. Business leaders will need to approach this new phase in the sustainability journey carefully, because missteps now could create significant challenges in the not-so-distant future.