What is behind the leadership shift in sustainable development from politicians to CEOs?

•Original data on sustainability attitudes (SAs) show a growing divide in governmental and corporate leadership in sustainability.•Nations show rather stable SAs, while corporations show a steady increase in SA levels since 2000.•Drivers are discussed enhancing the leading role of corporate CEOs and diverting the attention of national politicians from sustainability issues.•Such drivers include impacts of globalisation, social media, the economic crisis in OECD countries and differences in power between political and corporate leaders.•The SA of forward-thinking CEOs may become the most important driver of all.

Leadership in sustainable development has gradually shifted during the past decades, with forward-thinking CEOs of prominent multinational corporations increasingly taking over the role formerly played exclusively by national politicians. This paper discusses possible drivers for a growing divide in governmental and corporate leadership in sustainability. Special attention is given to the role of the sustainability attitude (SA) of organisations and their leaders, as SA levels have been rising in corporations and diminishing in many OECD nations since the year 2000. The drivers involved in shifts in SAs of corporations and governments include particular impacts of globalisation, of social media, of the economic crisis in OECD countries and of growing differences in power between political and corporate leaders. The likelihood of these drivers exerting a continued effect during the coming decades is discussed. The sustainability attitude of the forward-thinking CEO may become the most important driver of all. To gain insight into the motivation of these leaders, the paper also highlights the biographies of several pioneering CEOs who have demonstrated a type of corporate leadership beyond leading their corporation.