Net zero commitments are now a common feature of business strategy. Across all sectors organisations are developing decarbonisation plans in response to investor expectations, regulatory pressure and other demands. In the UK, the consequences of climate change, particularly vulnerability to storms and flooding, pose a material risk to business. Conversely, cutting emissions is often motivated by opportunities to drive cost efficiencies and enhance brand reputation. Yet although net zero ambitions are widespread and the risks and opportunities are clear, achieving it is not easy. Whilst technology and data are important for measuring, reducing and reporting emissions, reaching net zero requires organisational change management, for which middle managers play an essential but often overlooked role.

Net zero: strategy is easy, execution is hard
Setting a net zero target is a strategic decision. Delivering it requires organisations to rethink how they manufacture products, manage supply chains, allocate capital and make every day operational decisions. Transformation at this scale aligns with the definition of change management, yet net zero is rarely cited as a reason for enacting strategic change programmes.
Classic strategic change models, emphasise the need to create urgency and mobilise leadership coalitions as a first two steps for driving successful transition. However, research also warns that urgency alone can backfire if leadership teams lack the capacity or capability to guide change initiatives.
This tension is especially felt when it comes to sustainability. Despite calls for urgent global action to mitigate the climate crisis within the business context, achieving net zero by 2050 may feel like a distant ‘nice to do’ versus commercial pressures prioritised in the short-term.
However, with the net zero goals set, responsibility for “making it happen” typically falls to those tasked with translating strategy into action: middle managers.

Why middle managers matter more than most leaders realise
There is a wide body of research acknowledging the importance of middle managers for delivering strategic change. Positioned between top managers and frontline employees, middle managers occupy a central position to be able to make sense of change directed by senior managers Additionally, they are often more immersed in operational understanding allowing them to “sense give” on the implementation of change to wider employees.

Middle managers are central to:
– Making sense of strategic intent and translating new ideas
– Adapting messages to engage different audiences on change
– Building informal networks that help mobilise support for change
– Informal knowledge sharing, which supports organisational learning

Much of this influence happens outside formal governance structures, through everyday decisions, peer-to-peer conversations and what some researchers describe as “water cooler learning”. This makes the contribution of middle managers both powerful and easy to overlook. When it comes to delivering sustainability targets research found conflicting rationales between profit and purpose goals can create challenges. Middle managers are often the ones required to reconcile these tensions in practice. One study found middle managers cope by mentally separating the individual requirements of commercial and social goals then integrate and sense-make, requiring emotional and behavioural capabilities.

Net zero
Middle managers can be powerful accelerators for achieving net zero. For entrepreneurs and business leaders serious about net zero, the opportunity is clear. Middle managers can play a powerful role in accelerating changes required to meet net zero goals, depending on how they are engaged and supported.

Research points to several practical priorities:
– Involve middle managers early in shaping strategic change required to reach net zero.
– Align incentives and performance measures to reduce conflicts between commercial and environmental goals.
– Invest in capability-building, through targeted recruitment, or training particularly in carbon management or climate literacy and change leadership.
– Create psychological safety allowing honest communication about capacity trade-offs and conflicting goals.
– Build broad guiding coalitions at all levels to mobilise change.
– Align ethical values to unite sensemaking across the business and help deliver non-profit goals.

By embedding sustainability into the organisation’s purpose, values and operating model, rather than treating it as an add-on, middle managers can be better equipped to help deliver change across the organisation.

The real opportunity in the net zero transition
Net zero will not be delivered through targets, dashboards or annual reports alone. It will be delivered, or not, through thousands of everyday decisions made across the organisation.
Middle managers sit at the point where ambition meets reality. They translate strategy into action, navigate competing demands and shape how employees experience change. They are often the unsung heroes of transformation.
For leaders willing to recognise and invest in this role, the net zero transition is not just a compliance exercise, it is an opportunity to build more resilient, adaptive and future-ready organisations.