This report presents an in-depth analysis of how 54 selected Albanian businesses engage with sustainability, offering insights to inform future policy and programme design. For most firms, sustainability action is primarily driven by internal economic considerations, particularly energy efficiency and cost savings, rather than external regulatory pressure or consumer demand. More advanced sustainability practices are concentrated among businesses integrated into European Union value chains, where buyer requirements and international standards exert stronger influence. Overall, sustainability is widely viewed not as an abstract ESG or SDG concept, but as a strategy for long-term business viability, resilience, and competitiveness.
The study is based on semi-structured interviews with senior managers or owners of 54 purposively selected businesses across key sectors, business sizes, market orientations, and geographic locations. Approximately one third of the sample consists of EU exporters, while the remainder primarily serve domestic or regional markets, allowing the analysis to highlight how exposure to international markets shapes sustainability pressures and responses. While the findings are not representative of all Albanian enterprises, they provide a detailed picture of how more visible and sustainability-aware firms are approaching the transition.
Findings show that business leaders’ understanding of sustainability clusters around three interconnected themes: financial viability, operational efficiency, and ethical responsibility. Sustainability is most commonly associated with economic resilience, cost control, and long-term survival, supported by practical measures such as cleaner technologies, reduced resource use, and improved operational processes. Social responsibility and governance also feature in managers’ perspectives, though usually alongside, rather than ahead of, economic considerations. This framing explains why a large majority of respondents rate sustainability as very important for their future, even when their actions are not explicitly aligned with formal ESG or SDG frameworks.
The report highlights a significant gap between how sustainability is framed by policymakers and financial institutions, and how it is understood by businesses themselves. While public and financial actors often emphasize ESG metrics and SDG alignment, business owners tend to think in more concrete terms, such as compliance with ISO standards, food safety requirements, or general EU rules. This disconnect can act as a barrier to deeper engagement, underscoring the need for support mechanisms that translate sustainability objectives into practical, business-relevant terms that align resilience, efficiency, and responsibility with broader environmental and social goals.
