2026 Business White Paper Series: Borderline Sustainability:Rethinking customs leadership and operations for a greener future

Customs administrations around the world are increasingly expected to play a central role in advancing environmental sustainability, not only through enforcing multilateral environmental agreements and facilitating green trade, but also by improving the environmental performance of their own operations. Drawing on survey data collected by the Centre for Customs and Excise Studies (CCES) from customs officers across fifteen national administrations, this White Paper highlights a persistent gap between environmental ambition and organisational practice. While many administrations acknowledge the importance of sustainability, few have systematically embedded environmental considerations into strategic planning, governance frameworks, performance measurement, or workforce capability development. The paper identifies five major challenges: low workforce awareness of the Green Customs agenda, limited integration of environmental priorities into business planning cycles, leadership shortcomings in driving sustainability, insufficient stakeholder engagement, and a lack of widespread environmental literacy. Ultimately, the paper argues that closing the “Doing–Being gap” requires customs administrations to treat environmental performance as a core element of organisational value and public trust. By embedding sustainability into strategy, culture, and daily operations, Customs can evolve into net‑positive contributors to environmental outcomes while supporting a more resilient and sustainable global trading system.