Let's Talk Sustainable Business

Professor Guy Jubb is an Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh Business School and Co-Director of the Conference Board's European Corporate Governance Council. A chartered accountant, Guy is a corporate governance pioneer, having worked on investor stewardship and ESG issues since the early 1990s. In this episode, Guy talks about being one of the first people in the UK to have 'governance' in his job title, why he feels 'stewardship' as a concept is a sustainability cornerstone, and why remuneration and greenwashing are two important governance-related issues for companies to consider.

Genica Schaefgen from Ecosia talks about how customers' privacy is at the core of the business, how Ecosia is the official "planting partner" of debit card company TreeCard - which dedicates 80% of profits earned from merchant transaction fees into planting trees, why the company is very careful who it partners with, and Genica's work with the Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany, which helps raise the visibility of socially-focused companies to politicians and other stakeholders.

Genica Schaefgen is Head of Ecosia Germany, a Berlin-based tech company best known as the "search engine that plants trees". In this episode, Genica explains how using Ecosia contributes to its global tree-planting projects, enabling a tree to be planted "every 1.3 seconds", why Ecosia positions itself as a social business and takes a holistic approach to its biodiversity projects, and how the company aims to hold itself accountable by publishing their financial reports every month.

Mari Granström from Origin by Ocean talks about scaling up and reimagining an algae processing value chain, how she feels about EU and global climate and oceans policy, developing collaborative partnerships, and the advice she would give to anyone thinking of setting up a company with a bio-based focus.

Mari Granström is the CEO and Founder of Origin by Ocean, a Finnish start-up building a business ecosystem based on farmed and harvested algae, which is turned into ingredients used in the production of everyday consumer goods including in food, cosmetics, detergents, agriculture, textiles and packaging. In this episode we discuss why Mari decided to focus on the processed algae market, how Origin by Ocean uses biorefinery technology to tackle the problem of marine eutrophication and the company's partnership with Finnish brand Marikmekko.

The European Commission's Małgorzata Gołębiewska talks about how the EU Green Claims Directive aims to "level the playing field" for companies, the recent amendment to the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, the important role independent verification will play in the future, and also answers a question she often receives - what will the cost be for companies needing to adhere to the EU Green Claims Directive?

Małgorzata Gołębiewska is Team Leader for Environmental Footprint & Green Claims, DG Environment, at the European Commission. She leads the preparation and negotiation for the EU Green Claims Directive, a proposal to help combat greenwashing which sets out requirements on how to substantiate environmental claims and introduces rules on environmental labelling schemes. In this episode, we discuss the extent of greenwashing in the EU, how important it is to rebuild consumer trust and help consumers make more sustainable choices, and the role of labels such as the EU Ecolabel.

Radley Yeldar's Louise Ayling talks about how reporting standards such as the ESRS can help bridge the 'communications gap' prevalent in sustainability and how they provide an opportunity for companies to talk about their impact in a more transparent and compelling manner. We also discuss some of our favourite sustainability communications campaigns and whether 'greenwashing' remains a useful term.

Louise Ayling is Director of Sustainability and a board member at Radley Yeldar, a creative consultancy specialising in brand, corporate and sustainability communications. In this episode, Louise talks in-depth about Radley Yeldar's practical guide 'Words that Work: Effective Language in Sustainability Communications", which reviewed the sustainability webpages from 50 of Forbes' '100 most valuable brands' and compared their communications style with ten leading 'sustainable brands'. We discuss the importance of spotting and avoiding 'Stock Sustainability' and whether she feels greenwashing is still prevalent among most brands.

Eco-Age's George Harding-Rolls talks about the greenwash.com website he helped set up and its aim to help consumers better identify greenwashing. We also discuss whether companies should become advocates for legislative change in sustainability to "change the rules of the game", rather than focus too much on creating "the perfect green product".

Experienced corporate campaigner and sustainability professional George Harding-Rolls is Fossil Fuel Fashion Campaign Lead and Director of Policy & Advocacy at Eco-Age, having previously worked on Fashion, Plastics & Circular Economy at the Changing Markets Foundation. In this episode, George joins host Bárbara Mendes-Jorge to discuss the need for improved greenwashing regulation, whether greenwashing should be seen as anti-competitive and how important it is for different departments within companies to openly discuss sustainability issues in order to prevent greenwashing.

The Climate Fund's Managing Director Marilyn Waite talks about the European Commission's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the related European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) and how this will impact companies with more than 50,000 employees on sustainability reporting. Marilyn also talks about her book 'Sustainability at Work: Careers that Make a Difference' and outlines how individuals can balance having a successful career with a more sustainable professional life that makes a positive difference to society.

Sustainable finance and investment expert Marilyn Waite leads The Climate Finance Fund, a philanthropic platform which helps mobilize capital for climate solutions, focusing on capital domiciled in the US, Europe and China. In this episode, Marilyn sits down with host Bárbara Mendes-Jorge to talk about how the ESG sector is developing, what regulators should consider when designing climate-friendly policies and the importance of addressing the intersections of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

ESG Center Leader Anuj Saush introduces the new host of ESG-focused Season 5: Brussels-based sustainability communications expert Bárbara Mendes-Jorge. The ESG Center continues to experience remarkable expansion as companies are increasingly interested in prioritising corporate responsibility and integrating ESG strategies within their organizations. This season provides advice on how companies can prioritise ESG and avoid greenwashing, helps demystify and break down confusing sustainability-related words and gives practical tips on improving sustainability within your organization. We will also be discussing the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), which will soon impact companies with more than 50,000 employees on their sustainability reporting.

For the last episode of Season 4, guest host Claudia Lee reflects on the key insights she learnt from her guests about how to implement and execute corporate sustainability strategies effectively. The episode is broken down into two parts 1) building a strategy 2) implementing and executing the strategy. Special thanks to our guests this season, including: Agrosustain, Xampla, Lush, Ikea, Maersk and Danone Note: Maersk accelerated their goal to reach net-zero by 2050 by a decade. The firm now aims to reach net-zero by 2040.

In this episode, Danone’s Vice President of Public Affairs and Regenerative Agriculture Policy, Chris Adamo, shares examples of the firm’s sustainability strategy in practice. We get insights on their keystone regenerative agriculture program and how Danone works with dairy farmers to track and mitigate climate impact. We also hear about the firm’s efforts to reduce GHG in their operations via their Methane emissions initiative.

During this episode, Claudia speaks to Chris Adamo, Danone’s Vice President of Public Affairs and Regenerative Agriculture Policy. Danone is a multi-national food corporation headquartered in Paris. The firm’s North American branch recently became one of the largest certified b-corps in the world. Chris shares the three key pillars of Danone’s impact journey. This includes the firm’s sustainable business operations, its vision of nutrition and health and how they collaborate with value chain stakeholders. Chris also discusses US environmental policy, and breakdown the key facets of his role at Danone N.A.

Head of Corporate Sustainability & ESG at A.P Moller-Maersk Lene Serpa discusses how sustainability is ingrained into the shipping firm’s business model. She talks about how to implement an ESG strategy that ensures accountability and shared vision in their 95,000-employee strong company. Lene also reveals key insights learnt as a sustainability leader, including how risk, responsibility and opportunity can be balanced to create strategic value.

In this episode, Claudia speaks to Lene Serpa, Head of Corporate Sustainability & ESG at A.P Moller-Maersk. Lene breaks down Maersk’s plan to reach net-zero by 2040, explaining how the firm can decarbonize shipping by leveraging tech and offering low-carbon solutions to clients. Their conversation covers green fuel use-cases in the shipping industry and the importance of a global carbon price for the shipping industry.

In this episode, Claudia continues her conversation with Karen Pflug, the Group Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka Group. She discusses Ikea’s goal to reach zero-emission deliveries by 2025. She also highlights their efforts to bridge consumers’ ‘worry-to-action’ gap through pop-ups, take-back schemes and education. As CSO, Pflug offers some valuable advice to sustainability leaders on the same journey, reminding leaders to act with ‘optimism, driven by action and empowerment’. Relevant links: Ikea’s zero-emissions deliveries Ikea’s renewable energy program Buyback & Resell Program