Podcast

Greenwashing attacks backfired badly — Campaigning NGOs scared off the very companies voluntarily trying to act, producing green hushing instead of better climate action.

The voluntary market was a fallback, not a plan — South Pole pivoted to voluntary credits out of survival after Kyoto collapsed, not strategic vision.

Perfect is the enemy of impact — Waiting for a flawless carbon credit means never launching a project; imperfect action in hard places still beats inaction.

A government-backed currency could unlock the market — Replacing "carbon credits" with sovereign-endorsed "climate units" could restore corporate confidence to participate openly again.

China is running the real sustainability race — While Western companies retreat, China is dominating EVs, batteries, solar, and rare earths — securing tomorrow's economy today.

Down-cycles are where the real work happens — Pressure waves always return, faster each time; the companies cutting sustainability budgets now will face harder, faster change when the tide turns.

Nature risk is the most underrated business risk — Shelving water and nature agendas is strategically reckless, especially for any company that buys physical commodities from the natural world.

Sustainability professionals need harder skills, fast — Storytelling and convening aren't enough; data fluency, AI, and cross-functional technical depth are now the real differentiators.

Be entrepreneurial, not just employable — The next 10–15 years will reward those who take risks and build deep expertise over those who optimise for the next promotion.

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• The dramatic shift from the sustainability hiring boom of 2-3 years ago to today's restructuring wave
• Which sustainability roles are most vulnerable (hint: it's not who you might think)
• Where sustainability functions are being relocated within organisational structures
• Whether this integration is actually good for sustainability's long-term impact
• Practical advice for navigating your career during this transition

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Saif Hameed sits down with Adam Henkel, a 7th generation farmer and 3rd generation conservationist from Illinois. They break down:

• The true meaning of sustainability on the farm
• Bridging the farmer-corporate gap
• Easy wins vs real challenges in practice
• How corporations and sustainability professionals can help

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In short… yes. But is that really a bad thing?

In this episode, we ask whether the hype around sustainability is deflating, and what that means for progress.

We dive into the latest headlines:

- Is the UK on the brink of scaling back its climate ambitions?

- Are we stuck in a loop of ever-rising energy demand?

- What's next for sustainability-linked executive pay?

PLUS: A climate tech reality check.

This week’s headlines:

• Trump’s Tariff’s and the climate fall out
• Soaring commodity prices and what to do
• Just Stop Oil to disband - victory or retreat?

PLUS: Our how-to segment tackles a question many of you have asked: how to run a board meeting that secures sustainability buy in.

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• Business + Science = Impact: How applying process engineering to conservation created unprecedented restoration scale
• Project set up: Why success starts with understanding local needs, empowering communities, and tailoring interventions to context
• Measuring what matters: Beyond basic coral counts, why and how the team tracks ecosystem health, skills transfer, and ROI.
• Practical takeaways: Consumer insights, cross-team collaboration, and stakeholder alignment strategies

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• The true carbon impact of plastic vs. other packaging materials
• The hidden trade-offs between recyclability, emissions, and functionality
• Why recycling systems struggle and how EPR can help
• Innovations transforming packaging, from light-weighting to full recyclability
• How businesses can navigate legislation and consumer expectations

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In today’s episode we tackle two critical market signals:

• The SEC's dramatic climate disclosure rollback and what it means for corporate transparency
• The Net Zero Banking Alliance's retreat from 1.5°C commitments and if financial institutions are losing their climate ambition

Then we break down the EU Deforestation Regulation essentials:

• Who's affected and compliance timelines
• Geolocation data requirements and verification challenges
• Implementation strategies across different commodity sectors
• Navigating smallholder farmer relationships
• Leveraging compliance data for strategic advantage

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Tired of supply chain engagement programs that create more paperwork than progress? In this video, Saif Hameed and Beth Jones (Supply Chain Decarbonisation Lead, Altruistiq) reveal a no-nonsense framework for turning supplier engagement into real carbon reductions:

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• Align Before Action – Get procurement on board; they hold the supplier keys.
• Evolve Data, Don’t Overhaul – Move from compliance surveys to real PCFs.
• Integrate Commercials – Make carbon a procurement metric, not an afterthought.
• Prioritise Ruthlessly – Target suppliers that matter most for emissions & impact.

• The limitations of traditional emission factors
• Why PCFs provide more accurate, supplier-specific data
• Where businesses need to focus their efforts as PCFs scale up
• Key considerations when transitioning from EFs to PCFs

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• Strategic governance models that actually work
• Proven tactics for building finance team credibility
• Hard-won lessons on protecting sustainability budgets
• Metrics that make the business case stick (even without immediate ROI)

• Sustainability & Capitalism: Can they coexist in today’s unapologetic capitalist system?
• Why Sustainability is Under Fire: Criticisms and confusion—what’s fuelling the backlash?
• The Business Case: Why sustainability is essential for business—resource scarcity, regulation, and more.
• Reframing for Leaders: How can sustainability leaders better align with business goals?
• Strategic Priorities: What should CSOs focus on over the next 5 years to ensure long-term success?

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• What’s really happening with the Science-Based Targets Initiative
• What changes are needed to restore confidence in SBTs
• Alternatives to target-setting that are gaining traction
• Predictions for the future of SBTs in 2025. Companies that are most likely to pull out

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• Effective leadership: Tips for preparing to meet with your CEO on sustainability — what to consider and how to get buy-in.
• Decarbonise manufacturing: The optimal brand partnership approach to accelerate decarbonisation with manufacturers, without bogging them down with excessive audits.
• The new supply chain: How to rethink sourcing and supply chain design with smart, sustainability driven criteria, like renewable energy reliability.
• Monetise sustainability: Easy ways to turn decarbonisation into a business opportunity, enhancing brand equity and capturing market share.

In our latest episode, Saif Hameed unpack’s two big bets and two red herrings that sustainability professionals need to know:‍

Big bets for 2025

• Emission factors will become commoditised: Expect new databases to emerge as EF providers overprice their offerings.
• Data security will drive siloes: As accuracy improves, stricter data sharing policies will fragment data access.

Red herrings to avoid

• Generative AI will fix everything: Don’t buy the hype.
• Real-time data is a must: Weekly or monthly data is far more practical.

In this episode, we sit down with Maia Reed, Global Climate Data Lead at Mars Petcare, to explore how one of the world's largest companies is tackling carbon reduction within agriculture supply chains.

What you’ll learn:

• Setting Up Carbon Reduction Projects: Insights into leveraging supplier relationships to overcome implementation challenges.
• Bridging Data Gaps: Tackling data scarcity with tailored management approaches and grassroots solutions.
• Balancing Compliance vs. Impact: Navigating the trade-offs between inventory and intervention strategies.
• Empowering Farmers: Using carbon insights to improve livelihoods and inform sustainable sourcing.
• Innovation in Action: Embedding sustainability into R&D, with a focus on alternative proteins.

Join Saif Hameed and John Lee, Director of Nature and Mission Sustainability at Danone, as they discuss the best approach to prioritising and scaling farm-level reductions for carbon and crucially, nature. In this episode, we explore:

• Empowering Procurement: How to effectively engage procurement teams and align behind shared sustainability initiatives
• Collaborating with Suppliers: The role of Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) and supplier-centric emission sharing in fostering collaborative partnerships.
• Accelerating Innovation: The process of testing pilot programs and prioritising those with the greatest potential for scale-up.
• Leveraging Customer Demand: How to harness growing consumer interest in sustainability to reduce emissions through collaborative efforts.

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• Managing apparel supply chain complexities: How H&M manages the complexities of a global supply chain and what companies can learn from their approach
• Supply chain engagement: The key to successful supply chain engagement—what works for both H&M and their suppliers, and how to make these partnerships last
• Production decarbonisation: How to approach decarbonisation at the factory level and on a larger scale
• Digital tech: How H&M is using technology to increase supply chain transparency, improve traceability, and hold suppliers accountable for sustainability goals
• Innovation: How H&M prioritises finances and scales innovation to meet their sustainability goals

Where does the result of the US election leave corporate sustainability? In this episode, we cover:

• Big bets: How the Trump administration will impact corporate sustainability efforts

• Policy Shifts: Key policy changes to watch and their implications

• Budgets: Tips for managing sustainability budgets amidst shifting priorities

• Team Dynamics: Changing structure and priorities for corporate sustainability teams

• Global Perspectives: New emerging global hubs driving sustainability innovation
• Expert Advice: Strategies for maintaining ambition and commitment to sustainability goals despite political uncertainty.

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• The profile of the sustainable consumer
• How consumers prioritise what they put in the shopping basket
• What “sustainability” means to them
• The most trusted sustainable brands—and why they stand out

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• Strategy alignment: How to ensure your sustainability transformation aligns with the broader business objectives
• Sustainability team set-up: The high-priority skills and qualities to look for when recruiting and building your sustainability team.
• Leadership style: How to evolve your leadership style as your sustainability program matures.
• Budget management: Effective strategies for developing, securing and scaling a sustainability budget.

• Types of collaboration: Challenges and opportunities associated with within-value-chain collaboration, across-value-chain collaboration, and pre-competitive collaboration.
• When, where and who to collaborate with (and not): How to identify the right opportunities and partners—and when it’s best to go solo.
• Creating collaborative initiatives that scale: Key components for setting up partnerships that can scale (not just multiply).
• Who takes the credit? Innovative tools and accounting practices like differentiated product carbon footprints to verify reductions in collaborative efforts.
• Budgeting, resources and incentives: Monetary (price premiums, 3rd party financing) and non-monetary incentives (long off-take agreements) to sustain collaborations.

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The majority of businesses calculating baselines use less than >10k emission factors (crazy).

What does this mean?

It means emission calculations aren't accurate and decarbonisation efforts remain invisible.

In this episode we get to the bottom of this and discuss:

• EF Recap: what is an EF and how is one developed
• Current State of Play: Understanding the current landscape of EF usage and challenges.
• The EF Dilemma: Balancing consistency and accuracy in EFs.
• EF Types: Deciphering the differences between supplier-specific and secondary EFs
• Primary Data: The role and need of primary data collection in EF development.
• Solutions and Trends: Discovering innovative approaches to accurate EF calculation and future trends in the field.

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In our latest podcast ep, we discuss essential leadership strategies to supercharge your sustainability team, namely:

- Team retention: How to retain and motivate top talent in a competitive market

- Skill development: Where and when to invest in upskilling

- Performance metrics: What metrics and bonus schemes are useful to track and implement

- Headcount budget and resource management: How to optimise team resources

- Team culture: Observed tactics for fostering team culture from the F&B industry

In part one (of a two-part mini-series), we discuss:

• Core characteristics: The key attributes contributing to a well-structured and effective sustainability team.
• Must-have roles: The indispensable positions that every sustainability team needs to function optimally.
• Internal vs. external: When to prioritise internal hiring and when to seek external expertise through consultants or software.
• Budgeting: How to secure the necessary headcount budget for your sustainability team.
• Attracting talent: The best strategies to attract top tale
  
  

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Saif Hameed and Piers Cooper, Senior Sustainability Research Manager (LCA) at Altruistiq discuss FLAG, what it is, if you should prioritise it, and if you do prioritise it, how to maximise your ROI. They cover:

• A recap: What is FLAG and the measurement requirements
• Strategic importance: When and why should a company prioritise FLAG over other sustainability initiatives
• Measurement challenges: The primary FLAG challenges and solutions to overcome them
• Commercial opportunities: How to leverage FLAG to create competitive advantages and unlock commercial opportunities
• Trend watch: The upcoming changes to FLAG and trends to be aware of.

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