Nigel's Sustainability InSight - September 2024

With Climate Week wrapping up in New York, this is what I have been reading, watching and listening to on sustainability over the past month.

1. ESG is dead. Long live ESG

The US culture wars have pulled ESG into the mainstream debate about what is good or not good for business, so its always encouraging to see an opinion piece in the Financial Times arguing in favour of the benefits. In this piece from Lindsay Hooper at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) I particularly liked the line 'Rather than asking “How much sustainability can we afford?” companies must ask “How do we accelerate, navigate and benefit from the transition?”.

2. The Backlash Didn't Kill Green Investing

On the same theme, another authoritative and inspiring article from Paul Polman about whether the ESG backlash is impacting the move to more green investing (TLDR: it's not!)

3. Capitalism broke the climate. Now it can fix it

Staying on the theme of business solutions to the climate emergency and the broader sustainability challenge, I have regularly recommended episodes of Akshat Rathi's Bloomberg Zero podcast, so it was good to watch his TED Conferences talk covering the main themes from his recent book 'Climate Capitalism'.

4. How ‘Scope 4’ emissions can help and hinder sustainability efforts

If you're not familiar with the concept of 'Scope 4' emissions - essentially avoided emissions due to a product or service being better for the climate than an alternative - then I'd recommend reading this Trellis Group article by Joel Makower. I echo his thoughts that while it's an important concept to understand and consider, it is fraught with even more risks of 'greenwashing'.

5. Corporate Guide: Net Zero and the Scope 3 Challenge

Every week there seems to be a new guide or further advice published for sustainability professionals on tackling Net Zero. Many just recycle previous content and advice, but I thought this one from Environment Analyst was particularly good and among a number of useful sections, includes a great summary of current reporting standards and frameworks. And to supplement this I'd also recommend the Trellis Group article CSRD: What you need to know about the EU reporting mandate.

6. The rise of the ESG controller in the sustainability talent landscape

Finally for this month, what professional doesn't want to know whether their skills are in demand from employers, so if you work in the sustainability field listen to this S&P Global ESG Insider podcast (TLDL: you're in demand!)

Want to learn more?

I am a tutor at Cambridge Marketing College where we are committed to developing a variety of resources, courses and apprenticeships around sustainability and corporate responsibility. If you'd like to know more, contact us at info@marketingcollege.com or see our events.

About Sustainability InSight

'Sustainability InSight' is my regular roundup of recent insightful sustainability content. My aim is to improve understanding and knowledge across the sustainability spectrum - not just the environment and climate change - to help us all lead a more sustainable life. If you see any content that you'd recommend, then just let me know https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelgclark/