State of Sustainability – Details, episodes & analysis

We've spent the last few months working on improvements to the podcast, lining up a fantastic selection of guests to help us discuss a wide range of topics in the sustainability space. 

We've been hearing whispers about this trend for months, and now it's time to address it head-on: sustainability teams across major corporations are being restructured, downsized, or absorbed into other departments. In this episode, we dive into this critical shift that's affecting sustainability professionals worldwide. We cover:

• 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

We're going on a season break and will be back with you in June.

In this episode, Saif Hameed and Kathryn McLeod, Head of ESG Reporting at The HEINEKEN Company, discuss practical approaches for transforming sustainability commitments into funded realities. They explore how to:

Improve finance - sustainability collaboration:

• Strategic governance frameworks that drive effective reporting and collaboration
• Battle-tested approaches for building credibility with finance teams
• Practical tools for embedding sustainability expertise in finance operations

Master sustainable finance:

• Success factors for securing and maximising sustainability budgets
• How to handle budget cuts and mid-year financial reviews
• Proven metrics and tools that make the business case stick - even without immediate returns

Who needs this:

Essential listening for sustainability professionals seeking financial backing and finance leaders stepping into ESG. McLeod unpacks HEINEKEN's approach to transforming sustainability from a cost centre to a value driver.

In today’s episode, we dive into the shifting world of sustainability and its clash with capitalism. We’ll cover:

• 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?

In today’s episode, we discuss the future of Science Based Targets (SBTs) - whether they’re still relevant, what’s going wrong and what alternatives are out there. Tune in as we explore:

• 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

In this episode, Saif Hameed is joined by Colin Browne, CEO of Cascale and former COO of Under Armour, for a no-nonsense conversation on the apparel industry's sustainability shift. Colin shares key leadership and collaboration strategies for driving this change.

What you'll learn:

• Effective leadership principles: 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.

As 2025 approaches, the landscape of climate data management is evolving rapidly. In this episode, we unpack two big bets and two red herrings that sustainability professionals need to know about:

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.

Shownotes:

• State of Sustainability Food & Bev Summit Chicago, March 19th 2024: Register here.

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.

Saif Hameed explores the biggest announcements, trends, successes and failures of 2024. He breaks down:

• The explosive growth of Product Carbon Footprints (PCFs) and their impact on supply chains
• Why PCF exchange is lagging behind PCF generation and what this means for businesses
• The return of secondary data in emissions reporting and how to balance it with primary data
• Packaging as the new zone of collaboration for emissions reductions
• Why procurement teams need more support to meet increasing sustainability requirements

Tune in to get to grips with these trends and learn how to get ahead for 2025.

Related resources:

• How to Set Up a Useful Product Carbon Footprint (Guide)

In this episode, Saif Hameed explores how businesses can credibly deploy and account for Scope 3 emission reductions. He breaks this down into five key steps:

1. Setting up data
2. Identifying interventions
3. Implementing projects
4. Measuring and tracking progress
5. Validating and verifying results

Along the way, we tackle challenges like mass balance measurement, avoiding double counting, and preparing for frameworks like Land Sector Removals Guidance (LSRG). Tune in for actionable insights to navigate Scope 3 reductions with confidence.