Episodes

  • ‘The Sustainable Business Handbook’ → David Grayson (Author): A Roadmap for Communicating ESG and Avoiding Greenwashing Claims

    ‘The Sustainable Business Handbook’ → David Grayson (Author): A Roadmap for Communicating ESG and Avoiding Greenwashing Claims
    Jun 12 2022
    A Roadmap for Communicating ESG and Avoiding Greenwashing Claims Environmental, Social, and Governance Topics discussed: The Sustainable Business Handbook (TSBH)Co-authored with two colleagues: Mark Lee and Chris CoulterTSBH is a step by step guide — 13 chapters of key elements to sustainability as a businessTSBH how-to manual — Previous book "All In" was tracking the evolution of biz over 20 yearsEmbedding sustainability in the core of the business — one chapter dedicated to communicationsThe power of storytelling — it can only come after identifying a strategy — Board oversight — and leadership buy-inTransparency and accountability are fundamental Critical to a company’s success is working through environmental, social, and economic impacts: positive and negative Embedding sustainability is critical for people and the planet Greenwashing and Purposewashing How companies, funds, and investors can avoid greenwashing claimsESG claims must have substanceHow to build a sustainable business culture Materiality exercise as a tool to improve ESGFor reporting ESG, should include carbon and waterTCFD and TNFD Collaborations of standards and sustainability reporting and international accounting standard BoardsTrends between ESG and investment Top talent will be attracted to companies that align with a responsible way of doing business and shared valuesWhat role does the CMO play in the success of a sustainable business?Unilever is an example of embedding sustainability; even before Paul Polman Unilever’s “brands with purpose”Suzano, an example of a responsible company Board oversightThe Tata Group   About David Grayson David Grayson is Emeritus Professor of Corporate Responsibility at the Cranfield School of Management. He is also chair of the Institute of Business Ethics and of the international disability charity Leonard Cheshire. He has advised businesses and Corporate Responsibility coalitions around the world. 🌎 Website 🛄 LinkedIn 🐧 Twitter  📗 The Sustainable Business Handbook on Amazon  Co-Authors of TSBH Mark Lee is the Director of the SustainAbility Institute by ERM and an ERM Partner. Mark sits on the Advisory Board of Sustainable Brands and the Senior Advisory Board of the Centre for Responsible Business at the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. He is based in California. 🛄 LinkedIn  Chris Coulter is the CEO of GlobeScan, an international insights and advisory consultancy. He is also the Chair of Canadian Business for Social Responsibility and a member of several corporate sustainability advisory boards, including B Lab’s Multinational Standards Advisory Council. 🛄 LinkedIn  About Philip Beere 15 years directing creative campaigns and growing corporate bottom lines — with strategic marketing and by crafting engaging narratives. In January 2021, he exited his executive-marketing role for a 1B FinTech unicorn, to launch a boutique marketing agency. Agency clients are thought-leaders and innovators, who are wanting to take their brand to the next level with creative content, story-based campaigns, and digital marketing. Recognized for his work in sustainability, Philip believes purpose-driven brands are the future; he says when doubling down on brand activism, the environment, and social causes, everyone wins. 🛄 LinkedIn  ✉️ philip@philipjames.co 🌎 Website  🎬 YouTube  📷 Instagram  🐧 Twitter
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    30 mins
  • IKEA → Alex Castro Pérez: Creating a Clean Energy Movement

    IKEA → Alex Castro Pérez: Creating a Clean Energy Movement
    Jun 10 2022
    Alex Castro Pérez is currently heading IKEA Home Solar & Energy Services, the business unit on a mission to accelerate the global transition to affordable clean energy. He also leads sustainable innovation & corporate business development, related strategic investments and partnerships.

    Before joining IKEA, Alex headed global functions across R&D, Engineering and Supply Chain for leading multinationals in the Food Processing & Packaging, Medical Device, and Automotive industries. His experience also includes seeding and advising start-ups in different sectors.

     

    In this episode the following topics are discussed:

    • Sustainability and innovation
    • Why is IKEA in the market of residential solar
    • The better everyday life for the people
    • People and planet positive
    • Climate action starts at home
    • Soft cost acquisition in home solar
    • Systemized and make the customer journey more simple when buying solar
    • Automize the buying process with transparency and engagement
    • Breadth and depth of understanding life at home and the solution of helping people lead a more sustainable life
    • Pricing with transparency
    • Installation booking made simple and un-intrusive
    • Why do people buy solar?
    • Creating a clean energy movement
    • IKEA’s energy goals for 2030 — becoming climate positive
    • The IKEA LED story
    • The IKEA work culture

    About the Ingka Group:

    Ingka Group (Ingka Holding B.V. and its controlled entities) is one of 11 different groups of companies that own and operate IKEA sales channels under franchise agreements with Inter IKEA Systems B.V. Ingka Group has three business areas: IKEA Retail, Ingka Investments and Ingka Centres. It is the world’s largest home furnishing retailer operating 367 IKEA stores in 30 markets. These IKEA stores had 830 million visits last year and 2.35 billion visits www.IKEA.com. Ingka Group operates business under the IKEA vision, to create a better everyday life for the many people by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.

    ABOUT PHILIP BEERE

    Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.

    Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co 

    LinkedIn

    Facebook

    Instagram

     
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    41 mins
  • Triple Bottom Line → John Elkington: The Recall of a Management Concept (25 Years Later)

    Triple Bottom Line → John Elkington: The Recall of a Management Concept (25 Years Later)
    Jun 7 2022
    John is one of the world’s leading authorities on sustainable development and developed the ‘triple bottom line’ business strategy. He is the author or co-author of 50 published reports, thousands of articles, and 19 books, including the no. 1 bestselling The Green Consumer Guide (1988).  In this episode, the following topics are discussed: 2019 is the 25th anniversary of the TBLPeople — Planet — ProfitAccounting vs PurposeSystem change — not the accountingDouble entry bookkeeping6000 companies are engaging in sustainability reportingBranding and advertising — misleading with greenHBR says this is first time any management concept has been recalledSocial entrepreneursTBL is not intended to be a mechanism to support tradeoffsImprove on two dimensions, and holding the third constantTomorrow’s capitalism inquiry — Aviva InvestorsCrowdsourcing the revamp — using technology to communicate more widelyHow does shared value link to the TBLCompeting language is a glorious alibi to do nothing at allWhat lies on the horizon for the revamp?We need framework and tools that drives business in ways that we have not seen yetLook at leadership companies, like Unilever, and explore whatTBL thinking has delivered in their businesses. (Revamp 1)CEO must be on boardThe evolution of B2B platforms — Paul Polman — look at B2B platforms and look at what is working and what is not — do we need multiple platforms? (Revamp 2)The role of government and policy makersFinancial markets through the lenses of the CFO and the tie to sustainabilty (Revamp 3)Larry Fink at BlackRock, “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”Avoiding the label of environmentalistJohn as an agitator —‘Playfulness’ as an indicator of flexibility and embracing change? OECD: 80 -90% of companies know a sustainability commitment is necessaryCorporate culture —The term greenwashing — safety and health diversity are easy to claim, but a CEO saying it is different than real results— someone at Board level must be directly responsible for performanceClimate change, human rights, communicating TBL to Wall Street → learning journeysThe sort of company that does TBL reporting and brand activismComparing 1970’s corporate leadership to todaySDGsThe word ’sustainability’ and it being perceived as something badA pending financial crashDirty industries proclaiming sustainability — and the need to call out ranking without looking at what goes on behind the scenesThe need to disrupt the ranking industryProvoking or calling out bad corporate behaviorIncremental change is boring — disruption or civilizational change is more fascinating and engagingWhen words or phrases first appear they are like membranes — new concepts that engage — the more a term is used it becomes less engagingThe forecast that the SDGs will equal 12T in opportunity — dissecting the number — skepticism and forecastsWe have moved from looking at sustainability as an impediment and viewing it as an opportunity and instrument for transformationBig brands that disappearParadigm shifts John Elkington is the executive chairman of Volans, co-founder of SustainAbility, blogs at Johnelkington.com, tweets at @volansjohn.  NOTES John's websites John Elkington Volans Other websites Aviva Investors B Corp BlackRock  Business and Sustainability Development Commission — market potential of SDGs DJSI Fast Company GlobeScan GRI Tech Mahindra  Unilever sustainability  WBCSD Wired Sample of John's books The Green Capitalists by John Elkington and Tom Burke The Green Consumer Guide by John Elkington and Julia Hailes Cannibals With Forks: The Triple Bottom Line of 21st Century Business The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World by John Elkington and Pamela Hartigan The Zeronauts The Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways To Connect Today's Profits With Tomorrow's Bottom Line by John Elkington and Jochen Zeitz, with a foreword from Sir Richard Branson Other books Thomas Kuhn — The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Articles/blogs The 6 Ways Business Leaders Talk About Sustainability John Elkington has lit the fuse to blow up the “Triple Bottom Line” he invented ABOUT PHILIP BEERE Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations. Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co  ...
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    53 mins
  • U. of Pittsburgh → CB Bhattacharya: Is There a Disconnect Between CSR Goals and Execution?

    U. of Pittsburgh → CB Bhattacharya: Is There a Disconnect Between CSR Goals and Execution?
    Mar 23 2022
    CB Bhattacharya is the H.J. Zoffer Chair in Sustainability and Ethics at the University of Pittsburgh. European School of Management and Technology in Berlin, Germany. Previously he was the Everett W. Lord Distinguished Scholar and Professor of Marketing at the School of Management at Boston University. CB received his PhD in Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in 1984. Before joining Boston University, he was on the faculty at the Goizueta Business School, Emory University. In this episode, the following topics are discussed:  Consumer behaviorCSR — how to understand stakeholder reactions?Is there a disconnect between CSR goals and execution?CSR success via empowering employees and shared ownershipIs the company walking the walk?   Check it by going to one of their factories away from corporate headquarters Unilever and check dams Enel in Chile and teaching self sufficiencyResilient communitiesInnovation is necessary to sustainability Enel’s My Best FailureInnovabilityCSO and CMO: dual role at Unilever — Keith WeedNestle: COO as the sustainabilty architect of entire companyEngaging NGOs as a means for meeting CR goalsRelationship between CR and financial performanceGreenwashingWhere are the sustainabilty jobs for college graduates? NOTES CB Bhattacharya How to Make Sustainability Every Employee’s Responsibility Sustainability Lessons From the Front Lines Leveraging Corporate Responsibility: The Stakeholder Route to Maximizing Business and Social Value LinkedIn: CB Bhattacharya CB Bhattacharya (@CBsuite) | Twitter Book: Straight Man Harpic ABOUT PHILIP BEERE Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations. Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co  LinkedIn Facebook Instagram    
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    41 mins
  • The Body Shop → Christopher Davis: Employee Activism and Company Culture

    The Body Shop → Christopher Davis: Employee Activism and Company Culture
    Mar 13 2022

    Christopher Davis

    International corporate social responsibility professional and recipient of United Nations Business Leader Award. Creative and strategic thinker with a track record in delivering high impact, international projects. Expert in the development of integrated CSR strategy, change management and leading stakeholder engagement. Strong communication skills and experienced corporate communications leader and media spokesperson. Strong track as both a Board Member and Chair of NGO and Corporate Foundations

    Responsible for leading the International CSR Team; and developing the company’s strategic approach and overseeing implementation to ensure The Body Shop's performance as one of the world's leading ethical brand is maintained and enhanced

    In the interview, topics discussed include the following:

    • Philosophy of Natura (Antônio Luiz Da Cunha Seabra, Pedro Luiz Passos, Guilherme Leal) and The Body Shop (Anita Roddick), as rooted in the founders. 
    • Business as a force for good and change
    • The DNA of companies as seeing business as more than profit
    • TBL
    • 2050 Goals - partnership with Future Fit Foundation
    • Regenerative
    • Enrich Not Exploit — a first step toward developing Future Fit into the business
    • The philanthropy and sustainabilty team at The Body Shop — servicing 69 countries
    • How to engage employees? 
    • Enrich Not Exploit was launched during a challenging time within the company, and criticism came in the form of walking the walk, and talking the talk.
    • Securing a complete ban on animal testing
    • Employees encouraged to advocate for animal rights
    • Activist companies — and attracting talent — sharing beliefs and values
    • Millennials and interest in value-based business
    • The need for policy and regulation for the environment
    • Corporations picking up where politics is falling short
    • We must challenge the status quo and short term profits
    • Ask questions
    • If a company that is not open to be challenged will probably not thrive

    NOTES

    Enrich Not Exploit

    The Body Shop

    Future Fit Foundation

    natura

    Christopher Davis

    @ActivistChris

    ABOUT PHILIP BEERE

    Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.

    Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co 

    LinkedIn

    Facebook

    Instagram

     

     

     
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    28 mins
  • Salesforce → Henk Campher: Sustainability Indexes vs. Company Purpose

    Salesforce → Henk Campher: Sustainability Indexes vs. Company Purpose
    Dec 16 2021

    Henk Campher

    Challenge conventional thinking – with 20 years of global experience, Henk is known as a disruptive and creative expert in the communications, brand, social impact and sustainability space. He’s had the pleasure of working on some of the coolest award-winning corporate campaigns and developing strategic solutions with companies such Starbucks, Levi’s, Best Buy, Timberland, Tiffany’s, REI, Abbott Labs, Samsung, Kellogg's, The North Face, SC Johnson, J&J, Unilever and Nestlé. 

    He has been bridging the world of nerds (social impact, purpose & sustainability experts) and flirts (brand & communication whizzes) thanks to being part of team Fenton, leading social impact and purpose work at Allison + Partners and Edelman, his time in the UK as an Oxfam campaigner, and his South African roots as an African development worker, trade unionist and creator of the Nelson Mandela initiated Proudly South African campaign. 

    He was named as one of the Top 30 CSR Pros to Follow in 2015 by Triple Pundit, Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Business Behavior (he is now a judge for the award) and The Guardian’s Top 15 Sustainable Business Executives on Twitter. 

    Henk is a regular writer for the Huffington Post, Triple Pundit and CSRWire, a frequent speaker at conferences, and a Twitter junkie: @AngryAfrican. He is a member of Team Net Impact for Super Bowl 50. His Dō Sustainability book Creating a Sustainable Brand: A Guide to Growing the Sustainability Top Line was published in April 2014.

    In this episode, the following topics are discussed:

    • Product impact vs. CSR — the crossroads
    • Supply chain measured, but overlooking the impact of the product itself
    • Three product buckets: makes the world better, makes world worse, or blah bucket
    • Most products are not essential
    • Ranking is overlooking impact
    • The right measurement tools
    • Measurement has made us oblivious to how consumers react to products — creative and instinct
    • A challenge to corporations is embracing human nature
    • Why is Disney ranked 100, and a cigarette company ranked 6?
    • The important of honesty, or speaking about the white elephant in the room
    • Methodology problem about indexes
    • The vision of sustainability at SalesForce — at the heart is reinvention
    • The launch of philanthropy cloud — helping employees contribute  to the causes
    • Equality related to gender pay
    • Attention on Inequality
    • Best place to work — as a B2B company
    • You can’t have innovation if people don’t love working for a company

    NOTES and RESOURCES

    Henk Campher

    Salesforce Sustainability

    2018 100 Best Corporate Citizens

    David Grayson — Everybody’s Business

    @salesforce

    ABOUT PHILIP BEERE

    Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.

    Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co 

    LinkedIn

    Facebook

    Instagram

     

     
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    34 mins
  • ‘Balancing Green’ → Yossi Sheffi (Author): When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business (and When Not To)

    ‘Balancing Green’ → Yossi Sheffi (Author): When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business (and When Not To)
    Dec 11 2021

    Dr. Sheffi is Director of MIT's Transportation and Logistics, and holds a dual appointment at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and at the Engineering Systems Division. He is an expert in systems optimization, risk analysis and supply chain management, which are the subjects he teaches and researches at MIT. He is the author of dozens of scientific publications and three books. Outside the university, Professor Sheffi is an active entrepreneur, having founded five successful companies, and a sought-after speaker in corporate and professional events. He obtained his B.Sc. from the Technion in Israel in 1975, his S.M. from MIT in 1977, and Ph.D. from MIT in 1978.

    In this episode, the following topics are discussed:

    • Balancing green pressures and corporate pressures
    • It is not planet vs profit, instead it is people vs people
    • Companies are running the global supply chain, providing the jobs, and are also responsible for a lot of the environmental impact
    • How many people will pay 10% more money for a sustainable product?
    • Tesla in Hong Kong: government incentives
    • Convenience and low cost vs the environment: How many people buy on Amazon?  How do you feel about the packaging that goes to landfill? 
    • Until consumers agree to pay more for sustainability, companies will not change their fundamentals of production
    • Companies will save energy, minimize risk, and hedging with a green product line for millennials
    • Sustainability is a supply chain issue
    • Is Apple or Microsoft sustainable?  They do not manufacture anything, until you look at the supply chain impact
    • Coca-Cola says they reduced the amount of water in bottling plant, but it takes vast amount of water to grow sugar cane
    • Carbon impact of detergent is making the water hot
    • Deep sustainability:  Patagonia and Dr. Bronner
    • Unilever trains farmers who grow tea
    • Natura invests a lot in the welfare of the Amazon
    • Starbucks has 120,000 coffee growers who they invest in and train
    • Is the consumer willing to pay more?
    • Maybe not until we have a lot more desires
    • Will Shanghai flood? 
    • Social responsibility, shared values, and making a case for social responsibility
    • Supply chain is holistic thinking

     NOTES

    Balancing Green: When to Embrace Sustainability in a Business (and When Not To)

    Dr. Yossi Sheffi LinkedIn

    ABOUT PHILIP BEERE

    Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.

    Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co 

    LinkedIn

    Facebook

    Instagram

     
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    33 mins
  • ‘Climate of Hope’ → Carl Pope (Author): The Arrival of the Clean Energy Revolution

    ‘Climate of Hope’ → Carl Pope (Author): The Arrival of the Clean Energy Revolution
    Dec 9 2021

    A veteran leader in the environmental movement, Carl Pope is the former Executive Director and Chairman of the Sierra Club. He's now the principal adviser at Inside Straight Strategies, looking for the underlying economics that link sustainability and economic development. He serves as a Senior Climate Adviser to former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He was a founder of the Blue-Green Alliance and America Votes. He has served on the Boards of Ceres, the California League of Conservation Voters, As You Sow, the National Clean Air Coalition, and California Common Cause. He is currently a member of the US-India Track II Climate Diplomacy project of the Aspen Institute. He writes regularly for Bloomberg View and the Huffington Post. Mr. Pope is also the author of three books: Sahib, An American Misadventure in India; Hazardous Waste in America; and co-author along with Paul Rauber of Strategic Ignorance: Why the Bush Administration Is Recklessly Destroying a Century of Environmental Progress, which the New York Review of Books called "a splendidly fierce book."

    In this episode, the topics discussed include:

    • The clean energy revolution .
    • The new reality: climate change can be solved with opportunity, no sacrifice necessary.
    • Carbon emissions and food systems: shipping, storage, waste.
    • The overuse of the word efficiency: legacy, creative, and innovative maybe better words.
    • Cities and their role in solving climate change - they are a source and a solution to the problem.
    • In lights of the U.S. pullout from the Paris Agreement, why should there be hope?
    • The role of corporations in climate change.
    • Corporate alignment with NGOs.
    • Branding and labeling of sustainability initiatives.
    • The current pace of commitment made by the U.S. for the Paris Agreement.
    • The importance of employee engagement to a company’s innovation.

    NOTES

    Carl Pope

    Health co-benefits from air pollution and mitigation costs of the Paris Agreement: a modelling study

    Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet

    GLOBAL CLIMATE ACTION SUMMIT

    ABOUT PHILIP BEERE

    Philip is host of Corporate Sustainability; the podcast that explores companies and people who inspire innovation, improvement, and sustainable business practices through purpose-driven missions and initiatives. Philip is a longtime marketer, who consults companies on how to use stories and narrative to help build their brands.  He says sustainability stories are one of the most powerful ways companies can manage their reputations.

    Connect with Philip at www.philipjames.co 

    LinkedIn

    Facebook

    Instagram

     

     
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    27 mins