The Uncertainty of the Future

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A lot of times a sustainable professional is, you know, a very small abandoned inside of the organization. They may be trying to herd kittens that are many apartments, many silos, many countries represented. It could be frustrating, can be challenging when your stakeholders are looking for guidance and leadership. You know, there's a lot of big moments in the not distant future for the industry.

Last week, a few thousand sustainability professionals gathered for the annual GreenBiz conference hosted by GreenBiz Group. In this episode of the ESG Insider podcast, we’re on the ground talking with panelists and attendees about the biggest challenges and opportunities facing the space — from regulation, disclosure requirements and supply chains to environmental justice, employee wellbeing and burnout.

Many attendees expressed frustration and a general sense of being overwhelmed by the pace of change and the challenges facing the sustainability space. In the face of this uncertainty, the message from many panelists was: Whatever the topic, you have to start somewhere.

We hear from Kentaro Kawamori, CEO of climate software firm Persefoni, who urges companies to avoid “analysis paralysis.”

“You’ve just got to get started. And if you’re searching for perfect, you’re never going to find it,” Kentaro says.

We talk to Deloitte’s Kristen Sullivan and Evan Harvey, who led a three-hour, standing-room-only climate disclosure bootcamp at the conference to help companies understand how proposed rules from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could impact them.

“As we were wrapping up, we were trying to get a pulse on the audience in terms of... did this help you feel more prepared, this type of a session?” Kristen says. “The answer was ‘yes — and at the same time, I’m really scared.’”

We also speak to Yinka Bode-George, CEO of environmental justice-focused nonprofit Sustain our Future Foundation.

"People are getting the idea that environmental justice is not just this nice-to-have, it's actually a really central component of winning on the climate crisis and putting forward the most effective solutions," Yinka tells us.

In the episode, we also sit down with Tim Mohin, the former CEO of international standards organization the Global Reporting Initiative, or GRI; Nasdaq Global Head of ESG Solutions Randall Hopkins; UPS Sustainability Director Stakeholder Engagement Elba Pareja-Gallagher; Zack Parisa, CEO of forest carbon marketplace the Natural Capital Exchange, or NCX; and Jared Connors from supply chain sustainability management company Assent.

S&P Global Sustainable1 was a sponsor of the GreenBiz conference.

Listen to our episode on the SEC’s climate disclosure rule here: https://www.spglobal.com/esg/podcasts/unpacking-implications-of-the-sec-s-proposed-climate-disclosure-rule

We'd love to hear from you. To give us feedback on this episode or share ideas for future episodes, please contact hosts Lindsey Hall (lindsey.hall@spglobal.com) and Esther Whieldon (esther.whieldon@spglobal.com).

Photo source: Getty Images

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