Why sustainability and ESG fall short

Peta Milan is the founder and principal of Dubai-based Henmel Group, a regenerative investing pioneer, award-winning filmmaker, published author, and international speaker who’s building the world’s only family office exclusively focused on regenerative investment methodology.

3:00 - Peta shares her challenging childhood in a lower-middle-class family, describing how she developed the capacity to “see the truth beyond the lies” and question accepted norms from an early age.

5:30 - The disruptive child: How being curious and rule-breaking created conflict with parents but developed the independent thinking that would define her career path.

7:15 - Philosophy to practice: Peta explains why studying philosophy at university made “perfect sense” for business, wanting to apply learned concepts to create real-world impact rather than write books selling for 50 cents.

12:00 - The evolution from ESG skepticism: After being hired by a family to develop an ESG strategy, Peta discovered the entire movement was “a complete greenwashing exercise” and began searching for genuine alternatives.

18:45 - Regenerative vs. sustainability: “If you’re saying you’re doing less harm, by the very fact of that, you’re still doing harm. And so we need to start thinking differently.” The fundamental flaw in sustainability thinking.

25:30 - The 10 principles of living systems: Peta introduces the regenerative methodology framework based on understanding how nature actually works, not human-imposed systems.

32:15 - Indigenous wisdom integration: How working with elders from Africa, South America, and South Asia taught Peta that regenerative principles have been practiced for thousands of years.

39:00 - Shocking statistics: $2 trillion spent on climate initiatives with only 1% reaching genuine systemic impact and less than 30 projects achieving scale globally.

46:20 - Investment returns: Regenerative projects delivering 15-22% returns while creating systemic positive impact—proof that doing good doesn’t require sacrificing financial performance.

52:45 - The embodied learning revolution: Why behavior change requires emotional and physical experience, not just data and guilt—how Einstein’s breakthroughs came as “muscle spasms.”

59:00 - Henmel Group’s multiple pathways: 18-month professional certification, bioregional development programs for philanthropy, direct family office transitions, and venture studio for early-stage founders.

61:05 - The planet perspective: “The planet will take care of itself if we’re gone”—a powerful reframing about what we’re actually trying to preserve.

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Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC is a registered investment adviser and the opinions expressed by the Firm’s employees and podcast guests on this show are their own and do not reflect the opinions of Blue Infinitas Capital, LLC. All statements and opinions expressed are based upon information considered reliable although it should not be relied upon as such. Any statements or opinions are subject to change without notice.

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