Will Richardson (51toCarbonZero.com)

The planet just had its annual check-up, and seven of the nine planetary boundaries that keep Earth liveable are now breached. In this episode I walk through what the 2026 Planetary Health Check actually tells us, in plain language, and what it means for business. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/9-boundaries-keep-earth-livable-weve-breached-7-of-them/ We look at CO2 hitting a record 426...

After more than 220 episodes, Sustainability Solved is changing. Weekly instead of monthly, with guest hosts running their own mini-series in their own fields. The final part of seven. In this episode: Seb Munden on food, drink and packaging, Ben Tolhurst on why businesses find it so difficult to speak out, Live Frankly on thinking big and small, Sophie Taysom on climate risk and insurance, and th...

Data centres are about to get a sustainability label, and most businesses have no idea which ones they rely on. That's where this week's countdown lands, and it's the second week running they've taken the top spot. I've spent more than 25 years in sustainability, and I've rarely seen energy dominate a week the way it did during Climate Week NYC. In this video I count down the ten stories that matt...

I was told I did not have the academic ability to finish my masters in a year. I finished in a year, with good results. Part six of seven on why Sustainability Solved is changing format. In this episode: the one person who could say that sentence and get the result she wanted, why the messenger is half the job, and why we are going three episodes deep instead of one. Read the written version: http...

A travel agent sold me a round the world ticket in ten minutes. A thesis on snowboarding in the Cairngorms quietly built the rest of my career. Part five of seven on why Sustainability Solved is changing format. In this episode: three students selling me their cities, why the best-told pitch always wins, and how to use what people are genuinely interested in. Read the written version: https://will...

We spent thirty years cleaning up the air over Europe. It worked, and new analysis says it has made the warming faster. That is the fact I could not stop thinking about this week, and it is waiting for you at the end of this video. I founded Green Element in 2004 and spent twenty years helping organisations measure what they had never measured before. I have now recorded more than 220 episodes of...

At nineteen I was offered the chance to be the youngest pub manager in the UK. I turned it down because of who told me to. Part four of seven on why Sustainability Solved is changing format. In this episode: managing staff at nineteen, the offer with the title and the money losing to the couple I actually trusted, and the sentence that is the whole reason Sustainability Solved Podcast is changing....

I walked into hundreds of pubs before one offered me a job, on condition I dressed up as a chicken. It is still the best lesson in communication I have ever had. Part three of seven on why Sustainability Solved is changing format. In this episode: why they tested the chicken suit and not my CV, how I was sacked repeatedly without ever being told, and why people have switched off from climate messa...

This week confirmed something climate scientists have been tracking for years: the 1.5-degree target is no longer achievable. The UN's latest report projects a best-case scenario of 1.8 degrees of warming. That's not a disaster story - it's a planning story. And we've got 10 more this week you need to hear. We cover the supersized El Nino threatening food systems and supply chains worldwide - with...

Rainwater harvesting, a reed bed and a solar thermal shower in a Welsh cow field. The engineering was never the hard part. Part two of seven on why Sustainability Solved is changing format. In this episode: how a caravan nobody wanted became a log cabin everybody agreed to, why my dad shipped it from Canada when he should have bought it here, and what to do about the site or supplier where your pl...

My grandmother was taken to court for burning litter on a beach in Aberdyfi. Nobody asked her why the litter was there in the first place. This is part one of a seven-part series on why Sustainability Solved is changing format. In this episode: the court case that started it, why the litter was the smaller problem, and the two questions to ask about any sustainability decision your organisation ma...

Two planned English data centres would emit more carbon a year than ExxonMobil's entire UK operations. That single number tells you where sustainability is heading this autumn, and it sits at the top of this week's countdown. This week we run the full top 10 in sustainability news, ranked by what the world is actually talking about. Data centre emissions and the public backlash take number one. He...

About the Show Join Will Richardson on an authentic journey through five decades of real-world experience, where failures become stepping stones and personal stories illuminate the path to success. This isn't your typical advice podcast – it's raw, honest, and deeply personal. After 50 years of living, learning, and yes, failing, Will believes that our greatest lessons come not from our victories,...

This week in sustainability, the story everyone's missing is the one connecting two records set on the same day: the hottest ocean temperature ever recorded, and the fastest build-out of gas power for AI data centres we've ever seen. I break down the top 10 sustainability stories of the week, including why the Science Based Targets initiative's first Net-Zero Standard update since 2020 has split t...

Before we start: the SEC has just proposed scrapping mandatory climate disclosure rules completely. And American business didn't blink. This week we're looking at the gap between what Washington is doing on climate, and what US business is actually doing with its money. Stick with me, because by the end of this you'll have three things you can check in your own business this week. Here's the backd...

This week I'm walking through the ten sustainability stories that mattered most, and honestly, the AI one at the top surprised me. We cover water scarcity hitting European supply chains, China's renewable hydrogen lead, the microreactor funding boom, why carbon footprints can mislead investors, tighter EU packaging rules for food and drink brands, heat now showing up in earnings calls, a rebound i...

Here's an honest number to start with: your supply chain emissions are, on average, 26 times higher than everything you control directly. Most boards have never seen that number. And the generation you're trying to hire right now already knows it. Let's be honest about what "owing the next generation" actually means for a large business. It's not a slogan on a careers page. It's three very specifi...

This week in sustainability, we're covering the story that should worry every business with a European footprint: the hottest summer on record, and the billion euro wildfire bill that's come with it. We also dig into why your carbon accounting rules are about to change again, why China's new rules just broke a standard supply chain checklist, and why one lab discovery could save your business real...

In 2025 the number of Asian companies with validated science-based targets grew 53 per cent, driven by markets, not regulators. By the end you will know why, and what it means for your strategy this quarter. While some Western governments quietly cut their climate ambitions, the fastest acceleration of corporate climate action on the planet just happened somewhere else. Asia, and almost nobody in...

The world's second-largest polluter just stripped out its own power to regulate carbon. By the end of this, you'll know exactly why that matters for your business, and what the smart response looks like on this side of the Atlantic. Something remarkable happened in Washington. In February 2026, the US government erased the scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health, the legal f...

This week we're counting down the top 10 sustainability stories that matter most for business leaders in Food & Beverage and Media, Marketing & Advertising. We cover the global wildfire season that's now touching four continents, why Europe's rivers are hitting record lows, the data centre power crunch reshaping US energy policy, and why carbon border taxes are spreading well beyond the EU...

If your entire climate strategy is built around cutting your own emissions, it will not protect you. By the end you will know the strategy your competitors have missed, and three moves to start this quarter. How are you managing Scope 3 supplier data right now? We're offering a free sustainability assessment of your top 10 suppliers, giving you a clearer picture of your Scope 3 data and where supp...

If your business uses AI in any way, there is a bill sitting in your operations that almost nobody is tracking. By the end you will know why it matters in 2026, where it hides, and three moves to make this quarter. How are you managing Scope 3 supplier data right now? We're offering a free sustainability assessment of your top 10 suppliers, giving you a clearer picture of your Scope 3 data and whe...

This week in sustainability, the money and the rules went in opposite directions, and that's exactly why you need to see this breakdown. Regulators eased off: the EU softened its carbon trading trajectory, California cut mandatory Scope 3 reporting categories from fifteen to five, and EFRAG proposed lighter CSRD rules for non-EU companies. At the same time, sustainable finance had one of its stron...

Eighty per cent of the world's largest companies have a net zero target. Eleven per cent have actually cut emissions. In 2026, that gap stops being a reporting quirk and becomes a legal risk. How are you managing Scope 3 supplier data right now? We're offering a free sustainability assessment of your top 10 suppliers, giving you a clearer picture of your Scope 3 data and where supplier engagement...