Perspectives by E4S

Guests:  Carlos Cordon , Professor of Strategy and Supply Chain Management at IMD;  Thomas Hohne Sparborth , Head of Sustainability Research at Lombard Odier Investment Managers.   In this final episode of our series on the circular economy, we explore the role of businesses in driving the shift from linear to circular models. Carlos Cordon discusses how companies can navigate the complex challeng...

Guests:  Tiffany Abitbol , Assistant Professor at EPFL and Head of the Sustainable Materials Laboratory;  Andrea Vezzini , Expert in Industrial Electronics at Bern University of Applied Sciences.   In this episode, we explore two Swiss initiatives paving the way for the circular economy.    Dr. Tiffany Abitbol shares her work on sustainable materials, including mycelium-based packaging, which leve...

Guests:  Edoardo Chiarotti , Scientific Collaborator at the Enterprise for Society Centre (E4S) and the Faculty of Business and Economics of the University of Lausanne (HEC-UNIL);  Dunia Brunner , Project Manager at the Competence Centre in Sustainability (CCD) of the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we explore the concept of the circular economy and why it’s essential in today's polit...

Garen Markarian is a Professor of Accounting at the University of Lausanne. While he believes in the importance of sustainability, Professor Markarian is much more critical of the ESG framework. He argues for a bold stance: the end of ESG, as he sees it causing more harm than good.

Gaia Melloni is an Assistant Professor of Sustainability Accounting at the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we'll discuss greenwashing within ESG reports, and common techniques companies use to influence our perceptions. Professor Melloni will then break down what needs to be done to make ESG more than just a communication tool, and what the future holds for sustainability accounting.

Julia Binder is a Professor of Sustainable Innovation & Business Transformation at IMD. She specializes in the intersection between sustainability and innovation, and was featured on the 2022 Thinkers50 Radar list of management thinkers to keep an eye on. In this episode, we ask her about the current backlash in the US against ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) scores. Professor Binder...

Glòria Serra-Coch is an Architect and PhD Candidate at EPFL. In this episode, she will explain the key factors in getting people to buy solar panels and other key technologies. Because developing renewable technologies is great. Deploying them at scale is even better. But getting people to embrace them is vital. Most importantly: we'll discuss what needs to be done to drive mass adoption of th...

Sébastien Houde is an Associate Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Lausanne. In this episode, we’ll address solutions to 3 main bottlenecks to the energy transition. First, we struggle to attract the amount of capital required for long-term investments in infrastructure. Second, the availability of some crucial materials to build this infrastructure is already under serious...

Mario Paolone is a Professor and Director of the Energy Center at EPFL. In today’s episode, we’ll ask him what's standing on the way to decarbonized energy systems, and what solutions should we prioritize. If we're serious about decoupling economic activity from carbon emissions, then energy conversion, as the main source of CO2 emissions globally, is the most important sector to look into...

Sarah Koller is a Researcher and Project Coordinator at the Competence Centre in Sustainability at the University of Lausanne. She studies the psychological aspects of our dependence on the current economic growth paradigm, and explores alternative paradigms. In this episode, she explains why, before we look at economic policy, we must first address people's relationship to the most fundamenta...

Frédéric Dalsace is a Professor of Marketing & Strategy at IMD. In this episode, Prof. Dalsace details 5 ways in which firms should transform to prepare for a post-growth economy in developed economies. He explains how marketing, although it has largely contributed to the acceleration of the climate crisis, can be the key to a sustainable economy, provided companies use it wisely. To suggest t...

Jean-Pierre Danthine is a former Vice-President of the Swiss National Bank and Honorary Professor at EPFL. In our inaugural episode, Prof. Danthine explains the concept of economic growth, why it is so embedded to our economy, and presents his macroeconomic vision for a thriving economy within planetary boundaries. To suggest topics and guests for future episode, to support the podcast or to share...