Let's Talk Sustainable Business

In this episode Lars Kissau, SVP Global Strategic Business Development at BASF's Petrochemical division explains the business thinking behind their commitment to scale up chemical recycling in a with the aim of becoming a significant source recycled virgin plastic production. Lars and Uwe Schulte discuss how customer demand for chemically recycled materials is developing and how business collabora...

Lars Kissau, SVP Global Strategic Business Development at BASF's Petrochemical division joins The Conference Board's Uwe Schulte in this latest episode of this podcast series. Lars and Uwe explore the pros and cons of converting mixed and possibly contaminated plastic waste back into original oil and then producing new virgin plastic materials from it. This emerging technology could help avoid dum...

In this episode Daniel Schmid, Chief Sustainability Officer at SAP discusses with working together with customers to fulfill their purpose and sustainability ambitions. Sustainability is for SAP a critical component in connecting with their  customer base. The input and needs of customers integrating sustainability into their business and achieving full visibility of their performance in turn info...

In this podcast Daniel Schmid discusses his journey from Business Unit Manager to becoming Chief Sustainability Officer at SAP. Having had profit and loss accountability in his prior roles helped to engage his company peers.  In order to get support from business partners, it is important to be able to listen and connect their business needs with SAP's sustainability goals. The organization's purp...

In this episode, Scott Tew and Rasha Hasaneen from Trane Technologies, discuss their strategies for managing sustainable innovation. Starting with the setting of targets based on materiality analysis and scenario planning. This has led them to be a front runner in adopting science-based targets for their Green House Gas emissions. The rapidly evolving markets and increasing climate crisis require...

Scott Tew and Rasha Hasaneen, the Heads of Sustainability and Innovation at Trane Technologies, join Uwe Schulte to discuss how and why they have embarked on the journey towards sustainable innovation. Analyzing the material impact of their business led them to identify the need for a drastic reduction of their carbon footprint. The push to achieve their ambitious targets without sacrificing produ...

Kwon Ping Ho Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree evaluates the different aspects of sustainable development in Asia, emphasizing the need for a step change in corporate governance. He looks at the regional differences highlighting the need to fight corruption in the developing parts of Asia. For this the leadership from governments and corporate board is required, COVID-19 is a threat but also an op...

Banyan Tree Holdings Limited is an international hospitality brand that manages and develops resorts, hotels and spas in Asia, America, Africa and the Middle East. Kwon Ping Ho Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree describes their sustainability journey and how the company is developing sustainable tourism solutions. Kwon Ping Ho explains why regenerative tourism is required and how Banyan Tree is tak...

Joao Ferreira the CEO Latin America of Natura describes how the company is exploring different aspects of Natura's 2030 sustainability vision. In Natura's 2030 Commitment to Life the company is pledging firstly to address the climate crisis and to protect the Amazon, secondly to defend Human Rights, and thirdly to embrace circularity and regeneration. This podcast looks at how these ambitions are...

Joao Ferreira the CEO Latin America of Natura talks with Uwe Schulte Leader of The Conference Board's Global Sustainability Centre about the roots of Natura's "reasons to exist". Since 1969 Natura has been emphasising their ambition to sell products and services that promote the harmonious relationship of the individual with oneself, with others and with nature. In this podcast Joao Paulo explains...

Emilio Tenuta the Chief Sustainability Officer at Ecolab continues the conversation with Uwe Schulte Leader of The Conference Board Global Sustainability Centre on water scarcity. In this podcast the focus lies on the business opportunities by contributing to the solution of the problem. Emilio also explain why solving water is an important contributor to solving the climate change crisis. Collabo...

Water scarcity is raising increased concerns but is it just a risk in dry parts of the developing world? Emilio Tenuta the Chief Sustainability Officer at Ecolab in conversation with the leader of The Conference Global Sustainability Centre Uwe Schulte is explaining the reasons behind this rapidly growing problem and what it means for companies and how to evaluate the business risk exposure. Emili...

Filip Engel, Vice President Sustainability at Oersted has a conversation with Uwe Schulte Leader of The Conference Board Global Sustainability Centre about how wind energy will specifically develop over the next decade.  Filip explains Oersted's ambition to be carbon neutral by 2025 as a company and include their full value chain by 2040. The conversation covers the cost of development and their E...

Filip Engel, Vice President Sustainability at Oersted shares in this podcast how a Danish fossil fuel-based energy provider completely changed their business model and is now about to become a fully renewable energy company. Filip was part of the change process and tells the story of why and how it happened, and what obstacles the senior management had to overcome in this fundamental transition. T...

Rosey Hurst, the Founder and Director of Impactt discusses with Uwe Schulte how the COVID-19 crisis is influencing human rights in Supply Chains. Whole regions suffer from demand break down. Migrant and workers in precarious conditions face the choice of starvation or risk of infection. Several companies have reverted from executing 'force majeure', finding creative ways to maintain a base level f...

In this Podcast Rosey Hurst, Founder and Director of Impactt, gives a new perspective on Human rights in Supply Chain. Instead of trying to check certain human rights standards, the idea is to start from the workers perspective and try to achieve adequate pay, reliability of income and respect. This way the root causes of human rights abuses can be addressed and eliminated.  The COVID-19 Crisis wo...

Continuing from their conversation in the previous podcast of this series, Márcia Balisciano Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at RELX and Uwe Schulte explore what the UN SDGs offer corporations in terms of framework and opportunity. Márcia describes RELX's approach in applying the SDGs to their sustainability activities. As a global digital information provider RELX have created a UN SDG Re...

Márcia Balisciano Global Head of Corporate Responsibility at RELX joins Uwe Schulte in a conversation exploring the origins of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The discussion covers its more widely accepted adoption and how the SDGs can become an important frame of reference for sustainability. This podcast was recorded during the COVID-19 lockdown and while evaluating t...

John Elkington has just published his new book 'Green Swans' extending the concept of Black Swans a theory popularized by Nassim Taleb. In his book John introduces the concept of global 'wicked problems' (e.g. climate crisis or antibiotic resistant bugs) that can only be overcome with exponential alternative solutions. Regenerative energy generation can be one such 'Green Swan' response. Our conve...

In this Podcast John Elkington founder and CEO of Volans explores the evolution of corporations from Environment Compliance Policies and Corporate Social Responsibility to the fight for positive impact today. Although the last 5 years has seen C-Suite leaders stepping up their sustainability ambitions and Fund Managers paying more attention to ESG issues, John believes the new decade must see a si...