Episode 133

[FOCUS] ESG (progress is not always linear)

Episode Summary:  This episode is an excerpt from a past episode with ESG Prof. Ioannis Ioannou

Prof. Ioannou is a leading strategy scholar whose research focuses on Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). 

Drawing from his 13 years of experience researching and advising top executives around the world, Prof Ioannou is at the forefront of how the business world and corporations are leveraging the power of sustainability in their development today. 

In this particular section, Prof. Ioannou explained why changes might take time and that progress is not always linear.

Listen to the full episode here 

In this episode, Professor Ioannou discusses the challenges and opportunities for businesses and corporations to lead the path to a more sustainable future

You can find out more about the work of Prof. Ioannis Ioannou here

For more information on the project and to order your copy of the Carbon Almanac, visit thecarbonalmanac.org

Want to join in the conversation?

Visit thecarbonalmanac.org/podcasts and send us a voice message on this episode or any other climate-related ideas and perspectives.

Don’t Take Our Word For It, Look It Up!

You can find out more on pages 251, 252, 254, 248, 288 and 291 of the Carbon Almanac and on the website you can tap the footnotes link and type in 836, 124, 133, 131, 141 and 136

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From Langley in British Columbia, Canada, Jenn is a Minister, Coach, Writer and Community Connector, helping people help themselves.   

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The CarbonSessions Podcast is produced and edited by Leekei Tang, Steve Heatherington and Rob Slater.

Transcript
Speaker:

ESG with Prof Ioannou - IONNIS: I

think the one thing that, uh, um,

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perhaps is worth mentioning is that,

um, and I see this, this struggle

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with my students as well, whether.

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We can be optimistic or pessimistic

given what is happening in the world.

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And I think it's important to remember

that progress is not always linear.

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Sometimes you have to take two

steps back and then uh, uh, take

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three steps forward and so on.

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And it is frustrating a lot of

the times to work in this space.

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It is frustrating when.

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People, for instance, and vested

interest fight against climate change

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and, and, uh, and, and, and try

to promote climate change denial.

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And we've seen this before and we've,

unfortunately we've seen it again, right?

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So Governor DeSantis in Florida

says, you know, this is the state

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where ESG and walk comes to die.

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We have seen attorney generals across

states like West Virginia, Texas, and

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so on, colluding in order to kick.

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Uh, banks and asset managers.

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Corn Es.

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These are hugely disheartening, but

they're also, in my humble opinion, hugely

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dangerous development because frankly,

we suffered 40 years or more or less

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of delay in taking action on climate.

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If now that denial and that undermining

expands to the ESG space more broadly.

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We're gonna have a huge

existential problem in our hands.

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So there's two way of looking at this.

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One is the pessimistic way, but the

other one is, in my humble opinion, a

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call to action right across all of the

dimensions that we discussed earlier.

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We can do this, but we have to.

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Act and we have to act now because

the other so-called other site, the

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ones that protects vested interest

and doesn't care if in the process

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it destroys the planet, is very well

organized, it communicates very well.

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And sadly it's on the rise.

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So it in, in, as, as one of my colleagues

at Wharton says, it is now time to

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take sites to have to pick sites.

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Um, otherwise we're not

gonna be able to make.

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JENN: Yeah.

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So there is hope.

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We just have to act now,

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ESG with Prof Ioannou - IONNIS:

Absolutely.

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And with urgency.

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Yes, definitely.

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JENN: right.

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That's right.

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All good.

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