Let's Talk Sustainable Business

In this episode Geraldine Matchett Co-CEO and CFO at Royal DSM discusses how the company is putting the focus on UN SDGs where they can have the most impact. DSM started managing their innovation pipeline many years ago to address for example, the nutrition needs they saw developing at the time. Today they are a key contributor in the global fight against malnutrition. Geraldine emphasizes that it is impossible to compensate a company’s negative impacts either socially, or on the environment by doing ‘good deeds’ elsewhere. The UN SDGs provide a common language and common goals worldwide and an organization must at least be neutral in all of them by making a positive impact where they matter most. Through living their purpose in every strategic decision companies can attract and retain talent and prepare themselves for the challenges ahead.

Geraldine Matchett Co-CEO and CFO at Royal DSM states why ‘ you cannot be a successful company in a world that fails. Geraldine describes the transformation of DSM from a state mine to a company that sees its purpose ‘to create brighter lives for all’ with an emphasis on all – not leaving anybody behind and ensuring a healthy environment  for all to live in. Financial success and positive sustainable corporate impact are not contradicting each other. DSM have embraced the concept for more than 15 years and constantly improved their footprint and at the same time grown profitably. Learn from an impressive female leader how such success can be achieved.

In this episode Gayle Schueller Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at 3M reveals how her company, despite a dauntingly complex product portfolio, manages to create transparency in their value chains, where it matters most. The examples of pulp and paper and conflict minerals exemplify the approach going beyond first tier suppliers to evaluate all social and environmental aspects until the very origin of the materials. Collaboration with suppliers, NGOs and peers are vital to create value chain transparency. The increased visibility helps to identify weak points in the chain and in turn improves the resilience.

For Gayle Schueller Senior Vice President and Chief Sustainability officer at 3M, science has always been an important part of her life. In this episode she explains how through pandemic, loss of biodiversity and the climate crisis, the importance of applying scientific principles has drastically increased. We learn what the 3M initiatives “Science for Climate, Circular and Community” means in practice. Gayle lays out the way forward in fostering large scale collaborations across organizational boundaries to jointly achieve ambitious sustainability targets.

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 collaboration is vital for achieving scale at the required speed.

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 dumping plastic waste or incineration. The ecological and commercial impacts of this emerging technology are also discussed.

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 informs the priorities of product development for SAP. Daniel describes the internal processes aligning with sales and other departments using their own achievements as exemplifiers for joint customer interaction.

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 purpose is geared towards achieving positive environmental and social impact in partnership with their customers. Helping to determine a product-based carbon footprint across customer value chains is an example how this can be accomplished.

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 organizations to go beyond refining technologies towards full business model innovation. At the end of this podcast our guests share their outlook how the pandemic will change the business environment in the long run.

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 product or service performance led to a transformation process. Today new break through projects often involve outside partners from the out-set.  Sustainable innovation is the main growth driver for Trane technology.

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 opportunity personally and for business when one reflects on value and purpose. Young people will be formed by this global crisis and social and environmental issues will be addressed with a new focus.

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 taking environmental and social aspects into account, ensuring communities profit from tourism income whilst maintaining their cultural identity. These concepts originally developed in the niche market of luxury holidays are being extended to the mass tourism segment to create meaningful impact.

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 turned into activities and measurements of impact.

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 how this purpose is integrated in all business decisions and how it has influenced the growth and success of his company.

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. Collaboration between companies and with governing bodies is described as a pathway to future progress. The discussion also shows how Covid-19 has highlighted the need to secure consistent access to water everywhere on the planet.

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. Emilio shares evaluation tools and puts the different factors contributing to water becoming an important factor for business into perspective

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 European plans to allocate space for the creation of the required capacities to reach the EU renewable energy targets. The offshore challenges are being considered and the role of Hydrogen as a storage medium and alternative fuel is also being discussed.

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. The conversation provides insights that go beyond the specific case of Oersted and show how a company can use long-term ambitions to integrate sustainability into their business model and be successful in the marketplace.

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 financial engagement with suppliers and their employees. Supply chains with extreme demand -like protective equipment- can create working conditions and extreme overtime, putting workers and therefore supply chain integrities at risk. Procurement professionals must be aware and demand changes.