14 April 2025 - Our latest business briefing launched last week. Here's a round-up of op-eds and media coverage.
Opinion pieces
Newsweek: Silence is not a strategy when it comes to sustainability - Lindsay Hooper, CISL CEO
In the current climate, there is huge opportunity for business in leading. But as the need to act grows more urgent, the political context is driving many companies to retreat from public leadership. CISL's CEO, Lindsay Hooper, makes the case for speaking up.
Forbes: Private finance is vital for climate action. Here’s how to scale it - Dr Nina Seega, Director of Centre for Sustainable Finance, CISL
Dr Nina Seega, the Director of CISL's Centre for Sustainable Finance, explains why it's time for the private sector to step up and scale up finance for climate change adaptations.
Reuters: ESG advocates need to face reality: markets follow value, not virtue - Paul Gilding, Fellow, CISL
The approach to corporate sustainability – the idea that we can drive positive change through the market – is not working despite the decades, money and enormous efforts put into it. Environment, social and governance (ESG) policies were dead even before the backsliding after the return of Donald Trump. Markets follow value not virtue and the corporate sustainability world needs to reorient to that reality.
BusinessGreen: Net zero: The world has changed and we must change with it by acting now - Beverley Cornaby, Director of UK Corporate Leaders Group (convened by CISL)
The UK's political consensus on climate change may be crumbling, but swift action from businesses can create and protect value from climate risks and secure the future of market-based economies, writes Bev Cornaby, Director of the UK Corporate Leaders Group. First published in BusinessGreen.
Media coverage
BusinessGreen: 'Silence isn't neutrality - it's a strategic risk': CISL playbook aims to shape proactive response to ESG backlash
"New study explores how businesses can respond to volatile geopolitical pressures, while continuing to advance sustainability efforts."
Sustainable Views: Embed sustainability in company strategy to drive competitiveness, say business leaders
"Excessive, low-impact disclosures waste time and fuel the ESG compliance industry, says Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership."
Cambridge Independent: Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership CEO urges renewed focus on transition to net zero
"The CEO of CISL – the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership – has urged businesses to retain their focus on transitioning to a sustainable economy after a torrid week in which global norms have shifted in the wake of new US economic policies."
