Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)

Blogs

Our blogs offer timely perspectives from CISL experts and our global network, exploring how leaders are responding to market shifts, managing risk and turning insight into action.

291 results

Building Something Better: Confidence, Coalitions and Change

14 October 2025 - CEO, Lindsay Hooper, discusses what leadership in a major business today truly means and sets out CISL's business leadership agenda to help leaders ‘be part of building something better.’From protest lines to earnings calls, from inaugurations to collapsing governments, from AI mania to shuttering high streets, change is the hallm…
Sustainability leadership under pressure: The challenge of Gaza

9 October 2025 - Lindsay Hooper, CEO at CISL, writes that today’s crises – from Gaza to AI governance – expose a deeper question: will shared rules and rights endure, or be eroded by raw power? She argues that businesses cannot stay passive, since their long-term interests depend on markets grounded in human rights and the rule of law, and true sus…
Drilling into decline: The flawed logic of Kemi Badenoch's oil gamble

9 October 2025- The Conservative leader's pledge to 'get all of our gas out of the North Sea' appears designed more for the politics of opposition than the realities of government, as it crumbles under scrutiny, writes CISL’s Chief Systems Change Officer, Eliot Whittington.The Conservative leader's pledge to 'get all of our gas out of the North Sea…
Middle powers must step up to salvage G20 and the fragile multilateral order

9 October 2025 - Donald Trump, the godfather of modern ‘anti-globalism’, has injected a dose of toxic precarity into international multilateral and trade relations, including the G20.As the world stares down a vortex of geopolitical instability, the challenge facing South Africa during its presidency of the G20 is not simply one of technical diplom…
If not net zero, then what?

8 October 2025 - There is a clear role for companies of all sizes to speak up and share positive stories of how net zero is transforming their businesses, local communities, regions and the wider economy, writes Bev Cornaby, director of the Corporate Leaders Group UK.If you're paying attention, it's getting increasingly hard to ignore the climate c…
Steering Into the storm: How US deregulation risks global financial crisis

8 October 2025 - President Trump is now actively dismantling mechanisms designed to identify and manage systemic financial and climate risks, writes Eliot Whittington, executive director of the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL).Last week, President Trump stood before the United Nations General Assembly and in a wide ranging s…
EU goals air at Climate Week NYC - Cambridge's CISL convenes CEOs and EU Commissioner

7 October 2025 - Executive Director and Chief Innovation Officer at CISL, James Cole, reflects on this year’s Climate Week NYC, where political divisions contrasted with the determination of business leaders, innovators and investors. Amid scepticism from some governments, companies showcased practical, scalable solutions—signalling that the transi…
What makes a board fit for the future?

7 October 2025 - CISL Africa Director Richard Calland explores how do we measure ‘sustainability competence’ if it is not always formalised?The dramatic decision by tourism minister Patricia de Lille to disband the board of SA Tourism has brought the leadership and governance responsibilities of boards into the spotlight.Clearly, being a member of …
The sustainability pivot: Moving from defence to offence

In this blog, CISL Fellow Munish Datta explores the evolving role of sustainability professionals amid growing global challenges, highlighting how recent systemic shocks—climate breakdown, resource scarcity, geopolitical tensions, and the politicisation of sustainability—have made the work more complex and urgent. The author argues that sustainabil…
A day in the life of a Master’s in Sustainability Leadership Flexible Route

1 October 2025 - Alistair Harwood, Clinical Relations and Education Manager UKI at Align Technology and student on the Master’s in Sustainability Leadership Flexible Route, shares a day of his workshop in Cambridge. My day begins with… An early alarm that cranks the rusty cogs of my brain into motion. The time we have at Cambridge is precious, so …
A day in the life of a Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business student

1 October 2025 - Camila Castañeda Quintero, Senior Officer – Impact and Sustainability at Finance in Motion and student on the Postgraduate Diploma in Sustainable Business shares a day in the life of her workshop in Cambridge. My day begins with… Going for a run to the Grantchester meadows, enjoying the nice weather and nature around Cambridge. O…
A day in the life of a Master’s in Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment student

30 September 2025 - Nikhil Dhumma, EMEA Design & Programme Director at JLL and a student on the Master’s in Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment, shares his experience of studying the programme and details what a day looks like during the third of his residential workshops in Cambridge, UK. My day begins with… A video call with my fa…
Op-ed: If not net zero, then what?

22 September 2025 - There is a clear role for companies of all sizes to speak up and share positive stories of how net zero is transforming their businesses, local communities, regions and the wider economy, writes Bev Cornaby, Director of the Corporate Leaders Group UK.First published in BusinessGreenIf you're paying attention, it's getting increa…
Disrupt or Be Disrupted: staying ahead in a changing market

24 September 2025 — Disruptive sustainability is now a strategic imperative for business. In this blog, Beth Knight, CISL Senior Associate, explores how shifting markets, climate risks, and rising scepticism towards ESG demand bold, collaborative leadership. She highlights systems-level innovation and spheres of influence as key levers for shaping …
Key considerations for creating sustainable food systems

15 September 2025 — In this blog, Sarah Bailey explores the current context for sustainable food systems, considers what needs to change to ensure resilience and longevity of this critical sector and identifies core actions to support the transition. This blog is based on the learnings from the Sustainable Food: Production and Processing 8-week onl…

About

Courses

Sectors

Innovation

Policy and finance

Community

Resources

COP31

Blogs

Our blogs offer timely perspectives from CISL experts and our global network, exploring how leaders are responding to market shifts, managing risk and turning insight into action.