Blogs

12 December 2023 - Dr Helen Xiaoqin Ma, an alumna from our Women in Sustainability Innovation accelerator programme, accepted a Purple Plaque Award at the Entopia Building. Purple Plaque awards are an initiative from InnovateUK to address the gender imbalance in the UK's blue plaques by celebrating inspirational women.“Inspiration and innovation ca…

7 December 2023 - Dr Nina Seega, Director of CISL’s Centre for Sustainable Finance, discusses the declarations already made in Dubai and why all eyes are now on the Global Stocktake wordingIt’s half-time at the COP28 game. The first half surprised with a multitude of declaration announcements, global funding pledges and an agreement on Loss & Damag…

4 December 2023 - Nina Seega, Director of CISL's Centre for Sustainable Finance explains how it's time to pin down financial commitments to support developing countries through turbulent climate change.Governments agreed in 2010 that developed countries would commit $100 billion a year by 2020 to help developing countries better manage the impacts …

28 November 2023 - As we head to COP28, Paul Gilding, Fellow at CISL, reflects on ‘the great disruption’ we are now entering, with its  ‘crisis, chaos and disruption’ on both the global economy and  all of our lives.  This discussion paper explores the implications of the great disruption, painting a terrifying picture of the most likely outcomes, …

27 November 2023 – In this blog, Dr Mario Abela, Course Convenor of the new Governance for a Sustainable Future 8-week online course, describes the challenges businesses face in today's sustainability crisis, the imperative to act, and how governance can be the engine of change.Rewind two millennia; Aristotle suggested money had no ‘value’ unless i…

27 November 2023 - The Autumn Statement was a missed opportunity to remove barriers holding back the UK's green economy, writes Beverley Cornaby, Director of the UK Corporate Leaders Group.With UK public finances under continued stress following shocks from Covid, Brexit and high inflation squeezing the rising cost of living, this year's Autumn Sta…

30 October 2023 - CISL Director of Leadership & Culture, Gillian Secrett explains how boards play a key role in transforming organisations to align with a sustainable future. As the main body of governance, responsible for direction, oversight and accountability of an organisation, boards play a pivotal role in transforming organisations to align t…

25 October 2023 - Ben Kellard, CISL's Director of Business Strategy, discusses the issues that businesses face when trying to become more sustainable and introduces the Business Transformation Framework.Why should business care about sustainability issues? This is the question explored in a recent CISL blog, ‘The business case for sustainability’. …

04 October 2023 – The 2020s are the decade we have to deliver on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which are known as the greatest challenge of our time. They represent a global shared agenda and consensus between 193 countries. This is a defining moment in time for business, representing a potential $12 trillion opportunity and 30 million jobs…

29 September 2023 – Simon C.Y. Wong explains the meaning of double materiality and why it will intensify focus on how companies are affecting the wider world.Corporations are dominant actors in modern economies [1], with vast impacts on society and the environment – from the provision of goods and services that lengthen and enrich lives to those th…

27 September 2023 - Dr Tim Forman, Senior Teaching Associate and Course Director of the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE) postgraduate courses, explores the relationship between buildings, cities and nature. The tendency to act based on personal need and without consideration of adverse impact on others is a behaviour shared…

22 September 2023 – In this blog, David Carlin explains the new standards for sustainability and climate disclosures developed by the International Sustainability Standards Board and the implications of these new standards for business and investors.Understanding the ISSB's MissionThe International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) was formed b…

20 September 2023 - Jakob Pruess explores the question: UNEP's global push to combat plastic pollution by 2040: beacon of hope or falling short? A new study on extended producer responsibility (EPR) provides novel insights for industry and policy.The world is facing a growing crisis, which is spreading to the last furthest corners of our planet – p…

19 September 2023 – Dr Florence Nabwire discusses the issues around food supply and climate change in Africa. How will changes in climate and population bring new challenges for consumers and suppliers in coming years? Climate change poses an existential threat to humanity. As sea levels and global temperatures gradually rise, the global food syste…

15 September 2023 – Beth Knight explores the influence of business in shaping consumers’ worldviews and their responsibility to drive change.From an early age, we are exposed to social conditioning, which affects how we determine ‘value’ and our sense of worth relative to others. This is underpinned by global systems and business models that priori…