Blogs

27 June 2025 - CISL's Chief Innovation Officer, James Cole, reports back from a busy week in the capital.This week a record number of leaders from business, finance, government, academia, and civil society came together for London Climate Action Week with keynote speeches from UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Ed Miliband, and an…

25 June 2025 - The world is eager for fast fixes to global sustainability challenges.  It is critical that business is part of the solutions, which must be anchored in a deeper understanding of both broader systems and the local contexts in which companies operate.  We need to build the knowledge and leadership skills to make this possible, writes …

20 June 2025 - CISL's Executive Director of Education, Alice Spencer, chaired our annual Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) Forum. What were her observations?Earlier this month, more than 60 business leaders from across Europe and Africa came together at CISL’s head office in Cambridge. What emerged was not just another discussion on well-trodden c…

22 May 2025 - In the Financial Times, CISL's CEO, Lindsay Hooper, states that the temptation to sit out the political storms is a huge strategic risk no business can afford to take.Across major businesses, responses to climate change are diverging. Some are soft-pedalling their plans or quietly removing references from public view. Others are stayi…

13 May 2025 - Dr Nina Seega, Director of CISL's Centre for Sustainable Finance, explains why changes to the financial system will underpin the fight against the climate emergency. First published in Forbes.The world is not in good shape. 2024 was the hottest year on record. Six of nine planetary boundaries - the limits deemed safe for humans to enj…

9 April 2025 - Gloria Wong, Senior Civil and Structural Engineer at Arup, and student on the Master’s in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE), shares her experience of studying the programme and details what a day looks like during the third of her residential workshops in Cambridge, UK.My day begins with…A leisurely walk to Ma…

8 April 2025 - 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. First published by Forbes.Tariffs, trade wars and Trump. The world has seldom been on such uncertain territory. Yet while these issues “flood the zone”, in…

7 April 2025 - 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. First published in Newsweek.The ground has shifted under the feet of busine…

31 March 2025 - Zoe Loughlin, who leads the Canopy innovation community, gives her insights on the Cambridge innovation ecosystem and follows Neutreeno as the Cambridge-born cleantech startup grows from strength to strength.  We all know the old proverb: it takes a village to raise a child. Well, it takes an ecosystem to scale a startup. This is th…

27 March 2025 - CISL’s Chief Innovation Officer James Cole details a day in the life at CISL’s Entopia Building, a world-class innovation hub. Seven years ago, a bold vision was set in motion: the transformation of a 1930s telephone exchange in central Cambridge into a world-class innovation hub for sustainability. The objective was to create a phy…

26 March 2025 - Unless sustainability courses are made more accessible to busy working professionals, the talent shortage will increase, putting the planet’s climate and other sustainability goals further beyond reach, says Dr Theo Hacking at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. First published by Eco-Business.The qu…

19 March 2025 - The G20 is facing a crisis. This is due to the United States’ newfound hostility to multilateralism of all kinds and particular hostility to the holder of the G20 presidency, South Africa, CISL Africa's Sikho Luthango writes. First published by Reuters.Since Donald Trump entered the White House in January, the administration has pul…

24 February 2025 – Dr Tim Forman, Course Director of the Master’s and Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainability Leadership for the Built Environment (SLBE) shares a day in his life at the last SLBE workshop of 2024. During SLBE residential workshops, students engage in lectures, practical exercises, and discussions, and meet with supervisors and s…

18 February 2025 - Remaining competitive is fundamental to Europe’s future. And implementing the European Green Deal is the best mechanism to get there. Climate change and its costs to the economy are real and set to soar. CISL's CEO, Lindsay Hooper, and the CEO of the We Mean Business Coalition, María Mendiluce, write in Reuters.Brussels is under …

13 February 2025 – Sibusiso Nkomo, Africa programme manager at CISL, explains how the regional crisis around critical minerals sourcing in the DRC reflects deeper global problems as demand for these materials increases. First published by edie.From ‘blood diamonds’ to ‘conflict minerals,’ Africa does not seem to be able to escape its resource curse…