Blogs

24 July 2024 - A new government offers the UK a reset on its energy transition. But decisions need to be made fast, for long-term gains towards a decarbonised economy, says Beverley Cornaby of the Corporate Leaders’ Group.The new UK government needs to look beyond the first 100 days.Any farmer (or gardener like myself) in the UK right now would moa…

12 July – Edmund Dickens, Business and Nature Project Manager, discusses why nature is everyone’s business and how businesses tackling climate change can use their experiences as a springboard for action on nature.Can you describe a supply chain that cannot be traced back to some level of dependence on nature? Of course, some of the products and se…

11 July 2024 - The decisions made by the new government over its first 100 days will be critical for demonstrating green leadership, writes Beverley Cornaby, Director of Corporate Leaders Group UK.After 14 years of fast-changing prime ministers and a slew of policy reversals on climate change, calling for yet more change might seem odd. But busines…

2 July 2024 – In this blog, Ben Kellard, Director of Business Strategy, explores how business leaders can make their way out of the transformation dilemma by following four key governance principles and enable their organisations to deliver their purpose and strategy aligned with a sustainable future. If you'd like to learn more about how boards ca…

2 July 2024 - Business wants clarity, stability, commitment and delivery from the government elected on Friday, writes CISL's Eliot Whittington.There is an undeniable note of change in the air. While the general election is yet to come, it would represent an almost inconceivable polling and political upheaval for Keir Starmer not to become Prime Mi…

28 June 2024 - Predictably, economic growth takes centre stage on the election trail. But few politicians question what sort of growth we want, how much or the purpose of the economy[i]. But could our current undesirable outcomes for people[ii] and nature[iii] have their roots in our economic model and its narrative? If so, don’t our politicians ne…

25 June 2024 - CISL's Interim CEO, Lindsay Hooper, writes: In an era of disruptions, polarisation, complexity and increasingly intricate environmental debates, the core business case for sustainability remains: business cannot thrive on a dead planet.Whatever issues dominate political agendas in this mega election year, this is not the time for bus…

24 June 2024 – Dr Nina Seega, Director of CISL’s Centre for Sustainable Finance, asks what's needed for the Nature Restoration Law to be a success.Campaigners exploded with joy when EU ministers finally agreed to pass the controversial ‘Nature Restoration Law’ [in June 2024].Backing the law — whose approval had been delayed by the refusal of variou…

17 June 2024 - Ben Kellard, Director of Business Strategy, reflects on the challenges and enabling practices that emerged from discussions with cross-sectoral CSOs at our recent Forum. As recently reported, we recognise that CSOs have a tough role to lead the system change needed to create a sustainable economy.  So, CISL convened a Forum for thirt…

03 June 2024 – Dr Martin Porter, Executive Chair, CISL Europe, discusses the crucial need for sustainable business to be directed by public policy and for business to embrace its role in activating change for a sustainable future.As we have learnt more about the urgency and scale of the challenge of moving to a genuinely sustainable development mod…

31 May 2024 – With a raft of global elections in process or looming, and with geopolitical tensions and conflict dominating political agendas and decision-making fora, we face a decade more important than any other.One of the dominant strengths of CISL is in our convening power and collaborations which help influence and shape the policies we need …

28 May 2024 - Dr Kayla Friedman, Course Director for the Master’s and Postgraduate Certificate in Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment (IDBE), with The University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), showcases her ideas to address the housing situation the UK is facing.With the UK election just around the corne…

24 May 2024 - Dr Tim Forman, Senior Teaching Associate and Course Director of the Interdisciplinary Design for the Built Environment postgraduate courses, calls for built environment practitioners to consider climate change and climate risk more holistically to achieve ‘climate-smart’ buildings and infrastructure.Although some view climate change a…

09 May 2024 - The Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary's mixed messaging around net zero last week could bruise investor confidence in the green economy, writes Beverley Cornaby, Director of the UK Corporate Leaders Group.First published in BusinessGreen on 03 May 2024Conferences are usually quiet, predictable, affairs where you go to connect wit…

2 May 2024 - The government has warmed to one group of protesters while clamping down on others. Writing in the New Statesman, Priya Rajasekar explores the politics of protest and the implications for business.More than a hundred 'go-slow' tractors, with a handful blaring their horns as they rolled past the Houses of Parliament, caught the nation’s…