Sustainability Forward, hosted by Wrishi and Carmine, is a podcast exploring the multifaceted world of sustainability. Each episode delves into critical areas like technology, policy, and finance, catering to both beginners and experts. We bring clarity to complex topics, featuring discussions with thought leaders and innovators in the field. Available on Spotify, Apple, and Google Podcasts, join us in understanding and shaping a sustainable future.
S4E19: Beyond Box-Ticking: What It Means to Be a Responsible Company with NYU Stern's Alison Taylor
What if the biggest risk to corporate sustainability isn't the backlash against it, but the habit of treating it as a reporting exercise rather than a strategic one?
In this episode of Sustainability Forward, we are joined by Alison Taylor, Clinical Associate Professor at NYU Stern School of Business, former Executive Director of Ethical Systems and author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World. Drawing on two decades advising multinational companies, including senior roles at BSR and Control Risks, Alison explains what is really happening to sustainability inside companies today. We explore why companies should go narrow and deep rather than tick boxes on dozens of issues, why reversed commitments have deepened public mistrust, and how leaders can find a credible path through polarised expectations.
What You'll Discover
- Narrow and Deep Beats Box-Ticking: Why picking fewer than five highly material issues, where a company has both legitimacy and leverage, builds more credibility than ESG commitments spread across 40 topics.
- Joined-Up Responsibility: How sustainability goals fall apart when government relations teams lobby against them or procurement teams squeeze the same suppliers that auditors are inspecting, and why transparency about failure builds more trust than glib over-promising.
- Strategic Leaking and the New Accountability: Why "leaking is the new whistleblowing", how younger employees are weaponising transparency, and why companies need consistent principles on when, and on what basis, to take a public position.
Building a responsible business requires more than a strong score or a polished disclosure. By deciding what they genuinely stand for, and what they are prepared to do when those choices carry a real cost, companies can rebuild the trust that box-ticking has eroded.
27 Oct 2026
S4E18: Energy Under Fire - The New Geopolitics of the Energy Transition
When critical infrastructure becomes a strategic vulnerability, does the case for the energy transition shift from climate change to national security?
In this episode of Sustainability Forward, we are joined by Heather Buchanan, CEO of the Bankers for NetZero (Atena Foundation) and a leading voice in sustainable finance. Heather shares her firsthand experiences from regular visits to Ukraine, offering a powerful perspective on how the country is rebuilding its energy grid under fire. We explore why decentralised renewable energy has become a matter of pure survival and national sovereignty, and what the rest of the world can learn from Ukraine's extraordinary resilience.
What You’ll Discover
- Energy as a Weapon of War: How Ukraine is rapidly shifting from centralised power to decentralised renewables, proving that wind and solar are matters of national security rather than just climate goals.
- Innovation Under Extreme Pressure: Why crisis often strips away bureaucratic red tape, accelerating the adoption of new technologies and digital infrastructure at a pace impossible in peacetime.
- Unlocking the Capital for the Transition: Why there is a disconnect between the trillions of available global capital and the actual projects that need it, and how we can move from "boutique" financing to an "IKEA" model of scalable investment.
Heather’s insights remind us that the energy transition is no longer just a political or ideological debate - it is a pragmatic necessity for resilience. When the grid is under daily attack, the fastest and most secure way to keep the lights on is through local, renewable, and decentralised power.
13 Oct 2026
S4E17: The $2.6 Trillion Question: How to Make Public Money Work for Nature
What if the trillions of dollars governments spend every year are actually accelerating the depletion of our most critical natural resources?
In this episode of Sustainability Forward, we are joined by Lucy Coast, Global Communications Director at Business for Nature. We explore the staggering reality of environmentally harmful subsidies and how reforming these financial incentives can make the resilient choice the commercially rational one. Lucy shares her insights on bridging the gap between global businesses and policymakers, the importance of the Global Biodiversity Framework, and even a memorable encounter with Sir David Attenborough.
What You’ll Discover
- The $2.6 Trillion Problem: How public money across agriculture, fisheries, and energy often unintentionally rewards resource depletion and what can be done to redirect it.
- Nature as the Ultimate Supply Chain: Why resource security is economic security, and how businesses are waking up to the fact that their future depends on healthy ecosystems.
- Designing Fair and Predictable Reform: Why successful incentive reform isn't about abruptly switching off support, but rather phasing in changes alongside the communities and businesses they affect.
This conversation is a powerful reminder that we don't necessarily need to find new money to solve our ecological crises - we just need the money already in the system to work smarter. By aligning public spending with long-term sustainability, we can create an economy where both businesses and nature thrive.
Who has been a guest on Sustainability Forward
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jennifer Motles
Ascanio Vitale
Carlos Silva Willson
Alex Tyink
Subodh Kumar
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
4.7 / 5
6 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 44 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
65
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
60
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Questions about Sustainability Forward
Who hosts Sustainability Forward?
Carmine and Wrishi and Carmine Fiume and Wrishi Sutradhar host the show. Published by Wrishi Sutradhar and Carmine Fiume.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes bi-weekly, based on its RSS feed.
Does Sustainability Forward take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
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