Will Richardson (51toCarbonZero.com)

About Will Richardson (51toCarbonZero.com)

I am trying to change the way we work, the relationship we have our work and the world around us. We live in a complicated world with a lot of noise. But we need to be making decisions now and those decisions will have ramifications for decades. Will we always make the right decisions; no. But are we doing it for the right reasons I would like to say yes to that - speaking from my heart. This is an audible blog on what I am doing and what we as a business are doing. Some could say it is self promotion, it probably is a bit, I am trying to change the world and be a part of the solution BUT it is also my way to articulate where I am and keep a log of it for my future self and maybe others will learn from my mistakes as I am sure there will be loads!!

Publisher

Will Richardson

Category

business · business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Jun 2022

Latest episode

2 Nov 2026

Latest episodes

92 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   2 Nov 2026

   AI's Gas-Powered Emissions Bill: Sustainability News Top 10

   The gas plants being built to power AI in the US could undo fifteen years of power-sector emissions cuts by 2030. It's the second week running that AI's emissions bill tops the countdown, and it now sits in almost every company's Scope 3. This is the weekly sustainability news top 10 for sustainability, finance and marketing leaders who need the news to make commercial sense. We cover the UK's Jackdaw approval and £2 billion Energy Wealth Fund, the UN's emissions gap before COP31, the EU's new climate resilience framework, US and EU methane rollbacks, Lula's re-election and deforestation risk, ISSB nature reporting, the GHG Protocol's Scope 2 delay, and the Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone recycling claims. You'll leave with one move for this week: list every environmental claim your business makes and write the evidence next to each one. Anything you can't evidence in a sentence gets reworded or cut. Get the written version with every source linked on Substack: https://willsussolved.substack.com/ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@willsussolved Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sustsolvedbywillrichardson Follow the show, and tell me which of the three facts at the end surprised you most. CLIP MOMENT: “Companies that leaned hardest on pictures of nature and smiling people were less likely to make the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.” Mentioned in this episode: Sponsorship For Main Podcast Podcast Advertising (https://sustainability-solved-by-will-richardson.captivate.fm/calendar-invite) Keep informed on Sustainability News I'm Will Richardson, Head of Ecosystems at 51toCarbonZero and a sustainability advisor with 25 years in the field. I founded Green Element in 2004 and spent two decades building it into one of Europe's most respected sustainability consultancies before it merged with 51toCarbonZero in November 2025. Climate action is both an obligation and an opportunity, and that's the thread running through everything I write here. I co-created Compare Your Footprint, carbon accounting software recognised as a key player in the Global Carbon Accounting Software Market, and I'm a Fellow of IEMA and a Chartered Environmentalist. Each week, I break down what's actually happening in sustainability: the data, the regulation, the greenwash worth calling out, and the practical steps businesses can take right now. No jargon, no doom-mongering, just clear thinking for people who need to make real decisions. I also host the Sustainability Solved podcast with Charlie Luxton, 200+ episodes and counting, where we talk to the people building the solutions. Based in Scotland. Writing for business leaders who want sustainability to make commercial sense, not just moral sense. My Personal Substack (https://sustainability-solved-by-will-richardson.captivate.fm/substack)

2. 

   28 Oct 2026

   How to Explain Net Zero in One Sentence

   If you can’t explain net zero in one sentence, neither can your customers. And if they can’t repeat what you stand for on climate, you’re adding noise, not building trust. We start with the sentence that holds up in front of regulators, journalists and buyers: net zero means balancing the greenhouse gases you emit with an equal amount you permanently remove. Then we cover the order most businesses get wrong. You reduce hard first, deal with the small residual last, and never let offsets do the work of reduction. We look at how Patagonia, Tesco, Microsoft and TDC NET put a real number at the heart of their climate story. Boring, specific and checkable beats impressive-sounding. You’ll leave with one test for this week. Write your net zero sentence with one number and one date. Read it to a colleague outside the sustainability team, and ask them to repeat it back tomorrow. If you’d like help turning your net zero statement into something people can remember and regulators can check, book 30 minutes with me: https://tidycal.com/willrichardson/ssbywrpodcast30 (https://tidycal.com/willrichardson/ssbywrpodcast30) Read on Substack: https://willsussolved.substack.com/ (https://willsussolved.substack.com/) Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@willsussolved (https://www.youtube.com/@willsussolved) Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sustsolvedbywillrichardson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sustsolvedbywillrichardson) Follow the show, and send me your one-sentence version. CLIP MOMENT: “That number does work an adjective never can.” Mentioned in this episode: Keep informed on Sustainability News I'm Will Richardson, Head of Ecosystems at 51toCarbonZero and a sustainability advisor with 25 years in the field. I founded Green Element in 2004 and spent two decades building it into one of Europe's most respected sustainability consultancies before it merged with 51toCarbonZero in November 2025. Climate action is both an obligation and an opportunity, and that's the thread running through everything I write here. I co-created Compare Your Footprint, carbon accounting software recognised as a key player in the Global Carbon Accounting Software Market, and I'm a Fellow of IEMA and a Chartered Environmentalist. Each week, I break down what's actually happening in sustainability: the data, the regulation, the greenwash worth calling out, and the practical steps businesses can take right now. No jargon, no doom-mongering, just clear thinking for people who need to make real decisions. I also host the Sustainability Solved podcast with Charlie Luxton, 200+ episodes and counting, where we talk to the people building the solutions. Based in Scotland. Writing for business leaders who want sustainability to make commercial sense, not just moral sense. My Personal Substack (https://sustainability-solved-by-will-richardson.captivate.fm/substack) Sponsorship For Main Podcast Podcast Advertising (https://sustainability-solved-by-will-richardson.captivate.fm/calendar-invite)

3. 

   28 Oct 2026

   Five Sustainability Lies Your Marketing Team Is Telling

   Your marketing team is probably making at least one sustainability claim right now that won’t hold up. Not on purpose; regulators are looking for exactly these claims, and they’re finding them. We go through the five claims under the most pressure: a “certified sustainable” label you designed yourself “industry leader” with no proof net zero by 2050 with nothing in between “carbon neutral” built on offsets “fully recyclable” when most customers can’t recycle the pack where they live Each one comes with a real case, from ASOS and Boohoo’s commitments to the CMA, to DWS’s fines in the US and Germany, to Shell’s court battle. If you run marketing, sustainability or a brand in Food & Beverage or Media and Advertising, this is the list to check your own copy against. You’ll leave with one exercise for this week. Take your five most-used sustainability claims and write the operational fact that proves each one. Any claim with nothing next to it is the one to fix first. If you’d like an honest read on where your claims stand, book 30 minutes with me: https://tidycal.com/willrichardson/ssbywrpodcast30 (https://tidycal.com/willrichardson/ssbywrpodcast30) Read on Substack: https://willsussolved.substack.com/ (https://willsussolved.substack.com/) Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@willsussolved (https://www.youtube.com/@willsussolved) Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sustsolvedbywillrichardson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/sustsolvedbywillrichardson) Follow the show, and tell me which of the five you found on your own website. CLIP MOMENT: “It’s never the sustainability work that gets a business fined. It’s the gap between what the marketing says and what the operations do.” Mentioned in this episode: Sponsorship For Main Podcast Podcast Advertising (https://sustainability-solved-by-will-richardson.captivate.fm/calendar-invite) Keep informed on Sustainability News I'm Will Richardson, Head of Ecosystems at 51toCarbonZero and a sustainability advisor with 25 years in the field. I founded Green Element in 2004 and spent two decades building it into one of Europe's most respected sustainability consultancies before it merged with 51toCarbonZero in November 2025. Climate action is both an obligation and an opportunity, and that's the thread running through everything I write here. I co-created Compare Your Footprint, carbon accounting software recognised as a key player in the Global Carbon Accounting Software Market, and I'm a Fellow of IEMA and a Chartered Environmentalist. Each week, I break down what's actually happening in sustainability: the data, the regulation, the greenwash worth calling out, and the practical steps businesses can take right now. No jargon, no doom-mongering, just clear thinking for people who need to make real decisions. I also host the Sustainability Solved podcast with Charlie Luxton, 200+ episodes and counting, where we talk to the people building the solutions. Based in Scotland. Writing for business leaders who want sustainability to make commercial sense, not just moral sense. My Personal Substack (https://sustainability-solved-by-will-richardson.captivate.fm/substack)

Contact Will Richardson (51toCarbonZero.com)

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