Building climate standards that outlast politics

𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲... The executives I'm placing don't mention "saving the planet" anymore. They talk about building anti-fragile businesses. After several years recruiting in this space, I'm watching sustainability emerge from its political pressure cooker as something completely different. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. When companies got burned for overpromising and virtue signaling, something interesting happened: The survivors stopped talking and started building. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐂-𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰: "We're done with the marketing theater. Show me operational resilience." "Our strategy needs to survive regulatory changes and political shifts." "If this can't make money in any economic climate, we're not doing it." 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧: 𝐁𝐄𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄: Sustainability as brand positioning → Bold public commitments → Marketing-led initiatives → Vulnerable to political winds 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑: Sustainability as business infrastructure → Quiet operational improvements → Finance-led decisions → Resilient across political cycles 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 — 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. The sustainability leaders getting hired today understand that real environmental progress happens when it's economically inevitable, not politically mandated. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬. They build strategies that get stronger under pressure: Supply chains that profit from disruption Energy systems that hedge against volatility They've learned that when you make sustainability profitable, it becomes unstoppable. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭-𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬. Because when environmental performance drives business performance, you don't need regulatory pressure or consumer guilt. You just need good management. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦: From "we should" to "we must" From compliance to competitive advantage From risk management to value creation 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞. They're the ones quietly building the infrastructure for the next economy while their competitors debate politics. 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Is your sustainability strategy built to survive political headwinds and deliver returns regardless of who's in power? Are you seeing this shift from performative to pragmatic sustainability in your industry?

𝐀𝐬 The Conservative Party 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 “𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬” 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 — 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝.⁣ ⁣ 1️⃣ 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬. They’re the scaffolding on which credible climate and energy strategies rest. Remove them, and you weaken the foundation.⁣ ⁣ 2️⃣ 𝐋𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. Businesses, investors, tech R&D — all depend on stable signals to commit at scale. Legal obligations (like carbon budgets) aren’t red tape; they’re a call to reliability.⁣ ⁣ 3️⃣ 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. The IPCC’s guidance didn’t invent net zero; it validates the physics and urgency. Repealing frameworks may appease short-term politics, but it’ll cost us in climate risk, reputation, and market access.⁣ ⁣ 4️⃣ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. Pulling back on commitments now is an equity bet: future generations and economies will pay the price.⁣ ⁣ As someone in construction, I see this not as a debate over targets, but over what we build next — grids, materials, energy systems, jobs. Commitments create markets, and markets create progress.⁣ ⁣ If we cripple the signal, we delay investment. And if we delay investment, we risk becoming irrelevant in a world that needs to be sprinting toward decarbonisation, adaption and resilience .⁣ ⁣ Let’s demand clarity, not spin. And let’s build a better, more sustainable future, not backtrack.⁣ ⁣ #SustainableLeadership⁣ SDG 1 to 17 See: As Tories vow to scrap ‘failed targets’, how do their climate claims stack up? https://lnkd.in/eqswfpaW

The path to net zero isn't waiting for politics. Despite recent global political shifts, organizations worldwide continue advancing their climate commitments. As regulations like California's SB253 and the EU's CSRD take shape, choosing the right net zero certification framework is crucial. Small and mid-sized enterprises face unique challenges – from skills gaps to funding constraints. But with Scope 3 emissions accounting for 70% of total emissions, having a robust certification system aligned with global standards is no longer optional. As Global Network for Zero Advisor Spenser Robinson, CRE and I argue for RealClearEnergy, regardless of changing political winds, the clean energy transition is here to stay and accountability matters more than ever. https://lnkd.in/eiFejTYw