The Net Zero Business Podcast

This week I'm joined by Claire Poole, founder and CEO of Sport Positive, which seeks to help embed Sustainability into sport, from grassroots to the Olympics. We cover a huge amount of ground, most notably the What's Stopping Us: Applying psychology to accelerate climate action in sport Report co-sponsored by Sport Positive which has some fascinating insights which can be applied to any sector. Claire is a wonderful advocate for practical action and her enthusiasm is infectious.The special offer on our Achieving Net Zero: A Practical Guide for Business course can be found here (code NetZero1) - great training for just £11.99 which helps keep the show on the road.

When an EV battery is no longer fit to power a vehicle, that is not the end of its useful life. Connected Energy takes those batteries and effectively doubles their lifespan by using them in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) for grid management services before they are ultimately recycled. Founder and CEO Matthew Lumsden explains how the business models for both sections of that process work, giving fascinating insights into a fast moving world at the cutting edge of clean energy.To get the incredibly good value Net Zero for Business training course mentioned in the pod, click here and use the code NETZERO - it all helps keep the show on the road!

Regular listeners may have noticed the normal rhythm of our episodes is three guest interviews followed by a solo effort by yours truly. I'm pleased to launch a new version of that fourth episode – a monthly round up of news, interviews and other reflections which I hope you will find useful if not inspiring. This month we cover the ongoing situation in the Gulf, the IEA energy review, changes to the UK electricity pricing system, US bullying and Dale Vince's less than useful intervention on heat pumps. This is very much a work in progress and all feedback is gratefully received.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

Today I'm joined by Frédéric Dalsace, Professor of Marketing at the prestigious IMD business school and co-author of a new book, Clean Winners. The book looks at where high profile corporate sustainability ventures have failed, notably Unilever, and sets out 'Sustainability 2.0' to address those shortcomings. As you'll hear, we don't agree on everything – the role of premium Sustainability products/services is a notable example – but we do agree on the fundamental point that Sustainability must deliver business benefits to survive. We both have plenty of opinions!The offer of a place on my Achieving Net Zero: A Practical Guide for Business course for just £11.99 can be found here. That's incredible value and you'll be helping keep the podcast on the road. The link will expire on 17 May 2026, so don't dawdle.The episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life.

This week, I chat to Nick Brown, founder of waterproofing brand Nikwax, the outdoor clothing brand Paramo and his latest venture Green Levers. We talk about fighting pushback from vested interests, embedding biomimicry principles in product design and how Paramo gave Colombian prostitutes not only an escape from the streets but a path to being company owners. Fascinating stuff!This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

On this episode of the pod, I talk to Laura Elms, Sustainability Manager at Forest Bikes. We delve into how public bike share works, the sharing economy, why some schemes survive and some disappeared, how Forest tackle their scope 1-3 emissions, and their project to plant Giant Sequoias in Wales. And, yes, I ask why not native trees – and there's a good answer!This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

The 10th of my 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability is build a climate resilient value chain – as always there are a few ways of doing this to maximise the effectiveness of your efforts and exploit co-benefits and I run through some of the best approaches I have found working with clients.The pdf version of 10 Rules for Corporate Sustainability can be downloaded from the Terra Infirma website.

With electrification winning the race to Net Zero, this week we delve into the world of heat pumps with Martin Fahey, Head Of Sustainability at Mitsubishi Electric UK. We talk about how heat pumps work (think heat, not temperature!), how the market is developing and why costs aren't falling the way that those of, say, solar are. We go on to air conditioning, including refrigerants, before talk about Mitsubishi's own Net Zero targets and the challenges of meeting them.Martin mentions the Uxbridge Fallacy episode which can be heard here.This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - Bringing Sustainability to Life

This week on the pod, I ask Andrew Griffiths of PlanetMark about the big trends in Sustainability for the year ahead. We talk about upheaval in the reporting standards sector, whether Net Zero should be retired as a brand and the ins and outs of engagement. Plenty to chew on!This episode is brought to you by Terra Infirma Ltd - bringing Sustainability to Life