Is ESG BS?

Is ESG BS?

Author: Climate One from The Commonwealth Club March 7, 2025 Duration: 1:04:52
Who’s responsible for climate change? Fossil fuel companies would like us to believe it’s all of us as individuals (after all, BP invented the idea of the personal carbon footprint). But many large corporations bear at least as much of the blame. And for a decade or so, there was a push for every company to disclose its own emissions — a kind of corporate carbon footprint — and “sustainability” became the word of the day. But corporate shareholders demand profits, and managers are held accountable if they don’t deliver. Auden Schendler spent over 25 years running sustainability programs at Aspen One, the company that owns one of the highest-end resorts in the world. He argues that those pushing corporate sustainability programs are living a “big green lie.” Can capitalism be cleaned up from the inside? What should corporations and their sustainability managers do instead? Guests: Auden Schendler, Climate activist; Author, “Terrible Beauty: Reckoning with Climate Complicity and Rediscovering Our Soul”  Mindy Lubber, CEO, Ceres On March 24, Google’s Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt and Irina Raicu, Director of the Internet Ethics Program at the Markkula Center, will speak with Climate One about the development of sustainably powered artificial intelligence. Tickets are on sale through our website. And on April 22 and 24, Climate One will once again be hosting a series of SF Climate Week events at The Commonwealth Club! Join us for conversations with environmental luminaries such as Margaret Gordon, Jenny Odell, Project Drawdown, Grist, and Abby Reyes. Tickets are on sale now. Support Climate One by going ad-free! By subscribing to Climate One on Patreon, you’ll receive exclusive access to all future episodes free of ads, opportunities to connect with fellow Climate One listeners, and access to the Climate One Discord. Sign up today for just $5/month. For show notes and related links, visit our website. Ad sales by Multitude. Contact them for ad inquiries at multitude.productions/ads Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The conversation about our changing planet is often reduced to headlines and political noise, but Climate One moves beyond that. Hosted by Greg Dalton, Ariana Brocious and Kousha Navidar, this podcast from The Commonwealth Club creates a space for the full, complex dialogue we need. Each episode features candid discussions with scientists, policymakers, activists, and thinkers who are on the front lines. The focus is on drawing connections-between personal action and economic systems, between daunting scientific reports and tangible community solutions. You’ll hear analysis that doesn’t shy away from the severity of our situation while actively exploring pathways for genuine progress, from technology and finance to culture and justice. This isn't about alarmism or easy answers; it's about equipping listeners with a deeper understanding of the intertwined challenges and opportunities. Tuning into this podcast means joining a crucial exploration of how we adapt, mitigate, and fundamentally rethink our relationship with the natural world. The dialogue here is built on the idea that confronting the climate emergency honestly, in all its facets, is the first necessary step toward shaping a livable future.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Climate One
Podcast Episodes
Policy Whiplash: Checking In With Labor Unions [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:20
The past few years have seen a seismic shift in energy and industrial policy in the United States. Under Biden, laws like the Inflation Reduction Act led to money pouring into clean energy manufacturing and deployment. T…
How Students and Teachers Are Talking About Climate [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:59
Students are heading back to school, and in addition to all of the usual challenges of the school year, some children are carrying an extra weight: climate anxiety. Teachers are also swimming in tricky waters as conversa…
Small Dollar, Big Impact [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:53
The climate doesn’t care where emissions cuts come from; what matters is that the world transitions to renewable energy quickly and cheaply. If it’s significantly cheaper to install solar panels in India than on a roofto…
Batteries Now Included [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:05
The Trump administration has taken aim at green energy, but one technology has largely been left untouched: batteries to store wind and solar electricity. California alone surpassed 13GW of battery storage last year, and…
Cause of Death: Air Pollution [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:08
In 2013, 9-year-old Ella Roberta died from a severe asthma attack. She became the first person in the United Kingdom (and possibly the world) to have “air pollution” listed as the cause of death on her death certificate.…
Young People Are Bringing Climate To Court. And Winning. [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:43
We’re all feeling the effects of the fossil-fueled climate crisis, but young people will not let this threat to their future go unchallenged. They’re taking it to the courts. In the last year, youth plaintiffs have had n…
Scorching Premiums: Climate Costs Hit Insurance Market [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:58
Climate disruptions and growing risk are upending insurance markets, leading many insurers to abandon parts of the country all together. Due to fires, floods and other extreme events, more and more homeowners are facing…
ENCORE: AI’s Power Demands: Do We Really Have the Energy for This? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:52
In a previous Climate One episode, we discussed the good, the bad, and the ugly impacts of artificial intelligence. But AI isn’t going away. Humans rarely give up a nifty new tool unless something better comes along. AI’…