“Building a culture of trust around green claims is the most important thing marketers, business and brands should be doing, using advertising self- regulation as a tool, making sure everyone is upholding those standards.”

As regulations and guidelines in and around sustainability continue to evolve, tighten up and support a better future around managing both what we do AND say, we spoke to Laura Brett whose remit is to lead the US system of advertising self-regulation looking at advertising claims to make sure what is being said is the truth, (like the Advertising Standards Agency – ASA, in the UK).

How do you get a return on your investment for your business, AND at the same time deliver a return on investment for the planet, ensuring everyone benefits?

In this episode we’re joined by Gavin Sheppard and Rob Cheesewright from Pinwheel, an organisation focused on projects that remove carbon from the atmosphere, restore habitats and protect biodiversity - to discuss that very question.

Given there’s a lot of terminology that can become quite confusing, we kick things off with some jargon busting diving into offsetting, carbon capture and, carbon removal. Offsetting has been the subject of controversial debate recently, as some argue it’s ineffective and many schemes are a ‘license to pollute’, and so it’s really important do the homework around what is out there, not taking things at face value, and remembering that the focus has to be on reduce, reduce, reduce.

“If you ever think you are too small to influence change on a global scale, just look at what Wales are doing.”

We were intrigued and excited to have the opportunity to chat with Sophie Howe, the first and only (for a period of time) ‘Future Generations Commissioner’ in the world!

The challenge for the marketing team is, “needing to take what are serious and complex issues and convey them in a format that is easily understandable.”

Want to know how marketing can drive a “people powered movement for change?” THIS is the episode you don’t want to miss.

We jumped at the opportunity to talk to Jackie Marshall at Fairtrade an organisation with market leading levels of audience recall, awareness and engagement. One of the most trusted and recognised ethical labels out there today across a multitude of products we see as we do our weekly shop, from coffee to cocoa and wine to flowers.

“Climate change isn’t a game that anybody wins – we either all win or we all lose and I’d much rather we all win”.

We discuss the commitment to net zero, and importantly, how the organisation has had to figure out exactly how to meet 2030 targets. Which in his own words has meant a ‘fundamental change to the way we think, act and make decisions in the business.’

Less than 10% of the FTSE100 mention sustainable pensions in their sustainable strategies.

Switching to sustainable pension providers can have a massive impact on transitioning to a more sustainable future, but as Holly explains, ‘one of biggest barriers to more organisations getting on board i s an awareness issue followed by apathy and the moving of investments being seen as a bit of a ‘hassle. However, greening your pension is TWENTY ONE times more impactful than going veggie, stopping flying and switching to a renewable energy provider’. It’s a no brainer!

“Consistency of message is what builds trust - and we’re going to need that come 2028 when we realise just how badly we failed.”

In this episode we dig into lifecycle assessments and why they are such an important part of the business process, and something marketers increasingly need to have a greater awareness and interest.

A sustainable creative agency on a journey to make positive change, we caught up with Rob Minto, managing director of The Onlii. Rob talks about his own journey into sustainability, how he was inspired by the B Corp movement and why he set up The Onlii.

Aligned to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Rob discusses how these really helped to embed the environment and the bigger picture into the business strategy.

“How can organisations treat people as citizens, not just as consumers? How can organisations invite people into their agency and creativity to shape the world and not just sell them stuff?”

When Jon Alexander, author of the brilliant book ‘Citizens’ joined us on Can Marketing Save the Planet, we got straight into those questions! The subject story, the consumer story (where we are right now), and the citizen story, (the place we need to get to). Jon explained how we are currently trying to solve such disconnect from within the consumer story - “you just can’t solve an inequality crisis from a story of competition and status, or a story that says humans are separate from nature.” And, “What are we doing to ourselves when we constantly call ourselves consumers?”