Italy's economy runs on craftsmanship, small and medium businesses, and export supply chains. It also faces some of the EU's highest energy costs and a growing web of sustainability rules. What does ESG mean in that reality?

In this episode of Perspectives in Business, host Juan Carlos Giraldo talks with Astrid Palmieri of Sustainability Makers. This association helps sustainability managers qualify and elevate their role through training, workshops, and peer networking. It helps them speak the language of executive teams and boardrooms and become protagonists in defining company strategy, using the innovation and creativity sustainability generates.

We discuss:

• Why ESG in Italy is rooted in "Made in Italy": efficiency, durability, local supply chains, and preserving skills;
• Where Italy has made the most progress, and where it still lags.
• How EU rules are shifting responsibility from small suppliers to the whole value chain, and what it takes to make sustainability a lasting habit, not a trend.

Sustainability Makers: www.sustainability-makers.it

Sustainability is no longer a side project for Romanian companies. It is shaping strategy, access to capital, and competitiveness. In this episode of Perspectives in Business, Codruț Nicolau, founder of Sustain Future, looks at the real state of sustainability in Romania in 2026.

We discuss what is moving, what is stuck, and why many companies still treat sustainability as reporting instead of business transformation.

We cover: The current state of sustainability in Romania; the main barriers stopping companies from implementing it for real; how banks and finance are helping, or slowing, the transition.

Which industries are advancing fastest, and which are lagging. Practical steps Romanian companies should prioritize in the next 2–3 years. What Sustain Future does, and how leaders can start. If you work in business, finance, or sustainability in Romania or across Europe, this conversation is a clear-eyed look at both the opportunity and the cost of waiting.

Una de las preguntas más presentes en el mundo empresarial de 2026: ¿están muertos el ESG y la sostenibilidad corporativa, o simplemente están hibernando? Después del auge de finales de la década de 2010 y principios de la de 2020, el ESG recibió un fuerte contragolpe político y mediático, especialmente en Estados Unidos. Muchas empresas redujeron el volumen de su discurso "verde" y adoptaron el greenhushing: siguen avanzando en sostenibilidad, pero de forma más silenciosa y pragmática. Cómo las compañías están dejando atrás el acrónimo ESG y el marketing performativo para enfocarse en riesgos reales, la resiliencia, la eficiencia operativa y la gestión responsable. ¿Es el final de una era o solo una pausa para madurar?