What does it mean to be a corporate sustainability thought leader these days?

In this episode Joel Makower and Solitaire Townsend delve into that question, confronting a paradox at the heart of corporate sustainability: At the very moment when business needs to step up and help shape the sustainability agenda, most companies have lost their nerve to talk about it.

In an era of climate disruption, institutional distrust and political polarization, silence isn’t neutral. It’s risky.

The sustainability landscape is littered with bold claims, ambitious targets and a widening gap between rhetoric and reality. Against that backdrop, Siemens AG presents a case worth examining — not because it declares itself a climate leader, but because it treats the climate transition as an operating constraint rather than a branding opportunity.

Eva Riesenhuber, Siemens’ Global Head of Sustainability, is explicit about the forces shaping the moment. “We are in the middle of two transitions,” she told us — the energy transition and the emerging circularity transition — and “the business case for sustainability is very healthy.”

That’s a confident assertion, but it raises a question: Is Siemens ahead of the curve, or simply well positioned to adapt to a world whose regulations and market forces increasingly leave companies little choice?

What's going on at COP30? You wouldn't know much by reading the mainstream media, other than the relatively mild protests and the usual infrastructure problems nearly all COPs face. But what should companies know about the substance of the event?

In this episode of our Two Steps Forward podcast, we take stock — Soli from inside the Blue Zone at COP30 in sweltering Belém, Brazil, and Joel comfortably ensconced at home.

What emerges is a candid dispatch from inside one of the hottest and most complex COPs yet.