Sustainability Forward

Wrishi Sutradhar and Carmine Fiume
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"Sustainability Forward," hosted by Wrishi and Carmine, is a podcast exploring the multifaceted world of sustainability. Each episode delves into critical areas like technology, policy, and finance, catering to both beginners and experts. We bring clarity to complex topics, featuring discussions with thought leaders and innovators in the field. Available on Spotify, Apple, and Google Podcasts, join us in understanding and shaping a sustainable future.

  1. 6D AGO

    S4E4: Growing Food Where Community Happens

    What if the modern version of a UK allotment isn’t a patch of land—but a classroom? In this episode of Sustainability Forward, we speak with Alex Tyink, co-founder and CEO of Fork Farms, whose unlikely journey from opera singer to urban farmer began on a rooftop in Brooklyn—and turned into a mission focused on food access with dignity. We explore why food is one of the most practical entry points into sustainability: it’s daily, personal, and deeply connected to health, community, and resilience. Alex explains why Fork Farms focuses on enabling others to grow (rather than operating farms themselves), why highly perishable foods like leafy greens matter most, and what changes when students grow food that ends up on the school lunch line. We also get into the real-world side of scaling: what breaks in deployments, how you design for people who have never grown anything, and where AI can genuinely help day-to-day operators without becoming hype. In this conversation: Alex’s Brooklyn rooftop turning point—and how growing food reshaped purpose and wellbeing Food access beyond price and calories: dignity, trust, and control Why schools are the best place to start—and what happens when kids eat what they grow Scaling distributed indoor growing without the “giant vertical farm” trap Where automation and AI can improve consistency and operational confidence If you’re looking for sustainability that feels human, practical, and achievable, this episode is for you.

    40 min

  2. FEB 24

    S4E3: When AI Becomes a Teammate

    As energy systems become more complex and data intensive, organisations face a critical challenge: how to scale reliability, throughput, and decision quality without proportionally scaling headcount. In this episode of Sustainability Forward, hosts Wrishi and Carmine explore how agentic AI represents a shift from AI as a productivity tool to AI as a trusted teammate embedded directly into operational workflows. Joined by Subodh Kumar, they discuss: Why cognitive load is the real constraint inside modern energy organisations The difference between traditional AI copilots and agentic AI systems Real world applications across maintenance diagnostics, process safety, engineering handovers, and operational decision support How to design human oversight and accountability in AI enabled environments How leaders must rethink organisational structure and governance to deploy AI safely The episode draws from Subodh’s book, Agentic AI for Leaders, which offers a practical executive framework for integrating AI into enterprise decision making while preserving accountability and safety. 📘 Book link: https://a.co/d/0aNdOMSK If you are a leader in energy, oil and gas, renewables, utilities, or industrial operations, this episode explores how AI can strengthen system resilience and unlock sustainable performance gains. Subscribe to Sustainability Forward for more conversations at the intersection of energy, sustainability, technology, and leadership.

    31 min

  3. FEB 10

    S4E2: The Era of Water Bankruptcy

    What happens when the world doesn’t just face water scarcity — but water bankruptcy? In this episode of Sustainability Forward, we unpack a stark new warning from the United Nations: many of the world’s freshwater systems are now so over-used and degraded that they may never recover to their historical levels. We explore what “global water bankruptcy” actually means, why this framing is different from how we’ve talked about water crises before, and what the implications are for food systems, economies, geopolitics, and climate resilience. From collapsing aquifers and rivers that no longer reach the sea, to the hidden role of groundwater in global food production, this conversation connects water to some of the biggest challenges facing societies today. Most importantly, we discuss what can still be done — and why managing water bankruptcy requires political courage, hard limits, and a fundamental rethink of how we value water. This episode is for anyone interested in sustainability, climate risk, food security, and the invisible systems that underpin modern life.

    17 min

  4. JAN 20

    S4E1: Your Biggest Climate Impact Is Not What You Think

    We often think individual climate action is about small, visible choices — what we eat, what we recycle, or whether we switch off the lights. But do those actions really matter most? In the first episode of the new year, Wrishi Sutradhar and Carmine Fiume take a data-driven look at where personal emissions actually come from. Using concrete examples, we walk through the biggest drivers of individual climate impact: cars and mobility, flying, home energy and heating, food choices, and consumption. Along the way, we unpack why some actions dominate emissions while others receive disproportionate attention — and why context matters so much. Where you live, how your energy is produced, your travel patterns, and your housing all shape your footprint in very different ways. This episode isn’t about being a “perfect green consumer.” It’s about understanding impact, prioritising the right levers, and moving the conversation away from guilt and toward agency. If you’ve ever wondered where to actually focus your energy when it comes to climate action, this episode is a good place to start.

    34 min

  5. 12/30/2025

    One Story, Sixteen Chapters

    In this Season 3 finale of Sustainability Forward, hosts Wrishi Sutradhar and Carmine Fiume look back on the year — but not as a simple recap. Instead, we retell Season 3 as one connected story: a journey through the messy middle of sustainability, where progress depends on incentives, trust, execution, and real-world adoption. Across the season, we explored the topics shaping today’s sustainability and energy transition conversation — from impact investing and climate finance, to electrification of heating (heat pumps), resilience and food systems, and the growing importance of data, measurement, reporting and verification (MRV). This finale brings together the biggest insights from our guests and episodes, including: Can we make money while saving the planet? (impact investing + incentives) Why heat pumps and electrification matter for decarbonising homes Resilience at household level: backyards, preparedness, community Soil health, regenerative agriculture, and making climate tangible through food Sustainability communication, trust, and avoiding greenwashing Science, solar, and the realities of scaling the energy transition AI for climate: opportunity, risk, and rising energy demand Methane transparency and why MRV is becoming market infrastructure The ESG backlash: reporting vs performance, and the role of corporate courage Capital markets and what “mobilising trillions” really requires Planetary boundaries and why sustainability is bigger than carbon Emerging markets and renewables: India and Pakistan — same sun, different stories We close with our key learnings from the season and a forward-looking view of what 2026 may demand: proof over promises, better execution capacity, credible disclosure, and trust as a foundation for climate and sustainability action. If you want a thoughtful, practical synthesis of sustainability, ESG, climate tech, climate finance, and the energy transition — this episode is for you. Subscribe for more conversations on sustainability strategy, real-economy decarbonisation, climate risk, and the future of energy.

    25 min

  6. 12/16/2025

    Same Sun, Different Stories - The Renewable Boom in India and Pakistan

    What happens when people stop waiting for the grid — and build their own energy transition instead? In this episode of Sustainability Forward, Wrishi and Carmine travel across India and Pakistan to unpack one of the most dynamic – and least understood – clean energy stories in the world. Wrishi draws on childhood memories of Indian power cuts and today’s giant solar parks to explain how India became a renewables heavyweight: ambitious national targets, ultra-cheap solar auctions, and state-level champions like Gujarat and Rajasthan. At the same time, coal still acts as India’s safety blanket, revealing the tensions at the heart of its energy politics. Then the focus shifts to Pakistan, where the official numbers say renewables are tiny – but rooftops tell a very different story. We explore: The silent rooftop solar boom reshaping homes, factories and farms How cheap panels and batteries are changing daily life under chronic load-shedding The hidden risks around grid finances, groundwater, and energy inequality What “getting it right” could look like over the next decade Two countries under the same sun, facing different constraints, making different mistakes – and offering powerful lessons for the global energy transition. 🎧 Listen in if you care about climate, development, or just want to understand what the energy transition really feels like on the ground.

    26 min

  7. 12/02/2025

    5 Sustainability Myths Every Leader Must Stop Believing

    This week, we sit down with IMD Professor and World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, Julia Binder, to tackle the biggest misconceptions shaping corporate sustainability. From ESG confusion to climate myopia, “sustainability is expensive” narratives to the belief that sustainable products don’t sell — we break down the stories that have quietly distorted how leaders think and act. In this episode, you’ll learn: Why ESG was never meant to measure positive impact, and what companies get wrong when they treat it as sustainability. How climate has become a shorthand for sustainability, and the planetary boundaries we’re dangerously overlooking. Why sustainability isn’t a cost centre — and how leading firms turn it into a strategic investment. What really stops sustainable products from selling (hint: it’s not consumers), including performance, pricing, and sales-team barriers. Whether we’re facing “sustainability fatigue” — and why the feel-good era is over, but the real work is just beginning. Julia brings clarity, candour, and optimism to one of the most misunderstood areas of modern business. If you’re a business leader, innovator, sustainability professional, or just curious about what’s really happening behind the headlines — this conversation is for you. 🎧 Listen now and subscribe to Sustainability Forward for more conversations with global thinkers shaping the future.

    37 min

  8. 11/18/2025

    Has ESG lost its way — or just its courage?

    Is ESG broken — or just leaderless? Lawyer-technologist Scott Lane, founder & CEO of Speeki, joins Sustainability Forward to argue the bottleneck is corporate courage, not cost or complexity. We cover boards’ ESG literacy, reframing the conversation around risk and resilience, compliance vs. true performance, customer-pulled sustainability, China’s scale, and how AI/agentic automation will reshape decisions. Scott’s advice to CEOs: have courage. In today’s episode, Wrishi and Carmine sit down with Scott Lane (lawyer, technologist, and founder/CEO of Speeki) to unpack why ESG feels “stuck” — and how to get it moving again. We discuss: Crisis of leadership: why the missing ingredient is corporate courage Boards & ESG: shifting the conversation to risk, resilience, duty of care Reporting ≠ performance: ESG as a management system that happens to report From green push to customer pull: building products people value (not paper-straw optics) China’s renewable scale-up and lessons for global progress AI & agentic automation: from “smart” to truly predictive decision-making A CEO playbook: long-term thinking, listen to customers, stop being hostage to politics, and learn the new discipline Scott Lane — lawyer & technologist with 25+ years in ESG risk; founder & CEO of Speeki (ESG reporting and management partner). Former founder of The Red Flag Group (acquired by LSEG).

    39 min
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About

"Sustainability Forward," hosted by Wrishi and Carmine, is a podcast exploring the multifaceted world of sustainability. Each episode delves into critical areas like technology, policy, and finance, catering to both beginners and experts. We bring clarity to complex topics, featuring discussions with thought leaders and innovators in the field. Available on Spotify, Apple, and Google Podcasts, join us in understanding and shaping a sustainable future.

Information

  • Creator
    Wrishi Sutradhar and Carmine Fiume
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    48
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Wrishi Sutradhar and Carmine Fiume
  • Show Website
    Sustainability Forward