The Responsible Edge Podcast

Charlie Martin, Host
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The Responsible Edge Podcast features conversations with leaders and founders exploring how to build better businesses in a complex, fast-changing world. Sponsored by truMRK.

  1. 1D AGO

    Why ESG Reporting Is Burning Out Sustainability Teams

    Most sustainability professionals inside organisations spend the majority of their time on reporting. That was not the original intent. In this episode of The Responsible Edge, host Charlie Martin speaks with Kelsey Parsons, a global sustainability consultant and former in-house sustainability officer, about what that compliance burden is doing to the people carrying it. Parsons draws on experience across corporate sustainability, media, and the maritime sector. She describes a structural pattern: professionals hired to create change end up consumed by disclosure requirements. "Every in-house sustainability person ends up working on some level of reporting," she says. The frameworks multiply. The capacity to think strategically does not expand alongside them. The conversation moves across the current ESG backlash, the divergence between organisations that are genuinely committed and those that were never serious, and what Parsons calls the "alphabet salad situation" of overlapping standards. She argues that reporting will eventually narrow and, when it does, will become more useful as a foundation for innovation rather than an obstacle to it. Parsons also reflects on sustainability in the Caribbean, where she grew up, and the gap between governmental ambition and corporate practice in emerging coastal economies. The episode closes with a direct challenge to how the sustainability function is positioned inside organisations. "I will scrap sustainability as a word and probably put in value-maker, change-maker, something like that instead," Parsons says. It is a small linguistic shift with a specific claim attached to it: that what a department is called determines whether a board treats it as peripheral or essential. Whether renaming changes the structural conditions is left, deliberately, unresolved. If these questions sit close to your work, this episode is worth your time. #Sustainability #ESGReporting #SustainabilityLeadership #CorporateResponsibility #ClimateAction #TheResponsibleEdge

    36 min

  2. APR 23

    Construction Contracts vs the Circular Economy

    Circular economy is one of the clearest ideas in sustainable construction. Close material loops, reuse existing structures, extend the life of assets. The business case has been made. So why does it stall in practice? In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Charlie Martin speaks with structural engineer Amira Damji, Director of Additive Sustainability, about the structural and contractual reasons circular construction struggles to become the default in the UK built environment. The conversation examines the incentives governing developer behaviour, the fragmented nature of construction contracts, and the limited ability of smaller firms to push against client briefs. It looks at why sustainability teams cluster around the largest players, why reclaimed material remains more expensive than virgin supply, and why regulatory levers such as VAT reductions would help but not solve the problem. Amira argues that designers, contractors and producers should remain accountable for what they build long after handover. "We have responsibility of the end of life." The current system is organised in the opposite direction. Responsibility ends cleanly at every contract boundary. "Someone's contract ends and someone's contract begins." The episode also covers the language of "asset maintenance" as an alternative framing to circular economy, the role of perception in what a sector treats as valuable, and the observation that large regulated projects outperform smaller ones on sustainability because compliance requires it. A conversation about where the built environment is structurally misaligned, and what it would take to close the loop. Listen to the full episode now. #CircularEconomy #BuiltEnvironment #EmbodiedCarbon #StructuralEngineering #sustainableconstruction #retrofit

    38 min

  3. APR 17

    Why Climate Action Fails at the Checkout

    Climate communication is often treated as a messaging problem. This episode examines why that assumption may be flawed. The discussion centres on a widely shared article arguing that climate messaging should become more human, more local, and more relevant. While this addresses tone, it may overlook a more fundamental constraint: timing and incentives. “It’s very difficult to think about the climate if you can’t pay the bills.” Ben Wynn, co-founder of Glad Climate, argues that behaviour is shaped less by understanding and more by immediate benefit. His model reframes climate participation through financial savings rather than moral appeal. “Save money, and you’ll help save the climate.” The episode explores how Glad uses brand marketing budgets to fund consumer savings, which in turn support greenhouse gas removal. It also examines a broader issue in corporate climate strategy: the gap between reducing future emissions and addressing accumulated impact. “You can’t call yourself responsible if you’re not trying to clean it up.” This is a discussion about incentives, not messaging. It considers whether climate action depends less on persuasion and more on how participation is designed. Listen to understand where current approaches fall short and what may need to change. #ClimateCommunication #BehaviourChange #SustainabilityStrategy #ESG #ResponsibleMarketing

    38 min

  4. APR 12

    Can Payments Change How We Spend?

    Consumers transact daily with limited visibility into who they are buying from. At the same time, trust in institutions is fragmenting, and information is abundant but contested. In this episode, Raja Darbari, co-founder of Ample, explains how payment data can be used to surface sustainability signals at the point of transaction. His model integrates merchant-level data into banking apps, translating complex information into simple labels. He describes the problem directly: “No one knows all the time to do the research or verify those claims.” He also frames the ambition in restrained terms: “It’s to give people the right information so they can make informed decisions.” The conversation explores the limits of that approach. Cost and convenience still shape behaviour. Trust remains fragile. “The only shortage is credibility,” he says, pointing to a landscape shaped by greenwashing and synthetic content. There is no claim of resolution. Instead, the discussion examines whether visibility can influence behaviour at scale, and what happens when responsibility shifts from institutions to individuals. Listen to understand how payments, data, and trust intersect in a fragmented information environment. #SustainabilityData #Fintech #Trust #ConsumerBehavior #ESG

    31 min

  5. APR 2

    Why Office Furniture Waste Still Exists

    Office furniture waste is not a materials problem. It is a system problem. In this episode, Dr Greg Lavery explains why large volumes of usable office furniture are still discarded every day in the UK. Decisions are driven by lease cycles, procurement incentives, and design trends rather than asset life. Greg is founder of Rype Office and a member of the UK Circular Economy Taskforce. His work focuses on replacing new furniture demand with remanufactured supply that matches new in performance and appearance. He traces the issue back to an early engineering experience. A power station designed for decades had waste systems planned for seven years. “That’s not the right answer,” he says. Today, the same misalignment appears in office interiors. Furniture is replaced at lease end regardless of condition. Global supply chains add cost and risk, yet disposal remains the default. Greg explains how remanufacturing works in practice, including material restoration, design integration, and cost outcomes. He also outlines why adoption remains slow. “If your bonus… depended on selling more new stuff, of course you’re incentivised to sell more new stuff.” The conversation examines where incentives block change, how government procurement is beginning to intervene, and why individual decision-makers remain central to progress. Listen to understand why circular models exist, but have not yet displaced the linear system. #CircularEconomy #BuiltEnvironment #Sustainability #SupplyChains #Procurement

    39 min

  6. MAR 25

    Why Ethics Disappears Under Leadership Pressure

    In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Pablo Lloyd examines why ethics often fails in real business environments. The common explanation is lack of time. Leaders are under pressure, dealing with targets, and moving quickly. Ethics is seen as an additional burden. Pablo challenges that directly. The issue is not time. It is how leadership is defined. Drawing on his experience as a CEO, he describes operating at speed where “the world is coming at you.” In that environment, anything treated as optional disappears. He reframes ethics as a decision tool rather than an added responsibility. “This is actually a tool to help the stress become bearable.” When used properly, ethics reduces the number of viable options and clarifies decisions. The episode explores how this works in practice, why it creates internal friction, and why there is no single standard that resolves it. This is a discussion about how leaders actually make decisions under pressure, and what changes when ethics is part of that process. #BusinessEthics #Leadership #DecisionMaking #CorporateResponsibility #Strategy

    48 min

  7. MAR 22

    Why CSOs Can’t Turn 15-Year Climate Risk into 12-Month Profit

    Sustainability strategy is increasingly central to business. But financial systems are not built to support it. In this episode, Amelia Woodley explains why Chief Sustainability Officers face a structural challenge. Businesses operate on short-term reporting cycles, while sustainability risks unfold over decades. Amelia draws on over 20 years of experience embedding ESG into commercial strategy. She explains how sustainability often loses out in capital allocation decisions because it cannot demonstrate immediate financial return. “Businesses are just bunkered down short term in a survival mode.” She also addresses the perception problem facing sustainability leaders. “They’re perceived as being kind of moral highwaymen.” The discussion explores how sustainability must be reframed. Instead of positioning ESG as a separate agenda, it needs to connect directly to revenue growth, cost reduction, and risk management. The episode also examines the future of the CSO role. As sustainability becomes embedded across organisations, the question is whether the role becomes less visible or more critical. This is a conversation about financial systems, not just sustainability. It focuses on how businesses price risk, allocate capital, and define value. Listen to understand where sustainability strategy succeeds, where it fails, and why the gap remains unresolved. #ESG #SustainabilityStrategy #CorporateResponsibility #BusinessStrategy #ClimateRisk

    42 min

  8. MAR 14

    How Charlie Bigham's Eliminated Edible Food Waste

    Food waste remains one of the largest inefficiencies in the global food system. Around one billion tonnes of food are wasted every year. In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Charlie Bigham discusses how these issues appear inside a real food manufacturing business. Charlie started the company from his kitchen table in 1996. Today the business produces prepared meals from two kitchens and employs around 750 people. The conversation explores why Charlie believes many companies start in the wrong place when discussing responsibility. "I think you're much better off saying, let's focus on your product or your service and make that extraordinary." For Charlie, responsibility follows product quality rather than replacing it. The episode looks closely at operational decisions inside food production. Charlie explains how measuring production processes allowed the company to reduce waste dramatically and redirect surplus food to charities. Over three years the business eliminated edible food waste and redistributed more than half a million meals. Charlie also discusses ingredient discipline, the debate around ultra-processed food, and why packaging decisions can involve real commercial trade-offs. Later in the discussion the conversation turns to the broader role of business. "Business cannot exist purely for profit. It has to do more than that." Listen to the full episode to hear how operational discipline shapes responsible business in practice. #ResponsibleBusiness #FoodIndustry #FoodWaste #BusinessLeadership #Sustainability

    48 min
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About

The Responsible Edge Podcast features conversations with leaders and founders exploring how to build better businesses in a complex, fast-changing world. Sponsored by truMRK.

Information

  • Creator
    Charlie Martin, Host
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    161
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Charlie Martin, Host
  • Show Website
    The Responsible Edge Podcast

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