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Ep. 23: Transforming Sustainability into Business Success with Lee Stewart
51 Plays4 months ago
“Hey, it's not a cost. It's a lot of doom and gloom; sustainability, climate change, all that stuff. It's actually a business opportunity. And by the way, you're not exploiting it properly. This is how you should do it.”
If sustainability isn't woven into the fabric of your business strategy, you're missing out on more than just saving the planet—you're leaving money on the table. In this episode, sustainability expert Lee Stewart dives into how businesses can transform ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) challenges into opportunities for growth and competitive advantage. From his early inspirations in New Zealand to crafting award-winning strategies for corporate giants, Lee shares practical steps to embed sustainability into every layer of your business. The secondary theme—"building impactful legacies"—emphasizes how companies can use sustainability as a vehicle for long-term societal and environmental contributions, turning good intentions into transformative action.
Lee also talks about his book, "How to Build Sustainability into Your Business Strategy," which outlines his confidence, commitment, and consistency (Triple C) framework. He offers insights into making sustainability part of daily operations, moving beyond mere reporting to real, measurable action. Whether you're a mid-sized company or a corporate giant, this conversation provides actionable strategies for achieving both profitability and purpose.
Lee Stewart is a best-selling author and ESG specialist with over 20 years of experience in corporate sustainability. Known for his Triple C framework, Lee has helped countless businesses integrate sustainability into their operations while driving growth. Based in Australia, Lee is also an advocate for regenerative practices in the Pacific Islands, working with governments to create circular economies.
Learn more and connect:
- Lee Stewart’s website: http://LeeStewart.com.au
- Corporate site: http://ESGStrategy.com.au
- Book: How to Build Sustainability into Your Business Strategy
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Transcript
Sustainability as a Business Opportunity
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey, it's not a cost. It's not a doom and gloom, sustainability, climate change, all that stuff. It's actually a business opportunity. And by the way, you're not exploiting it properly. This is how you should do it. But you've got to do your backyard first. You got to make sure it's not greenwash. You got to make sure it's it's robust and you have a good platform to stand up. And then how can you influence other customers and win more business through it? That's really what I do.
00:00:23
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Regenerative Design Podcast. I'm your host Mathieu Mahes and in this show I interview the leading authorities in the world of regenerative practices. People who do good and do well. Are you a person that cares about your environment and our planet? Are you a person that wants to leave the planet to our children to be something that we can be truly proud of?
00:00:47
Speaker
something to enjoy for many generations to come. But are you also a person that believes we can do all of this and do good in business? Well, I have really good news for you. You're here listening to the podcast that is all about making our planet a better place and making your business more successful. Enjoy the show.
Meet Lee Stewart: Author & ESG Specialist
00:01:13
Speaker
All right, welcome to another episode of the regenerative design podcast. Today we have another amazing guest. His name is Lee Stewart. Lee Stewart is a bestselling author of the book, how to build sustainability into your business strategy.
00:01:29
Speaker
He has over 20 years of experience in the corporate ah world. He's an ESG specialist and he helps all kinds of businesses to integrate sustainability in their business. He has ah an amazing track record of achievements over the past 20 years. So he's been in sustainability for a while. So um welcome to the show. Lee, it's such an honor to have you here and ah I'm excited to talk about your work.
00:01:57
Speaker
Oh yeah, me too. So thanks so much for having me. Yeah. Awesome. So, uh, Liz is, uh, dialing in all the way from Australia. And I've had a couple of people on from Australia and we had an amazing architect, uh, from a company called pre the architecture. And they're doing like amazing work to do sustainable ah architecture. You might've heard of them. Um, but today I want to talk about you. So tell me where did everything start? Uh, like what's your backstory?
00:02:26
Speaker
Yeah, the back story. um How far do I go back? But I was very fortunate enough to grow up and have my early childhood in New Zealand. So not far from Australia, a few hours drive and um appreciation of the outdoors comes living in sort of a country, of rural towns and then sort of many smaller cities. But never more than 10 minutes away from a beach or a mountain or a river. um And part of growing up in school was outdoor education. We call it tramping. So you put your backpack on, you go in the bush for a few days and stay in huts or tents and stuff. And um just loved it. That's part of the school in in New Zealand? ah yeah you want to have an education yeah Yeah, outdoor education for at least one or two weeks a year. um but i Some kids melt down, you know, it's pretty rough on some things. But I just surviv you know i loved it. I just um
00:03:13
Speaker
and And part of the year when I was at university, I joined the Trumping Club and in the reserves in the army, just running outside outdoors, um seeing nature, being part of nature, um was always at your doorstep. And and you didn't really appreciate it till I left New Zealand and go, oh wow, you know, I've got to drive four or five hours to see that when I could have actually got on my bike in New Zealand almost and pedaled around and seen it, you know. So that sort of early
Career Beginnings in New Zealand and Sydney
00:03:40
Speaker
it indoctrinated me into um You know what's really right about nature and then there's a couple of things in New Zealand as a kid was growing up which really resonated with me was New Zealand still nuclear free and the protests around nuclear free and a big treaty where we stopped the American warships coming in even though our nuclear powered and and or couldn't give us guarantees with a carry nuclear weapons so and I remember as a kid protesting in the streets for that and that was something that um really resonated me in the early 80s when I was you know, seven or eight or nine, you know doing that and um
00:04:12
Speaker
And then also the stance on on whaling as well for New Zealand. And then um and another thing to throw in the mix, Andy apartheid with um the Maori rugby tours and stuff with with South Africa. So you had this sort of melting pot in the early 80s of me being exposed to all these world issues and going, hey man, there's got to be a better way to do stuff. And and and it really sort of helped formulate me um You look back on those years and is still immensely proud of what it means to be a New Zealander That we made the stand and and we've done those things and that still resonates today till that day, you know um New Zealand nuclear free, you know much all the pressure of everything else still stands out. So
00:04:52
Speaker
That was sort of really formed me, and um but like most Kiwis, um you want to travel. we have interest so when you
Sustainability in Business: Key Themes from Lee's Book
00:05:00
Speaker
get After university, you work a couple of years, and then I was fortunate enough to get a job transfer to Sydney in time for the Sydney Olympics in 2000, which was just an amazing experience. and um really So you worked with the the Olympics? ah no No, I just came here with a job just at the time the Olympics was happening, so that was so fortunate. and then um Yeah. And then, you know, worked in finance early stages and telcos, but um was fortunate enough to um have the opportunity to use my career for good and do startups. I did IT tech startups around clean tech and online education around sustainability in the early 2000s. That what really got me on the path of, yes, there's a way to make money, but also help do good at the same time. um Sort of leaning back to
00:05:47
Speaker
ah you know I'd love to be an activist but it doesn't pay. you know glo sort of stuff All those things and it's kind of like, how do I um be that person in business and I'm pro business. I love working in business. How can I merge the business and and and and good together? And that's where I sort of found sustainability. so yeah I think that's an amazing perspective to look at. like Partly, yes, okay, when you when you're an activist, I think activists are great. They should keep doing it. It's an important part of the work. But like you said, it doesn't pay the bills. And sometimes often it gets so much into a negative energy about, oh, this is bad and this is wrong and we shouldn't do this. It's like, okay, guys, let's take a step back and and see what the opportunities are here.
00:06:31
Speaker
yeah ah is that is ah Was that something similar for you? that was like Yeah, well I thought also when you look at companies, what if I could do that from the inside? And it's not as fast. Obviously you don't go straight in there with your placard into a boardroom. You've got to build up political capital, you've got to build up know-how and be known as that trusted person. But what if I could do that from the inside of a company?
00:06:55
Speaker
and help. Infiltrate. well well do good Yeah, so of infiltrate. But also, why do I? And very early on, because I had a sales background as well, how do I use that as an advantage for the company to actually be profitable more? And that's where the genesis really came from the book as well. So it's um really how do you sort of change the thinking, hey, it's not a cost, it's not a doom and gloom, sustainability,
00:07:18
Speaker
climate change all that stuff it's actually a business opportunity and by the way you're not exploiting it properly this is how you should do it but you've got to do your backyard first you got to make sure it's not greenwash or it's not all that crap that's involved with it you got to make sure it's it's robust and you have a good um you know platform to stand up and then how can you influence other customers and win more business through it that's really what i do I love that. I think it's such an important work. Again, back to like, okay, how can we do good in business? Yes. And how can we do good for the environment? There's like two separate things, yeah but then if you start bringing them together, yeah they end up getting benefits in in all directions. Like when you really look at it holistically. So let's talk um more about your award-winning book or your bestselling book, excuse me. yeah So what how did that come about and and what's what's it all about?
00:08:12
Speaker
Yeah, well, it came about of sheer frustration. I just finished up in my probably my largest corporate role in New Zealand. And um quite frankly, I was burnt out. I was just
Transition to Consulting and Global Issues
00:08:23
Speaker
pushing a hard agenda. And it got too hard. And then I was done, you know, finally, you know, I pushed that to that point. So there I was kind of company was at this moment. It was it was it was Fonterra, the largest company in New Zealand dairy.
00:08:37
Speaker
industry. So a huge company owned by 10,000 farmers, a cooperative that had, um you know, large milk processing plants exporting, you know, God, it was um responsible for 25% of dairy exports. What? Quite significant. All right. So big set of company. I was head of Sustainby there. I was head under for the role from Sydney. I moved my family back to New Zealand for four years during, during a lovely COVID and MIQ and hotels and all that stuff.
00:09:06
Speaker
as quarantine. um But yeah, just just through a series of other circumstances, I was, you know, I was done, you know, gave it almost three years. too hard and Yeah, it was tough. It was the toughest gig ever done. And it was a hard, hard environment, but huge opportunities. Farming is difficult, man. And my father and brother are farmers. It's yeah one of the toughest businesses in the world. It's hard. And I ah i feel for the for everyone in farming, it's got a lot coming at them.
00:09:32
Speaker
And yeah, I was doing my best. um But so there I was, you know, handing my pass back and my laptop back to my boss and going, oh shit, what do I do now? You know, what do I do? I've just gone, moved my family over, you know you know, and I've got a bit of breathing space for I need to find something else. So I said, look, I gotta go out on my own.
00:09:52
Speaker
don't I don't think I can do a large corporate role straight away. I need to go and help other businesses. but some various so I was fortunate enough to pick up a couple of um good contracts with people I knew. But then I had to spare time. I had to space. And I said, I've got to write that book. And I've been thinking about it for a while. And it was and it was probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. i know You've written a book yourself. but I, I was not, I'm not a natural writer. I was, I was hideous. I was really bad at it. Um, but my saving grace was that I told all my friends I'm writing a book and then every time I'd see them, sometimes I'd hide a little bit of party or something. Because you're going to ask me and I haven't done anything, but they kept me accountable. And it wasn't until last winter in New Zealand, it wasn't that pleasant. But from the hours of 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. when the kids had gone to bed, I just sat down. I said, I've just got a right. I smashed out the rough draft. I ate Kobe's amount of junk food and whatever to get me through. A couple of bottles of wine, a few beers every now and then. But it was that sort of
00:10:54
Speaker
really three months, it was four months of just going into my... You did it in three months? Oh no, just a rough draft. was he But then then the editing is a whole different story. But I was just going into your man cave and just saying, I have to do this.
ESG Reporting and Value Creation
00:11:07
Speaker
Nice. I love the dedication and I think it's in I heard about it in another podcast. like A very successful business owner who was like transforming business and doing it in sectors that everybody said it's impossible to do anything in that sector. It's been like that forever. You can't change it. yeah And hes he's disrupting all these industries and he said yeah my best technique of like getting into it is like just like you said it's like
00:11:34
Speaker
When I'm going for it, I tell all my friends my friends about it. I ask them to invest in my company. I like i put yeah everything at stake that like that yeah I won't lose my face too to fail. and And that's quite interesting when you tell people, like I'm going to do this. it's such You better well do it otherwise your friends are like, hey, have you finished your book yet? What else? Yeah. So that's a great way. It's great strategy, I think. Yeah. Yeah. And it was one hell of a party when I launched the book. So that was pretty cool. So that I had that in mind, that launch party. Yeah. Epic. So that was actually synthesis of all of your experience or you, you like yeah yeah more of like what you want. It was really, and it was also, as I was working with some of the clients I worked with, this whole subject was new to them for the first time. And what do I, what do I mean sustain? What does climate change? What does modern slavery?
00:12:26
Speaker
What is you know coral bleaching and and and ah the garbage patch and the Pacific mean for my business? What's that relevant? So i was as I was grappling with these issues and I was working with them and helping craft this strategy, I said, oh, really?
00:12:39
Speaker
they need to know they They need to know something around the global status, like ah global the the macro issues. so and I don't realise, I broke it down into, first of all, they need to be confident. They need to know what climate change means to the business. What is a carbon um Basics of modern to slavery and I gloss over at a very high level. So the first part of the book is about confidence and it's really about These global macro issues what it means and why it's relevant to your business Okay, so that's the sort of foundation because when I've jumped sometimes I've jumped to a boardroom saying hey, we've got to set a set of climate target This is what we got to do and I think it's just normal
00:13:17
Speaker
and the board's going, hold on, what is a carbon? What is that? They're not confident in the subject. So you can't jump to that after asking them to sign off on something. They don't really know what it is. So I try to- A large part of your work and in your book is like problem statement, what's it, why is it important? Yeah, yeah, look at, you know, what is, yeah. That's confidence. That was the main bit that I really started to nail very quickly and I don't cover it all. I gloss over it and I recommend people go and do some more reading and stuff because ah the The goal of the book was to say as much as possible, the littlest words as possible, to value business leaders' time. So that's confidence. And this then I thought the second part of working with clients, always working with clients is what is your commitments? you know What are you going to stand for?
00:14:02
Speaker
know you You've suddenly been thrown up, you have to set a climate target because your customers want one or your bank says you need to get one. What does it all mean? So what do you have to actually commit to? And how are you going to go about doing that? And how do you focus on what matters most to your business? Because I see a lot of businesses where it might be the pet project of the CEO or the chair to support the charity.
00:14:23
Speaker
And it's got absolutely nothing to do with the business. But it's a great charity. It might be, you know, Children's Hospital and all that other stuff. It's great, but it's not relevant. So and they think that's their social side of things. And so making sure your focus on what matters the most, that's being and what you stand for is a commitment side. And in a final part where every, not everyone, a lot of companies let themselves down is they don't keep it consistent. They don't have a governance model.
Market Trends and Regulatory Pressures in Sustainability
00:14:50
Speaker
They come out with a big fanfare, big marketing brochures, a big sustaining report with targets. And in the next year they go, Oh yeah, we haven't got an update or we're scrambling for an update because they haven't done anything. They haven't got the governance model in place. So they haven't kept it consistent. So it's like, they often think like it's just external thing and like a checkbox. Yeah. Oh, we, for our image, we have to do something for the environment. So we'll hire somebody to do something. We'll make a strategy. And then at the end of the year is like, Oh, we didn't do anything about it. Yeah, we've got a report on this. Where's it ready? You know, and the poor sustainability person's probably been under resourced, hasn't had the chance to do it. It's been telling your business, you need to get this order and it has to scramble because I've been in that position every year. Scramble. That's mostly like, those are like the problems as well. in in Yeah.
00:15:37
Speaker
The problems with ESG that that people are like excited about and they want to do something but end of the day they put it like as the last thing to do. and and And the saddest that I heard about sort of ESG where it's going off the rails I think is that I think close to 40 if not 50% of sustainably budgets going on reporting.
00:15:57
Speaker
So you're not actually doing anything, you're just reporting. so And that's just that's what I'm trying to disrupt. I'm saying, hey, hold on, there's so many different, I'm sorry, I introduced another framework called the CCC, but that's the simple one, confidence, commitment and consistency. But there are hundreds of frameworks that cost a lot of money, take a lot of time, that don't actually really add value, and you've got ah and you're forced to report on them, or you just end up um spending all the time in legals and making sure you can say this and not say that and getting verification of your carbon number when you actually the money that you need to get the order on your carbon could actually go on to put solar panels on the roof and you know would be much more bet you know that sort of stuff which is you just yeah you know you've got to break that circle of just the reporting and get more doing and that's really what I wrote the book for so your idea is that you can read the book in three or four hours
00:16:50
Speaker
Hopefully in a weekend, ask questions Monday, Tuesday, maybe make a change on Friday in your business. You just get stuff done quicker and get going. So you don't need to procrastinate. It's all there. You can make a start and have some guidance and and it was hopefully it was just designed as that business book to pick up and run with.
00:17:10
Speaker
Nice. I love that. So it's it is really a business book about, okay, yeah good the world is changing. Customers are asking for you to be ESG. So just for the listeners, ESG is environmental, social governance. Some people might know it, others won't. So I just want to clarify that. So it's like, okay, the customers want it, politics want it, like in Europe, like You could still be like, I'm not going to care about environmental things, but we had to the green deal is happening. It's like politics are going to force it upon you. So why not use it as an advantage to your competitors? So it's like, ah it's all there. Like, okay, you might still have a bit of time, but not much. Just to give an example, yeah in 2025, all cars, all company cars in Europe or in large parts of Europe have to be electric.
00:18:01
Speaker
and still 90% of the cars are not electrics and people are not aware. They think you still have time, but it's the end of the year of It's going to be there very fast. So yeah companies have to be prepared for that change that is like coming. And even if they don't care about the government's governance, it's also like climate change is going to have an impact on your business. yeah So i that's another reason to do it.
00:18:29
Speaker
Now let's dive a ah bit deeper into some of the strategies that companies can apply. I'm i'm curious to know where you can go from, okay, it's just a checkbox that we need to do to okay, how can I actually integrate it and make it an asset in my business?
00:18:45
Speaker
Yeah, the the key lesson I learnt there is where does your money come from and your business and who are your customers? So and what do they want and what are you supplying them? So very early in my career because I had a sales background. I was i quite interested in, you know, why do people buy and how do they buy and and what makes our product that good. And when I was working at Fujitsu, it's a large global IT company, very fortunate, being a Japanese, that had a long standing ethos of environmental protection and sustainability. And we're trying to sell data center space or um laptops and big managed services, you know, deals worth tens, hundreds of millions of dollars.
00:19:27
Speaker
But what we're doing, we're selling to all the larger companies and they all have sustainability targets. And well, then I started working with the sales team to say, well, how do we differentiate ourselves? Well, we're up against these other other big guys. Well, I said, well, look, let's put the Fujitsu angle there. We've got a sustainability strategy. We've got these targets. If we work together with this company, we can help reduce their emissions. I can ah can do the footprinting analysis of moving to our data center.
00:19:52
Speaker
um and call that out. And then actually, let's talk to the head of IT, the CIO. And I know the Chief Sustainability Officer, let's go have a chat to them and bring the two. In many cases, I brought those two together in the company that we're trying to pitch for. And they're going, yeah, the the head of Sustainability's got this, you know, carbon emission target.
00:20:11
Speaker
the CIO is going, be oh, you were a large portion of these emissions, so let's work together on this and we could help sort of meld that deal and and sort of be different against the other competitors because If you come with us, we'll help you do that and map that and and manage that and call it out for your sustainability targets. And the CIO gets a good pat on the back because he or she has helped support the corporate environmental targets while also so working with it with us. So I learned very early on that every in almost every client I've worked with, I talk i try to talk to their key customers.
00:20:45
Speaker
And you get you get gold every time. And I was just in one meeting just last week where I invited the head of sales for us, client I was working for and the chief operation officer and I interviewed them at a materiality assessment. They just listened in and they just got some great insights into where the product development needs to go. And we come up with some ideas already just talking, well, let's catch up every three to six months and talk about innovation and and collaboration together. You know,
00:21:10
Speaker
And that's just that just comes from that and that's for the beauty of the subject of sustainability you can have a conversation with anyone in the business. And you can find if you know what you do you can find that angle that helps them with it's the finance HR operations um sales of course marketing.
00:21:32
Speaker
there's all the Pacific angle. And I talk about a little bit in the book and what the
Future Strategies and Aligning with Regulations
00:21:35
Speaker
roles of each different um sort of area of the large business can be and the touch points to sustainability. So yeah, so there's some really good insights there about how you can navigate there. And that's, that's where I see the strategies that are most successful and sustainably are customer centric. no yeah yet because that's where you know the longevity lasts because you're linked to revenue. You're not a cost, you're a value creation in a business. So that's the key. This podcast is brought to you by the Garden of Your Dreams Masterclass. Are you struggling with finding the right tools and tricks for your garden?
00:22:12
Speaker
Are you lacking the confidence to be a self-sufficient gardener? Do you sometimes get overwhelmed by the lack of knowledge and time you have to actually do gardening? Then the garden of your dreams masterclass is for you. Nice. I love that. I think it's important to stress that out. Like, okay, you could try and find a way like to do something that's good for the environment, maybe yeah inside the company, plant a couple of trees. That's all good, right? yeah But how how are you going to create value for your customers? You asked them, like, yeah mean well what are we doing here? And how can we improve it for you? And how can this become an asset? Like I mentioned before, could you could you give a specific um example, maybe a case study where where you applied that strategy and what the results were?
00:23:02
Speaker
Yeah, look, at its open case study, it was a few years ago, but um with um Australia Post in here, Australia, we're looking for a new data center provider um hosting. And I was working for Fujitsu at the time. And what we had at Fujitsu, we had the first um energy efficiency rate of data center.
00:23:21
Speaker
and we're going out with a portfolio. So we went ahead of the game. um um It took a lot of challenges to get through. It was a large investment, but I managed to sell the business case internally. And what he did was we I helped the Australia Post sales people win the contract hosting for the data centers. And during that process, I was heavily involved in the bid, work with the head of environment at at Australia Post and also the IT people. And that helped win the deal and they became a case study calling that out saying one of the key criteria of our selecting you obviously course
00:23:54
Speaker
you know you did all the data center things right, you got the right security, it all works and stuff, was the environmental aspects and the fact you had this energy efficiency rating which aligned to our corporate ethos and goals of of of that. So that was a significant you know amount of revenue and for the business and that's that's yeah <unk>s there's countless of those sort of examples I've got.
00:24:15
Speaker
I just reminded me also that now these days ah investors are also starting to be more picking on. yeah i know like I know of an ETF that's like sustainability screened yeah and I've seen in the stock market that that has actually been trading way ah higher than all of the other ETFs. So it's it's there's something to say that people that are investing are also like, okay, I want to invest in something, I have the money, but I don't just want to invest it in an oil company or something that is negative for the environment. I want to put my money where where there's going to be a good impact for the environment. yeah Is that something you have experience with or how do you see it?
00:25:02
Speaker
just picked up some work around that specific question and what it is is is the thing of finance the missions so the banking sector is now getting scrutinized by ah okay you have this lending book portfolio during that portfolio what's the emissions of that that you're financing so and And they've got to pivot. They've got to move. So they might be heavily indexed in oil and gas stocks or mining stocks and investments. And they they they will start coming up on ah on the red in some sectors, right? When they do that analysis. So they've got to go, well, we've got to move some of that money towards greener stocks or or you know less finance emissions. So what we're seeing is the questions being asked. And even i worked when I was previous working at Fontero, they got a sustainable finance framework up.
00:25:49
Speaker
as a future insurance policy for um cost of capital. They didn't need any capital, but they might need some of the future, but they didn't want to miss out on green funds or green bonds, which might have low basis points for funding. Similar to any business, if you're a supplier, um the banks will be starting asking questions. I know here in Australia and New Zealand, they are of of you know even medium-sized businesses. um What do you currently do? What's your missions and stuff? Questions are going to start coming up.
00:26:18
Speaker
and um And if you're a business that has that and doesn't have your carbon footprint sorted out or doesn't have a climate roadmap, you might miss out on the opportunity to become part of these other funds or get lower cost of capital or even at some instances might not be getting able to get any capital.
00:26:35
Speaker
and yeah Yeah, so I think that's a huge, that's a really huge important thing to to look out for businesses that are starting out or they're growing and yeah they they're going to need capital at some point. yeah So if you're ahead of the game and you've sorted out
Sustainable Practices in Construction and New Partnerships
00:26:51
Speaker
like from the beginning you've incorporated into your business,
00:26:54
Speaker
you'll be able to attract so much more different investments from different areas. We actually, for example, we're working on a new office building with a huge green roof. yeah I'm designing the whole car the the whole green roof. It's going to be an amazing project and they're starting to build next year.
00:27:14
Speaker
and yeah it was really about like how can we hit all the targets so that the because it's a big building they wanted to interact at different investors and yeah the whole green space was part of that concept so it's completely elite certified yeah um we're gonna like i love this we had we had an external company coming in to actually give ah me some advice on like how can we improved biodiversity even so they said like you you should put up some birdhouses there's some other things like even the plants that you select so I was ah even though ah this is already part of my business ah it was fun to so to work with them and yeah yeah and find more solutions for for that specific case so a building that is an office becomes a a green ah spot and it's just more amazing for for people that are going to work
00:28:04
Speaker
In that environment, even so with my client, we thought, okay, this green environment is becoming like, how do you still want to get people to come to the office? yeah yes It's like people are home office saying they they they have high standards these days, if you still want to get them to come to the office.
00:28:24
Speaker
Now, if you have an amazing green space where you can have meetings outside, where you can have an amazing lunch break, there's birds everywhere, then that's that's a big asset for a company to attract people to come to your office. Yeah, definitely. And so good for well-being.
00:28:40
Speaker
you know, reducing stress and everything else. so yeah yeah so and It's quite innovative. We're actually using and a roof system where we have ah underground, under the green roof, we're creating an artificial ground table with water.
00:28:57
Speaker
So we don't like the water with the capillary force, it'll go ah from the bottom, it'll go up into the soil. So we don't need an irrigation from from the top, which is like a new innovation that's been cool made in in the Netherlands only two years ago.
00:29:14
Speaker
So that also drastically reduces the the water consumption for irrigating. And so it's really cool to see all those innovations coming in. So do yeah are you in the construction industry development space? Is that something you're working at as well? Yeah, I've just had a ah partner joining the business in the next, um next just in and the new year, who comes from 30 years of construction business, head of Sustain Week, one of the largest constructions, and she's just an amazing,
00:29:42
Speaker
And um yeah, looking forward to working with her and learning off her and some of the work she's been doing around um green concrete, biofuels for diesel gen sets and stuff like that.
00:29:57
Speaker
with the green concrete. yeah In the one of the podcast interviews before this one, yeah I interviewed a gentleman from the US who's making biochar, which is bio, have you heard of biochar? Yes, yes, yeah. So you can go and listen to that episode, but he says he wants to, you can actually mix it in concrete and that will like,
00:30:21
Speaker
drastically reduced the carbon footprint of concrete and and it will improve the installation of concrete. So a lot of cool stuff happening there as well. So I'm happy to talk of or or to make an introduction yeah with him as well.
00:30:37
Speaker
So yeah let's let's talk a bit more about the strategy the the future, the strategy of your business. Where where do you see things going and what's what's the main focus for 2025 to 2030? Yeah, yeah no great question. um ah Going from a solo me to an expanded team, we just had a ah launch just last week. where I'm taking on two senior partners and some associates are joining the team in New Year. That's incredible. Congratulations. That's always a key exciting, right? Thank you. Yeah. And we're we're here to really disrupt the way sustainable consulting is delivered and done. I've been testing for the last
00:31:13
Speaker
two years, um the option of the virtual chief sustainability officer, especially for the middle tier market, which doesn't have a sustainability team, but has those pressures we spoke about, maybe with finance or a customer, and sometimes regulatory pressure, and not sure, and I know they need to hire a sustainability person, but not sure how to go about that. So what I've already done with, um I've got three clients I've been working with now, where I've gone in and set up the structure, followed the framework in the book,
00:31:40
Speaker
educated the board and executive, um help them set their first climate target, waste targets, social, set up the governance framework and and and reporting working groups and then help them hire that person and I step back more and I'm coaching that person into the role at their first executive meetings and board meetings and then stay on as that sort of trusted advisor in less capacity but there's always something new coming at them so one client I've just had to help them design their circular economy strategy, or there's a scope three client engagement part they need help with, um working with suppliers or customers. So I'm generally called in as their trusted advisor, but I help set up the BAU part of the sustainability bit and make sure the strategy just gets off on the right foot.
00:32:23
Speaker
what What is BAU? Oh, business as usual. Sorry. Yeah. Okay. So there's certain cadence that you need on reporting and making sure the data comes through and that's that's really good sort of project management of sustainability. What's the strategy set to make sure the execution happens? And then I'm more keeping the the lens out to the next horizon and making sure there's new regulation coming or there's These are sort of the signals as what's happening over in your way in the EU. This might have implications for your industry here. This is what the other competitors are doing. So I'm kind of always scanning ah that sort of second and third horizon of that. I want to keep my clients more prepared.
00:33:00
Speaker
I saw you focusing on on a um the middle-sized businesses.
Circular Economy in Pacific Island Nations
00:33:05
Speaker
Ideally, but I'm still doing tactical support for larger companies as when they need it. But but I do enjoy the mid-sized company because you're talking straight to the owner or the CFO or CEO. You're not in the other layers, which I've sort of found that does create some problems, but it's challenges. But but and you you can get things done generally quicker as well.
00:33:27
Speaker
Yeah, that's it with large corporations and boards and all these things. I had some experience there that it it can be a time. It can be hugely rewarding when you get it right because you you just want to you've moved this message in the right direction. It goes both ways. Nice. So what are you most excited about for your business in the in the next ah again in the next five years?
00:33:51
Speaker
The next five years is um our corner of the world in Australia, New Zealand and Pacific. um It's got some unique challenges, but i look I look forward to building a really nice business, but being able um to help my my heart lies in the Pacific Islands. I'm working with the Tongan government on some things, helping them be adapting with climate change and and actually some of the proceeds of the royalties of the book are going to my projects there, where I'll be working pro bono for them.
00:34:15
Speaker
So in the next five years I really want to make a it's about making an impact I probably only got you know thinking of 10 or 15 really good careerly years left that I really want to make an impact and and make a difference um Yes, I want to provide for my family But I think I've got a 20 plus years of experience that it's time to actually start really shifting the dial and and working with people that want to shift the dial with me So that's exciting. I've got those people on board And then now it's
Challenges in Sustainability Expertise and Training
00:34:42
Speaker
it's working with those clients that want to move fast and get get stuff done. I love that. This token, I think you have well over 10 to 15 years of funny business ahead of you. I want to retire maybe on a beach somewhere, you know write another book maybe. look yes
00:34:59
Speaker
Well, talk a bit more about your passion for for the these islands in the Pacific Tongan and what other groups are there? Oh, yeah. Well, one one of my clients, I could talk about my clients, the Tenoa Hotel Group has hotels in Fiji, Samar and Tonga. And it is probably my favorite client to visit as a destination, of course. um But they have unique challenges, especially in Tonga. Are you surfing?
00:35:24
Speaker
I don't surf, I just scuba dive, so I do like diving. That's probably beautiful wildlife. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Fiji, some ah ah all great diving spots. Amazing. um But yeah, no, not a great surfer. I wouldn't trust myself. I can't get up, but that's about it. I just think every australia is yes ah every Australian is a surfer, but I'm clearly wrong.
00:35:47
Speaker
yeah yeah Yeah, it's um but when ah when ah i'm especially my heart's probably in Tonga more because our last year's COPPA was part of their delegation in Dubai, trying to help them with some strategic advice and then working I've helped design their circular economy plan for the country and trying to get funding for that and working with the local MP who's got the landfill in his constituency and you just see ah you know, the landfills, ah I see it as a mini microcosm of the world because there's no recycling, no infrastructure there to help. Everything just ends up chucked in there and they're running out of space, you know. yeah So it's all the products are there, you know, all the global brands are are in that and just going, man, we've got to do something here. And it's I think it's relatively easy because you have a captured population, small island, and some good regulation, some right investment, you can actually create the world's first circular country. And that's my vision to help them try and do that. So, so yeah, I agree. I think you can do it faster than you imagine. Again, bringing it back to the
00:36:52
Speaker
for the organic waste, these biochar installations are really interesting. I think you should definitely set up a meeting you around that. yeah And then even the plastic, when when plastic waste is yeah is taken care of in the right way, it it becomes a value creation for the population in this case. Germany is a great example for that in in Germany.
00:37:14
Speaker
the plastic bottles that you use they all have a ah value of like 50 euro cents or sometimes a euro so it's quite high and then you have these machines where you get the ven bring them back in yeah so that's working quite well but even if if you don't want to go like very techy there's other solutions to you reuse the the plastics yeah so I think that's a great great idea and and then linked to all of these visions, the goals. What do you see as like the biggest challenges that are going to arise or that are currently arising in your business? Yeah, and in sustainability in general, there's a lack of experienced professionals to do that. so And there's a lot being asked of those that are already there. um So there's a capability gap that we need to quickly fill um and and get experience up.
00:38:07
Speaker
um The other biggest challenge I did allude to before is that companies and sustainable people end up just reporting and not doing. and that's true that's that They spend a lot of money on some expensive report that they can publish yeah and then it just stays there. They need to get it assured and all that stuff. And then what you see in the risk is you've got a sustainability team. There's more things coming at them and they're just getting diluted and and disillusioned with their job and then wound up.
00:38:34
Speaker
like me being burnt out of certain stages of your career and just go on you're done. um So it's kind of making sure that like the good people stay in sustainability and don't get overloaded and companies actually have to realize that you can't just because you've got a small sustainability team you just can't keep piling stuff on them. ah Finance, marketing, HR, operations, all those teams need to step up and that's what I talk about in the book. You need a ah sort of diverse portfolio of sustainability responsibility and projects happening across the business, not just on the shoulders of head of sustainability or environment person or whoever. So that's the the biggest challenge I see is is making sure companies, especially medium to large companies, have the governance structure right and reporting and responsibilities, not just reliant on one small team to do everything. So that's the that's the key.
Building a Legacy Through Sustainability
00:39:26
Speaker
Yeah, and and can you talk a bit more about the the challenge about the the experienced professionals within the industry? yeah What do you see as the big problem? the biggests um There's a lot of, um and I don't want to come across sounding so arrogant, but it probably will, but there's a lot of overnight experts that have just suddenly done one or two projects and and running out now an ESG expert, and they've popped up everywhere. And it's making sure that um They do the right thing and they they actually get some accreditation or spend some right time and and doing things I'm encouraged by Going to conference say in New Zealand. There's only 50 people when I first went to this conference when I went there three months ago year 9 10 of that version that conferences 600 people
00:40:09
Speaker
so that's great that's amazing there's a lot of interest in all that but want to make sure that those people have the right ground and the right um foundations to do things and not just run off and create havoc and so forth so that's why i wonder is why i wrote the book too there's there's a there's certain ways you can do things more effectively and um and do that so and i do really think universities are great but there's a gap in the short courses done delivered well and on the job training, which is what I'm working on with my book. I'm actually launching next year a worksheet and courses. So you actually learn by doing in your organization. So we mentor you.
00:40:51
Speaker
Um, so we don't just consult for you. We actually work with you to do your carbon footprint and you have the tool. So you do it year two, we might review your near two and year three, but we'll keep you abreast of all the new stuff that you've got to make sure you get that right grounding. So teaching people to fish and sustainability, not just giving them food is is as the key, I think.
00:41:14
Speaker
I like that yeah because I think there's a paradigm shift that is happening and it's necessary to keep happening. is like okay Companies are like, okay, we need to do something that about sustainability, social aspects.
00:41:30
Speaker
and Which is which is good. So there's the awareness already and then they're like, okay We're just gonna contact somebody to get it done for us. Yeah, and then it's like again that checklist to put it somewhere Yeah, and it's the last thing like people now in December. They'll be like, oh shit. We still have to like do something. Yes Yeah, so how do we change that so it becomes like in? Yeah part of the day-to-day business. Like, oh yeah, we can do something that's good for the environment because it's going to bring us more customers and we're going to comply to the sort they've got to the policies. We're going to attract more investors. like that That kind of work, I think, is what's the biggest challenges, right?
00:42:08
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Yep. Nice. All right. Well, Lee, I'm very ah excited that you've come onto the show. and I think ah there's something really interesting happening in the world that we can see clearly now how we can actually do good for the environment and turn that into a business asset, into amazing future-proof businesses. I've been in contact with quite a lot and there's several people coming on here on the podcast. So that's exciting.
00:42:38
Speaker
So thank you for coming on here. and Is there anything else that you would like to share before we start wrapping up, maybe an inspiration to people that ah want to start out in the industry? Yeah, one one key question that I talk about in the book and maybe just think, ask yourself this question. And it's a really good one I use in materiality assessments when I talk about, you know, what matters most to your business. And just ask yourself this question, if your business did not exist, you know, would the world, environment or society be better or worse off?
00:43:08
Speaker
So really think about that. Would the world really matter if your business just wasn't there? And the answer to that question, I often greeted with silence, especially when you're asking board members, they just have to be silent or the CEOs. But have a think about that, write down a few things, but in there is some of the answers to some of your strengths, weaknesses and opportunities I generally find out. So yeah, have a think about that.
00:43:30
Speaker
I think that's a great question
Call to Action and Future Engagement
00:43:32
Speaker
because then with that question, you tap into the legacy building that for a lot of entrepreneurs, they've worked a lot, they've done a lot, they want to build a legacy. And with that question, when you get the right answers and you're clearly supporting them to find the right answers to that question, it becomes a project to build a legacy for many generations to come. And that's the true sustainability or even beyond sustainability, in my opinion,
00:44:01
Speaker
Yeah, which is the regenerative approach. So yeah, thank you very much for for explaining that and When people want to reach out to you, they want to they they're in business They want to start working on on the topics we discussed today. How can they best ah reach out to you? Yeah. Yeah, look, um, there's a there's a website my author website is just lee stewart.com.au. So l le e s t e w a r t dot.com.au Corporate websites esg strategy or one word dot.com.au. The book's on Amazon. Feel free to please buy it and give me a review if you like it. um And you're happy to connect and chat with anyone that wants to learn a bit more.
00:44:41
Speaker
All right. Awesome. And you're also on, on social media, mostly LinkedIn or other platforms. Yeah. LinkedIn's the main one. You can get hold of me. yeah just like us linkedin Yeah. Okay. Cool. We'll put all that into the show notes. So thanks again, Lee. ah Thank you for coming on. It was an amazing episode. I hope to get you back in the next five years to talk about ah an update. What's done m sha it's been a pleasure. Thanks so much for having me. Cheers. All right. Bye-bye.