Episode 3: David Bach with Stuart DeCew and Geraldine Matchett

Leaders Unplugged

Welcome to the third episode of Leaders Unplugged, presented by IMD, and hosted by IMD's president David Bach, together with Remote Daily's founder Felix Zeltner.

Leaders Unplugged is real talk with the impactful – candid, honest, and fresh from behind the scenes.

Today, we take you behind the scenes of a recent gathering led by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development together with IMD, where David sat down with two sustainability experts and leaders:

• Geraldine Matchett, global board member at Nestlé, ABB, and SwissRe, and Chair of the steering committee of the influential Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
• Stuart DeCew, Executive Director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and Lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment.

Together, they explore why transformation and sustainability are inseparable.

“You don't make the climate case with compliance — you make it with innovation", says Stuart and claims that sustainability roles have to shift from reporting to investing, while Geraldine takes it a step further:

“If you're truly going to lead transformation, you can't do it with an inside view of your company. You need to be much more outward-focused. Sustainability is an essential part of your license to operate.”

They unpack the rise of “quiet activists", organizations that stay on course on sustainability while deliberately flying under the radar, making hard choices about what matters most. As Geraldine puts it: ”We officially say this matters a bit less”.

And the conversation goes beyond challenges to highlight the immense opportunities in the sustainability space — from unlocking innovation to attracting and retaining top talent.

Tune in for a fast-paced, thought-provoking journey into why sustainability isn’t a side topic any more — it’s the strategy.

Enjoy listening to this new biweekly series and other IMD podcasts here: https://www.imd.org/ibyimd/podcasts/

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