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Sustainable Nation

Sustainable Nation

Written by: Josh Prigge: CEO of Sustridge Sustainability Consulting
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The Sustainable Nation Podcast delivers interviews with global leaders in sustainability and ESG. Our goal is to provide sustainability and ESG professionals, business leaders, academics, government officials and anyone interested in joining the sustainability revolution, with information and insights from the world's most inspiring change-makers. Earth Sciences Economics Science
Episodes
  • Sustainability's Reset Moment - with Joel Makower

    Sustainability's Reset Moment - with Joel Makower
    Jun 25 2026

    Joel Makower, Chairman and Co-founder of Trellis Group (formerly GreenBiz Group), returns to Sustainable Nation for a wide-ranging conversation on the state of corporate sustainability in 2026. Joel shares findings from Trellis's just-released State of the Sustainability Profession report, digs into why companies are "saying less but doing more," and offers a candid assessment of where the profession is headed. Topics include green hushing, the resilience of sustainability teams, the retreat of CEO engagement, the complexity of net zero targets, and the long-term promise and short-term costs of AI. If you work in sustainability, this is essential listening.

    Topics covered:

    • State of the sustainability profession in 2026 and the Trellis biennial report
    • Why companies are pulling back on sustainability language while continuing the work
    • CEO engagement trends and the impact on sustainability budgets and teams
    • Whether the sustainability professional is becoming irrelevant
    • How the profession is evolving toward finance, legal, and risk alignment
    • The failure modes and complexity behind net zero target revisions
    • AI's paradox: accelerating sustainability solutions while increasing environmental impacts
    • What sustainability professionals need to let go of and fight harder for
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    41 mins
  • Kim Marotta - Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer and Head of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) at Suntory Global Spirits

    Kim Marotta - Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer and Head of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) at Suntory Global Spirits
    Oct 20 2025

    Kim Marotta is the Chief Environmental Sustainability Officer and Head of Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) at Suntory Global Spirits, a global premium spirits leader with iconic brands including Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, and Hibiki. Kim spearheads the company's development and implementation of long-term sustainability initiatives through its Proof Positive strategy, ensuring a comprehensive approach across the entire value chain. Kim also plays a crucial role in integrating risk management into the company's core strategies to drive growth and enhance organizational resilience.

    Before joining Suntory Global Spirits, Kim spent nearly two decades with Molson Coors Beverage Company and its predecessor companies, where she served as Global Senior Director of Sustainability and ERM.

    Kim holds degrees from Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School. After completing law school, she served as The Deputy State Public Defender and an adjunct law professor at Marquette University Law School.

    Kim currently serves on the boards of Maker's Mark Distillery and Marquette University National Alumni Association. Kim also served on the Keurig-Dr. Pepper advisory board and was appointed by the Governor of Wisconsin to the Great Lakes Protection Fund.

    Recognized as a leader in sustainability, Kim has been named among Crain's Notable Leaders in Sustainability, Assent's Top 100 Corporate Social Responsibility Influence Leaders, and Triple Pundit's Top 35 Female CSR Leaders. She is a sought-after speaker and has been featured in media outlets such as Fortune, The Guardian, the Economist, Reuters, Cheddar News, and CNBC. Additionally, she has been an invited lecturer at the University of Chicago, the University of North Carolina, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Marquette University.

    Kim Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:

    • Integration of sustainability and risk management:
    • Suntory Global Spirits' Proof Positive strategy
    • Achieving water reduction goals using employee incentives
    • Suntory's supplier engagement program
    • Scaling regenerative agriculture

    Listen as Kim Marotta shares insights from her two-decade-long career in sustainability, particularly within the alcohol industry, and discusses her unique path from public defense into corporate sustainability leadership. She provides an overview of Suntory Global Spirits' global operations and explains how Japanese cultural values influence the company's holistic and long-term approach to sustainability.

    Kim delves into the development and execution of the company's Proof Positive sustainability strategy, touching on key areas such as water conservation, carbon and energy reductions, sustainable sourcing, and regenerative agriculture. She highlights how Suntory has achieved a 50% reduction in water use per unit and is pushing ambitious climate targets, including engaging suppliers in emissions reductions. Kim also discusses the integration of sustainability and risk management, the importance of tying employee incentives to progress on sustainability goals, and the collaborative, metrics-driven process behind supporting suppliers and farmers in adopting sustainable practices. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the need for cultural commitment, stakeholder engagement, and continual innovation to make meaningful, measurable progress in the industry.
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    28 mins
  • Jim Greffet - Vice President of Sustainability at Eli Lilly and Company

    Jim Greffet - Vice President of Sustainability at Eli Lilly and Company
    Jul 14 2025
    Jim has led ESG efforts at Eli Lilly since September 2020. In this capacity, he oversees implementation of Lilly ESG strategy, has responsibility for coordinating ESG-related communications, and organizing and leading ESG stakeholder interactions. In a significant advancement of Lilly's approach, Jim led the development of Lilly's ESG portal, a comprehensive source for ESG strategy, goals and results. Jim also chairs the ESG Governance Committee at Lilly, which is a central body for development and execution of ESG priorities and communication to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Prior to his current role, Jim spent two years as a loaned executive to Elanco Animal Health, which was spun out of Lilly in an IPO in 2018. Jim served as the Vice President of Investor Relations at Elanco. He was responsible for leading all interactions with Sell-Side Analysts and Buy-Side Investors, including preparation of Earnings materials, participation in Investor Conferences, Non Deal Roadshows and investor visits to Elanco Headquarters. He conducted investor outreach and targeting to build understanding of the Elanco investment thesis. He worked closely with External Communications to provide consistent external dialogue and to prepare Elanco Senior Executives on key topics and messaging on relevant issues. In 2020, Jim was ranked the number one IR leader for mid-cap pharmaceuticals by Institutional Investor. Prior to the role at Elanco, Jim spent 18 years at Lilly, holding numerous positions of increasing responsibility, including an assignment in Corporate Business Development, managing Lilly's Venture Capital portfolio. Jim has also served as the Chief Financial Officer of Lilly Canada, Senior Director of Finance for Lilly Research Laboratories, Manager of Investor Relations, Manager of Treasury Planning and Strategy, Senior Human Resources Representative and Senior Financial Analyst. Prior to joining Lilly, Mr. Greffet was a Consulting Manager for KPMG Consulting in Indianapolis, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri. Jim Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss: Eli Lilly's Approach to ESGLilly's 30 by 30 initiative to improve healthcare for 30 million people by 2030Progress toward goals and targets without the use of carbon offsetsAdvice and recommendations for sustainability professionals Jim's Final Five Questions Responses: What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers? Two words. Be pragmatic. This was a theme that came up in our conversation. There's the lunatic fringe on everything, and certainly in this space, on both ends of the spectrum. Tie your sustainability work to the purpose of your organization, be pragmatic, think in common sense terms, and you'll make a whole lot more progress. What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability? In the short four and a half years, this world has changed a lot. I think when I first came into it, it was sporadic, voluntary reporting by organizations, maybe a little bit of 'accentuate the positive.' It evolved into more rigorous and disciplined financial reporting. Over the last 18 months or so, I think we've seen the heavy hand of regulation start to come about, especially in Europe, which creates a lot more overhead. I think all of us would rather deploy our energy and resources to doing things than reporting about them. So to the exciting part, I now think we're starting to see a little bit more sensibility prevail in some of these regulations, maybe lifting the heavy hand of regulation a little bit so that we can have consistent, rigorous, well constructed reporting that's doable and doesn't take us away from the mission that we have in front of us. I'm optimistic and excited that we're going to land in a spot that's doing the right thing for the right reasons, consuming the right amount of energy. What is one book you'd recommend sustainability professionals read? George Seraphim, Purpose + Profit. He's a Harvard Business professor and he taught, you can see from the name of that book, Purpose plus Profit. It takes this pragmatic view of why sustainability can help you run your business better, not just be a fringe idea that's detached from what the business is supposed to do. What are some of your favorite resources or tools that really help you in your work? I'll give one shout out. Brian Matt with the New York Stock Exchange puts out an email each Friday called the ESG Top five. It's the top five sustainability topics of the week. He commits that it's a two minute read. If you get interested, it's going to be more than a two minute read, but you can certainly get the headlines in two minutes. There's certain emails that I can't delete fast enough. That's one that I open every time and I always learn something out of it. Where can our listeners go to learn more about you and the work being done at Eli Lilly? ...
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    30 mins
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