In the third episode of Leaders Unplugged IMD President David Bach sits down with sustainability leaders Geraldine Matchett, global board member at Nestlé, ABB, and SwissRe, and Chair of the steering committee of the influential Greenhouse Gas Protocol, and 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 DeCew and claims that sustainability roles have to shift from reporting to investing, while Geraldine Matchett 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 Matchett 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.

Leaders Unplugged features real talk with the impactful. Candid, honest, actionable, and fresh from behind the scenes. It is presented by IMD in collaboration with Remote Daily.