𝘾𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝 ...

Or, 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀?

Check out episode #69 of Climate+ Podcast with lifecycle analysis expert guest John Beath of John Beath Environmental, LLC!

Highlights include ...

+ 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙄𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙇𝙤𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

Lifecycle analysis often reveals counterintuitive results, with the biggest environmental impacts frequently occuring upstream in raw material extraction and processing, downstream in consumer use patterns, and in unexpected places like transportation or packaging.

+ 𝙏𝙝𝙚 "𝙐𝙨𝙚 𝙋𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙚" 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

The toothbrush example perfectly illustrates this inquiry: the impact isn't primarily in manufacturing the toothbrush — it's in the hot water consumers use while brushing. In fact, the "use phase" often dominates total lifecycle impact, so we need to think beyond the factory gate.

life cycle analysis, sustainability, circular economy, environmental impact, supply chain emissions, carbon footprint, recycling, human behavior, energy efficiency, consulting

𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙡𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙜𝙮 𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙚?

Check out this great new episode of Climate+ Podcast with Lane Jost, head of sustainability and governance advisory at public relations giant Edelman Smithfield!

+ the evolution of sustainability language and concepts and how the terminology and approach has shifted over time

+ the political challenges facing sustainability, - including "green hushing" where companies are doing legitimate sustainability work but are reluctant to talk about it publicly due to potential political backlash

+ the disconnect between sustainability reporting and business reality

+ connecting sustainability to core business strategy and unique company circumstances like investors, geographies, supply chains, growth ambitions.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗔𝗜-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 '𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿' 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗲𝗿𝗮?

For my guest Lukas N.P. Egger at SAP Signavio, AI represents a fundamentally different type of transformation where being a fast follower—a strategy that worked well in previous technological shifts like cloud and mobile—may no longer be effective. Here's why:

1. 𝙋𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜: Incumbents could afford to let the market shake out, identify winners, then use their financial resources to quickly adopt proven technologies.

2. 𝘼𝙄 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙪𝙡𝙚𝙨: The technology is highly democratized (anyone can access it for free), evolves at unprecedented speed, and requires deep organizational change rather than just technology implementation. Those who wait risk falling too far behind to catch up.

3. 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙛𝙩: Organizations need to start experimenting now, develop AI literacy across their workforce, and fundamentally rethink how they operate—not just bolt AI onto existing processes.

This 67th episode of Climate+ Podcast challenges conventional wisdom about technology adoption strategy, arguing that AI demands a more proactive, experimental, and transformative approach than previous innovations.