Episode 3 – A Fireside Chat with Paul Polman

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused countless challenges on a global scale. At the same time, it has brought the sustainability and climate change conversation right to the fore – for individuals, businesses and governments alike. What progress have we made so far? And most importantly, what lies ahead?

For this third installment, Mike is joined by the author of “Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive” and ex-Unilever CEO Paul Polman for a frank conversation about our collective responsibility, as businesses and consumers. They discuss the state of the sustainability agenda in the corporate world, expectations for COP26 in November, and the need for new leadership, one that is fit to tackle the climate crisis with empathy and courage in a post-Covid world.

Mike Barry,

ex Head of Sustainability at M&S

Mike Barry is a change agent, committed to helping businesses big and small, new and established to prepare for and succeed in the great sustainability disruption that will wash through the economy in the 2020s. Mike was until 2019 Director of Sustainable Business at Marks & Spencer, spearheading its ground-breaking Plan A sustainability programme.

Paul Polman,

Founder & CEO at IMAGINE

Paul Polman is Co-founder & Chair of IMAGINE, an activist corporation and foundation that promotes implementation of the global goals through transformational leadership. A leading proponent that business can – and should – be a force for good, he has been described by the Financial Times as “a standout CEO of the past decade”, whose role in helping to redefine the relationship between business and society has been “path-breaking”.