Two Steps Forward — Sustainability Meets Business Reality

In this episode, we talked about Solitaire's remarkable new novel — but the most useful part of the conversation wasn’t about the book’s alternative Roman Empire or its sword-wielding heroine. It was about what writing fiction taught her about what makes any story actually work.

Solitaire’s biggest takeaway is deceptively simple: Stories are not about issues, they are about people. Not systems, trends, frameworks or even impacts.

People.

That sounds obvious, until you look closely at most sustainability communications. We routinely aspire to tell stories when we’re actually merely presenting information: emissions trajectories, regulatory developments, technology roadmaps, ESG metrics.

All are important. Most are necessary. And little of it, on its own, is storytelling.

In the first episode of our Two Steps Forward podcast for 2026, we reflect on the evolution of sustainability journalism. The occasion: Marking 25 years of covering sustainable business on Trellis.net (née GreenBiz.com).

As sustainability has evolved, so too has the field of journalism. In the early days, sustainability was largely about environmental engineering — reducing waste or saving energy. Today, the issues are broader and more complex: climate justice, social equity, biodiversity and other topics.

The challenge for journalists is translating these complex topics into something understandable and meaningful for the public. The growing use of insider speak — terms like “double materality” — has only added to the confusion.

One big question for 2026: Can sustainability drive affordability?

What does it mean to be a corporate sustainability thought leader these days?

In this episode Joel Makower and Solitaire Townsend delve into that question, confronting a paradox at the heart of corporate sustainability: At the very moment when business needs to step up and help shape the sustainability agenda, most companies have lost their nerve to talk about it.

In an era of climate disruption, institutional distrust and political polarization, silence isn’t neutral. It’s risky.

The sustainability landscape is littered with bold claims, ambitious targets and a widening gap between rhetoric and reality. Against that backdrop, Siemens AG presents a case worth examining — not because it declares itself a climate leader, but because it treats the climate transition as an operating constraint rather than a branding opportunity.

Eva Riesenhuber, Siemens’ Global Head of Sustainability, is explicit about the forces shaping the moment. “We are in the middle of two transitions,” she told us — the energy transition and the emerging circularity transition — and “the business case for sustainability is very healthy.”

That’s a confident assertion, but it raises a question: Is Siemens ahead of the curve, or simply well positioned to adapt to a world whose regulations and market forces increasingly leave companies little choice?

What's going on at COP30? You wouldn't know much by reading the mainstream media, other than the relatively mild protests and the usual infrastructure problems nearly all COPs face. But what should companies know about the substance of the event?
In this episode of our Two Steps Forward podcast, we take stock — Soli from inside the Blue Zone at COP30 in sweltering Belém, Brazil, and Joel comfortably ensconced at home.
What emerges is a candid dispatch from inside one of the hottest and most complex COPs yet.