Firstly, can you share with us a bit about your career history and the work you do at Nation Partners as Founder and Director?
I grew up in Tasmania and the environment has always been important to me. I studied environmental science and was lucky enough to spend time in China as part of my last University subject and travelled with someone who gave me my first job in environmental consulting. I spent some time in the UK working for a sustainability research centre and then kicked off a contaminated land career when I returned to Australia.
My curiosity for better understanding our environment and how we can protect the planet, led to founding Nation Partners in 2013; a certified B-Corporation and purpose-driven business. We direct 4% of our profits towards climate action and we have been pioneering innovative ways of working that remove traditional hierarchy and empower staff to play a greater role in business decisions. I love exploring new ways of doing things and working out how business can play a meaningful role in shifting to a more sustainable economic model.
In your experience, how are the most successful businesses adapting to the increasing environmental/contamination pressures linked to ESG?
Business can be a force for good that goes way beyond ESG principles and commitments. We are seeing a shift in the nature of business as we move from shareholder to stakeholder value, where the planet and nature are seen to be core stakeholders. Business can play a practical role in climate leadership and there are many emerging market forces that are supporting this. We are seeing major brands go way beyond compliance and meeting ESG requirements, to redesigning their supply chains and considering whole of life cycles to develop cleaner and more ethical products and services. I think business is starting to see this as a responsibility and consumers are wanting ever higher levels of transparency around climate, nature and ethical practices.
Given the four key practice areas listed on your LinkedIn for Nation Partners focuses on—Viable Infrastructure, Preserving Environments, Sustainable Development, and Engaged Communities—What do you consider the biggest challenges society is currently facing in these areas? How does your team approach these challenges to create meaningful, long-term solutions that align with both societal needs and environmental responsibility?
Our services initially developed out of seeing the need for more work to be done that balance economic, environmental and social factors and acknowledging that we are often more influenced by economics than good social or environmental outcomes. Many of the greatest challenges facing us today such as climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss and water scarcity need deep technical expertise balanced with social and economic capabilities to find new solutions to these complex problems. We are seeing more and more opportunities where clients need to bring together a mix of our technical skills to develop strategies that better support our changing world. Interestingly, our team seem to be happiest when they are working on projects that allow them to work with colleagues across different technical disciplines.
Given the rapid evolution of ESG regulations and pressures, where do you see ESG heading in the next 5 to 10 years? How can businesses stay ahead of the curve?
ESG regulations are evolving quickly, but like climate action, I can see business moving ahead of regulation and compliance and choosing to meet ever higher standards. Think the market will drive this and we will see more and more emphasis being placed on “green” and ethical credentials. B Corporation has led the pack in terms of building momentum for business to take a greater role in leading the change to higher social and environmental standards, and I suspect that this will become “business as usual”. Being carbon neutral is the same. It is just expected now. For business to stay ahead of the curve, you need to look at how you can best embrace nature positive practices and outcomes.
To close, if you could leave our readers with one key message today, what would that message be?
I think we are all becoming much more aware of how individually we can all better care for the planet and how we can leave things a little less broken for future generations. We all do so much great work to rehabilitate and repair sites and preserve natural ecosystems. It’s good to remember that the work we do is purposeful and impactful. The more we can do to influence business to go beyond ESG regulations; the better the world will be for us all.
