Op-eds, commentary, and perspectives on sustainability and responsible business
Beyond academic research, I regularly contribute to public discourse on sustainability, corporate responsibility, and what I call "aligned capitalism" — the project of creating economic systems where market incentives support rather than undermine long-term value creation and ecological sustainability.
Not long ago, ESG had momentum, institutional alignment, and a growing public presence. But the ground has shifted. ESG is now a target: politicised, polarised, and, in many cases, strategically downplayed. Companies are relabelling or retreating. Regulatory efforts are being contested or diluted. And the leaders once tasked with driving sustainability are encountering growing doubt — from boards, from peers, and even from themselves.
This playbook is for them. It is an interactive self-assessment for sustainability leaders trying to do the work in an increasingly hostile climate — a structured way to evaluate where your organisation stands across 20 critical dimensions, reflect on the strategic questions that matter most, and generate a private diagnostic. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing is collected, stored, or shared.
On the slow erosion of truth infrastructure — the habits, standards, and trusted intermediaries that allow strangers to agree on what is real.
January 2026 IlluminemBusinesses face a fundamental shift from traditional disruption risks to political coercion as the primary corporate threat.
January 2026 FT Sustainable ViewsOn the importance of strategic coherence in an era of increasing fragmentation and competing stakeholder demands.
2025 ESG NewsExamining how systems learn to resist change through sophisticated absorption rather than direct opposition.
2025 ForbesOn the risks of a disorderly climate transition and its implications for financial markets and business strategy.
2025 ESG NewsHow companies can maintain climate commitments despite the growing fragmentation in the sustainability landscape.
2025 ForbesOn capabilities firms possess for sustainable operations that current markets fail to reward.
2025 Project SyndicateMaking the case for redesigning economic systems so that market incentives support sustainable development.
2025 ISSP MagazineOn narrative control and power dynamics in the evolving sustainability discourse.
2025 LinkedInReflections on career transitions and the pursuit of meaningful impact.
2025 Les EchosAnalyzing the structural and political forces behind the sustainability backlash.
2025 ForbesStrategic insights for navigating the growing resistance to sustainability initiatives.
2025 ForbesOn the critical juncture facing financial markets in the climate transition.
2025 ForbesArguing that the fundamental issue is systemic market misalignment, not ESG itself.
November 2024"Aligned capitalism isn't about choosing between profit and purpose. It's about redesigning systems so that doing well and doing good become inseparable."
— Ioannis Ioannou