Today's guest is Mindy Lubber, CEO and President of Ceres.

She's been at Ceres’ helm since 2003 and, under her leadership, the organization and its powerful network have grown significantly in size and influence. I've had a couple of other Ceres people on the show: Alicia Seiger, who's on the board, and Barney Schauble, the Chair of the board. Both of them have raved to me about the work that Mindy and the organization does. I was also excited for this episode because Mindy is very plugged in with the sustainability movement as well as with what is on the minds of the companies and institutional investors, who are instrumental in this transition. Enjoy the show! 

You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

In today’s episode, we cover:

• What is Ceres and its mission
• How it works with capital markets and companies to integrate climate risks into their planning
• The role of Ceres as an advocacy organization and relationship with companies
• The genesis of Ceres and how it came into being
• Ceres’ 30-year history since the Exxon Valdez oil spill
• Mindy’s multi-disciplinary legacy working in climate change advocacy
• The necessity to re-align major corporations toward the goals of the Paris Accord
• How change and impact requires a multi-faceted strategy and effort
• How the problem of climate change has evolved since Mindy first started her career
• Why changing the public policy framework around setting climate rules is critical
• Important political levers for enacting change
• What motivates companies to address climate change and sustainability
• How Ceres selects companies to engage with
• The types of changes and policies Ceres strives to implement with its corporate partners
• The distinction between “sustainability” and “climate”
• The role of a sustainable leader within a corporation
• What are the biggest barriers to change for companies to date
• How companies report and measure their sustainability initiatives
• Mindy’s perspective on the long-term implications of COVID-19 on climate change
• The need for more attention on climate change as it relates to the developing world
• Opportunities for individuals who want to take action on climate change

Links to topics discussed in this episode:

• Ceres: https://www.ceres.org/
• Exxon Valdez Oil Spill: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill
• Global Reporting Initiative: https://www.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx
• Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): https://www.sasb.org/
• We Mean Business: https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant