Net zero sounds simple in press releases, but within real organisations, it becomes far more complex.

Reporting cycles absorb time, voluntary targets lose momentum, and teams often end up counting carbon instead of cutting it.

In this episode of Quick Cuts, Ben Muwoki sits down with Joel Cesare, who has lived net zero from almost every angle. He helped deliver Santa Monica’s net zero ordinance, led sustainability at Skanska, and ran Google’s Absolute Zero program before joining the executive team at Cambio.

Joel shares a candid, grounded view on why net zero often breaks down in the messy middle between ambition and delivery, and why real progress depends on focusing on the operational decisions you can control. Most conversations about net zero focus on targets, frameworks, and reporting. Joel focuses on what actually gets built.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why voluntary net-zero targets struggle once they meet organisational reality
• How the reporting season has overtaken action and slowed decarbonisation
• Why teams should prioritise the emissions they directly influence
• The cost of chasing offsets instead of investing in local outcomes
• What cities can do that genuinely improves resilience, affordability, and public health
• Why language matters and why “climate” may not be the most effective frame for progress
• How AI is uncovering energy reductions hiding in plain sight across commercial real estate

About Joel Cesare

Joel is a sustainability leader with two decades of experience across city government, construction, and big tech real estate. He helped push forward Santa Monica’s net-zero building ordinance, led sustainability at Skanska, and ran Google’s portfolio-wide Absolute Zero program. He now sits on the executive team at Cambio, helping organisations identify energy efficiency projects using AI. Joel also hosts the podcast Less Talk More Action.

Watch this if you are:

• A sustainability or ESG leader navigating net-zero delivery
• A real estate or facilities executive trying to translate targets into action
• A policymaker interested in the gap between regulation and implementation
• A climate tech or energy professional working on practical decarbonisation solutions
• Anyone who feels net zero has become more complicated than it needs to be

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