All Things Environmental Sustainability

Category: All Things Susty

  • On a nature walk to Belgium

    On a nature walk to Belgium

    The year just started, but everything seems to be moving so quickly. Many of us are looking forward to moments of serenity to reconnect with ourselves and quiet the everyday noise. For me, this moment was a few weeks ago when I took a 7-hour round-trip walk from the Netherlands to Belgium.

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    If you have ever been to (or lived in)  the Netherlands, you know that hiking in its truest form is not necessarily… possible. Luckily, there are many exciting paths that a walker can take. One of these walking paths is the 8km Smokkelroute (smuggling route), which was used to smuggle, among other things, butter. Lol, I know, butter probably isn’t the first thing that pops into mind when someone says the word “smuggle”. But apparently, in the nineteenth century there was the implementation of high taxes in the netherlands; where in belgium the taxes weren’t as high. the Smokkelroute was used to transport goods illegally across the border. And while I can write so much about the fascinating historical background of the route, today’s blog is more about mindfulness and how that relates to sustainability.

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    I was quite pumped for the walk, and when I arrived at the starting point, I challenged myself to be as “in-the-moment” as possible. This challenge manifested itself in my own version of a 5-senses game, or rather four senses; spoiler alert, unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything edible along the way. Nevertheless, I could appreciate nature’s beauty and processes.

    Some pictures I took on the walk. In picture 3, I spy with my little eye an Alien. Do you also see it?

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    What I Saw

    I saw So many colours, so many textures and a snippet of the transition from winter to spring. While some trees were still brown and barren, others were coming back to life. This is an enigmatic transition, a simple, natural process that also reminded me of the need to shed to uncover beauty once again.

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    What I Smelled

    I smelled Sweet-smelling flowers, wet grass and a whole lot of dung. I am not sure what I was expecting to smell, but I am somewhat surprised…? Luckily, I love the smell of wet grass. The weather was sunny and rainy at different moments throughout the walk, intensifying the smell of the grass. If I could describe it, it was the smell of earth, but with a natural sweetener. Quite the contrast  to all the horse dung. It was definitely nature’s perfume and a unique experience for my sense of smell.

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    What I Heard

    I heard The birds and the trees were having a party. As the wind blew, the trees were dancing, the birds chirping; it was a sound that I could easily fall asleep to. Nature’s party unearthed a certain sense of peace that amplified the sounds I heard. It felt like the elements of nature were having a conversation, and what I would do to hear all the juicy details.

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    What I Touched (Felt)

    I touched Different trees with various textures, and that within itself was a grounding experience. When observing the trees I wondered what their insides look like during this seasonal transition. Overall, the experience was considerably less physically demanding than I thought, because for most of the time I felt calm and at peace.

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    The bit about sustainability​

    But here’s the bit about sustainability. This walk made me question whether I have an instrumental relationship with nature. I have always thought of myself as more of an intrinsic nature lover, valuing it just because. What I realised immediately, after and in the days following this walk, is how much better I feel being in nature. In some way, I started to reflect on that feeling being the reason why I constantly want to be in nature. Now I wonder whether valuing nature intrinsically is a fallacy, because I find myself in a chicken-and-egg situation. Do I love being in nature because it brings me peace, or am I in peace because I am in nature?

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    In any case, it’s the million-dollar question I don’t necessarily want an answer to, but am glad I thought about, because it makes me reconsider my position on instrumental values related to nature.

  • Transparency does not mean Progress

    The road from transparency to transformation, photo generated by AI.

    More than ever before, environment, social, and governance (ESG) considerations are increasingly at the forefront of all our decisions. As we continue to live through the ever-growing effects of climate change, the importance of having conversations about sustainability continues to grow. We have access to all sorts of information, particularly about all of the products we consume. 

    Businesses and organisations voluntarily or mandatorily publish sustainability reports, and governments worldwide are introducing various policies across sectors. All of these initiatives emphasise the importance of transparency as we build the proverbial plane that leads us to a “greener” future for all. Still, when we look at our progress to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, although global emissions have shown signs of decrease, we are not on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to this article published on the European Union (EU) Commission’s website, even the world’s largest economies, on their current trajectory, won’t achieve Paris Agreement goals. 

    So, if sustainability is trending and policies are increasingly pushing decision-making towards a greener pathway, why are we not further along? Are we actually (re)solving the sustainability problems, or are we simply improving the documentation process?

    Fully immersed in the world of sustainability myself, I often wonder whether transparency is a magician’s misdirection, and whether I have taken more of a passive role, thereby perpetuating the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario.

    Ambitious Sustainability Policies

    The EU is actively creating a system that embeds sustainable thinking in business decisions. Since the late 20th century, and especially over the last 15 years, some of the most ambitious sustainability policies and frameworks have been introduced in the EU sustainability policy landscape. The most noteworthy of the climate policy rollouts was the launch of the EU Green Deal in 2019. Through this package, the EU has pioneered ESG topics so that they are not just a nice-to-have but a crucial part of economic decision-making for EU society and beyond.

    Today, the EU embraces both market incentives and regulation to address the climate crisis. this approach reflects a valuable lesson learned during the Kyoto Protocol negotiations in 1997: regulation and market initiatives mutually reinforce one another. At the time, the United States (US) was advocating for market-based instruments, while the EU was opposed, arguing that regulation was the adequate pathway. Needless to say, the EU adopted elements of the US perspective and later introduced (2005) the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). Not only has this dual approach directly and indirectly targeted the problem of emissions, but it has also simultaneously increased awareness and transparency across the three dimensions of sustainability.

    Knowledge is Powerful

    Although at first glance, the influx and constant evolution of sustainability policy can seem somewhat chaotic and overwhelming, there are many benefits. For one, these policies have brought much attention to sustainability topics. Transforming sustainability from philanthropic marketing to responsibility and accountability.

    In the past, sustainability, especially in business, was an opportunity for companies to be competitive, highlighting in their annual reports the philanthropic deeds performed during the fiscal year. Although competition is still a key driving force, policy and subsequent regulations have led to a shift in practices. These days, the best practice is to consider the influential impacts on and from nature and disclose this information publicly. Transparency has empowered individuals by redistributing access to information from only shareholders, investors, and companies to all stakeholders.

    Through transparency, we can make informed decisions about topics that we didn’t feel connected to simply because the data is there, published in your favorite (EU or EU-related) company’s sustainability report. Safe to say, sustainability is becoming mainstream, so our goals will be achieved… right?

    Roadblocks to Change

    Not right. I would be remiss if I didn’t discuss the roadblocks that threaten tangible outcomes. First is the complexity of environmental governance. Too many changes in the policy development process, undoubtedly influenced by power dynamics, can lead to uncertainty and confusion for practitioners. Constant revisions and watering down of policies, for example, the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and its simplification through the OMNIBUS package have led to drastic changes in the scope of reporting companies and requirements; actions that inadvertently decelerate transformative change, and perpetuate the status quo.

    Then there is the inevitable “data park”. Since the sustainability landscape is rapidly evolving, there is an influx of regulations and, to comply, companies are coordinating massive administrative overhauls across their entire value and supply chains. But just because there is more data or access to it, doesn’t mean that there are more results. All transparency does is uncover what is working and what needs to be improved. True transformation requires action, not just information.

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    Finally, the biggest systemic issue: the lack of profitability. Many sustainable alternatives are not “profitable,” leading to so many technologies never making it to the market. The result? Companies may be prioritising minimum compliance; sharing their progress on holistic ESG matters, but with delayed results and inequity across environmental topics. While it is easier to include human rights policies in your business and ensure that your workers are in a safe and healthy working environment, investment in alternative technologies is not so simple especially when you are uncertain whether they will be upscaled. And so, we are at a gridlock, with increasing information about the climate crisis but few results because at every turn there is a roadblock that keeps business as usual locked in.

    What I’m learning as I go deeper into the “thick of it.”

    Working and studying in the field of sustainability, I fear, I have experienced and, in some ways, contributed to these processes. But here is what I have learned: transparency is important but not enough. If we want to see actionable outcomes, these ambitious policy frameworks must be accompanied by systems, technologies, and initiatives that drive measurable results not only for social and governance topics but also for environmental challenges. If not, we bear the risk of being excellent at creating informative reports hundreds of pages long, while losing sight of the actual end goal: driving transformative change.

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  • Sayonara 2025

    Sayonara 2025

    Today is the last day of 2025, and I was today-years-old when I learned that it is common for the year to end on the same day it started. This seems like such a full-circle discovery as I reflect on one of the biggest lessons I learned this year, travelling through my memory archives from the first Wednesday of 2025 to the last.  

    My Eureka Moment

    A little over a year ago, I decided to start a Master’s programme in sustainability. At the time, I considered my options and felt that Leiden University’s Governance of Sustainability programme was the right fit. My train of thought was that, until that point, I had experienced sustainability from all the important angles. I had performed applied research, worked in the corporate environment and had some experience from the standard-setter perspective. However, even after these professional experiences, I still felt like something was missing to bridge the gap between the theory of achieving sustainability outcomes and practice. After completing half of my first semester in this new study, I am not only overwhelmed by the additional complexity as we flow between theory and practice, but I also had my Eureka moment! The status quo involves solving sustainability problems by relying on the same economic frameworks (and tools) that create(d) them.

    ​Biggest Lesson Learned

    For months, I had an internal battle because, simply put, I felt like a hypocrite. I was someone who despised a system that I, too, reaped the benefits from. After all, I have the privilege of following this master’s course. Ironically, now sitting in lectures where I again felt like a minority, unearthed an inexplicable discomfort. It suddenly dawned on me that before this programme, I was in a bubble.

    You know the one. Yes, the bubble where you are constantly surrounded by like-minded individuals, where you never think about whether there are menu options for vegans or vegetarians when you say yes to going out. The bubble where you respect others’ opposing views while staying true to your beliefs. The bubble where most people value and feel responsible for their environment, regardless of the origin of this motivation. Now, I felt like I was swimming against the current. Constantly feeling the need to advocate for environmental initiatives because a lot of what I was hearing was about their limitations: limitations that exist largely because the boundaries are framed through an economic lens. The same economic lens that results in inequity and is deeply rooted in capitalism.

    Make the system work for you

    Imagine my surprise when I learned that this is a brushed-over topic of conversation. That we study wicked problems by applying economic terms, ideas and frameworks, but never thoroughly discuss or analyse how they perpetuate these problems. In a moment of absolute frustration, I turned to my community. I spent 1.5 hours on the phone with my friends about this revelation. At the end of the conversation, they told me two things. First, I need to learn how to make the system work for me. Second, this feeling of resistance is exactly what I need to develop my toolbox for the “real” world. My first instinct was to repel these ideas. Why torture myself when I can just find another bubble? But here’s the thing: if I were to do that, I am not certain that it would make a difference. Sure, I would be in my comfort zone. Probably, working on initiatives that could potentially make a difference, but what does it matter if the status quo remains?

    Although I don’t yet know what it looks like, to make the system work for me, I have decided to study it more intently. To understand the history of this system and how it connects to the sustainability issues faced today.​ In my spare time, I have been reading different scientific articles, for example, this paper about the connection between colonialism and capitalism.

    Sayonara 2025

    Having reflected on this, I have decided to take my friends’ advice and fight the good fight. However, as I say Sayonara to 2025, I realise that there are three things I should always remember.

    • One: I cannot change the world, nor am I solely responsible for it.
    • Two: Reflecting on my position is important.
    • And three: Making the system work for me and acknowledging that the system is problematic are not mutually exclusive.

    As I close, I invite you to  reflect on your year and the accompanying learnings. For those of you who resonated with the feelings expressed in this blog, I hope that it offers some encouragement as we continue to strive for a better environment. All the best for 2026!