Podcast
Frankly Speaking - A Podcast on Responsible Business
Hosted by Frank Bold · EN
Frankly Speaking is a double award-winning podcast on responsible business by Frank Bold - discussing the latest political, legal and business developments in the field of ESG, business and human rights and corporate reporting. Host Richard Howitt is a pioneer in the field of corporate disclosure and former Member of the European Parliament. He speaks frankly and personally about what moves policy makers, business and activists to make responsible business the norm and last but not least - redefine business!
24episodes
Episodes
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#97 Matt Orsagh: Is There a Case for Degrowth?
Dec 2900:40:01Tap to summarizeIs infinite economic growth compatible with life on a planet with finite resources? In final episode of Frankly Speaking this year, Richard Howitt was joined by Matt Orsagh, co-founder of the Arketa Institute for Post-Growth Finance and former Senior Director of Capital Markets at the CFA Institute, to confront one of the most controversial questions in sustainability today: is it time to move beyond growth itself? Together they discussed whether conventional sustainability thinking is no longer enough as well as the Arketa Institute’s latest paper By Disaster or Design. You’ll also hear about: Why climate action based on green growth and energy efficiency may actually increase total resource use How Jevons Paradox undermines many well-intentioned sustainability strategies What the planetary boundaries framework reveals about how close we are to ecological breakdown Why decoupling growth from emissions is, in Matt’s view, a mathematical impossibility Matt’s belief that prosperity must be redefined beyond GDP and wealth accumulation What a post-growth, locally-rooted financial system could look like in practice Matt’s perspective on the crucial role of imagination in designing a viable future Listen in and follow us on LinkedIn and Youtube!
Transcribe →#96 Julia Otten & Andreas Rasche: The Definitive Guide to the Final EU Omnibus
Dec 1800:32:25Tap to summarizeThe Omnibus 1 agreement has finally been signed off – but what happens next? In this last episode before the Christmas break, Frank Bold’s Senior Policy Officer Julia Otten and Andreas Rasche, Assistant Dean and Professor of Business in Society at Copenhagen Business School, return to the Frankly Speaking podcast, hosted by Richard Howitt, to give their final verdict on what the Omnibus 1 means for the effectiveness of sustainability legislation in the EU. Together they discussed to what extent the final Omnibus package provides certainty to businesses and broke down the key changes to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD). You’ll also hear more about: How the Omnibus 1 changes may impact businesses in the future – including the risk of facing heavier burdens due to less available information The significance of the Ombuswoman’s finding of malpractice by the European Commission during this Omnibus 1 process, especially for future simplification packages The role of the far-right in pushing through the final Omnibus 1 text, and why companies have an obligation to speak out Whether historians writing on this period may still regard this era of simplification as a step forward, not a step back Julia and Andreas’s advice to companies on what they should do now the final Omnibus 1 package has been concluded Listen in and follow us on LinkedIn and Youtube!
Transcribe →#95 Abrial Gilbert-d'Halluin & Michael Mehling: What the EU-US Trade Deal Means for Global Corporate Accountability
Dec 1000:49:09Tap to summarizeAgainst the backdrop of the final Omnibus agreement emerging from trilogues, what will continued US political and corporate pressure mean for the future of EU environmental and human rights due diligence legislation? In this episode of the Frankly Speaking podcast, Richard Howitt was joined by Abrial Gilbert-d'Halluin, Policy Advisor for MEP Raden Kanev and original parliamentary sherpa for the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and Professor Michael Mehling, Deputy Director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Policy Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Together they discussed the principle of extraterritoriality in the EU’s CSDDD legislation, and why it’s seen such unprecedented pushback from both politicians and businesses in the United States lobbying against the directive. You’ll also hear more about: Why the CSDDD’s extra-territorial reach is so important in limiting environmental and human rights abuses across global value chains The US perspective on EU sustainability and due diligence rules, and why both sides of the American political spectrum take issue with external corporate regulation (including the Clinton administration back in the 1990s) How the US is responding to the EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), including the showdown between the ‘Brussels vs Trump effect’ The crucial role of sovereignty in discussions on external regulation The vague wording of the EU-US trade deal on the CSDDD, and what it means for the effectiveness of the directive’s extraterritoriality principle How US corporates are doing on environmental and human rights due diligence What makes Michael and Abrial optimistic for the future of corporate accountability globally Listen in and follow us on LinkedIn and Youtube!
Transcribe →#21 Beate Sjåfjell: Is shareholder primacy consistent with sustainability?
Apr 12, 2023Tap to summarizeFrankly Speaking welcomes Professor Beate Sjåfjell, who publishes extensively on corporate governance and the integration of sustainability in the role of the company boards, to talk about company law. Beate heads the research group on Sustainability Law at the University of Oslo, is a member of the European Commission’s Informal Group of Company Law Experts and founded an international network of women business scholars Daughters of Themis: International Network of Women Business Scholars. Listen in to a conversation about: Shareholder value versus shareholder primacy Fiduciary duties Corporate governance frameworks around Europe and the Anglo-Saxon traditions Why not to replace shareholder primacy with stakeholder primacy Sustainable value creation as an emerging concept How to take planetary boundaries into account in decision making Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and its implications for boards and liability Gender as a agent of change for business Listen in and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn!
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