Darshita Gillies - Is sustainability just about saving the trees?

The Future Talent Learning Podcast

Access the podcast transcript here.

Is sustainability just about saving trees? What do we even mean by ‘sustainability’? And what can you do to make your organisation more sustainable from the ground up?

To answer these questions, Ross G and Ross D are joined by Darshita Gillies, the CEO of Maanch: an impact-platform for philanthropy, impact investors and corporates, that helps those stakeholders re-allocate capital and resources towards achieving the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. Darshita is also a director of Blu Dot Advisory, and regularly appears in the press, talking about impact investing and sustainability.

We discuss:

• How organisations can think holistically about sustainability
• The relationship between environmental sustainability and social impact
• How to overcome decision-making paralysis, when it feels like nothing we do matters.

Episode Timestamps

• Introduction – 00:00-01:16
• Defining Sustainability and Its Application - 01:16-03:30
• Environmental Impact of Technology and Digital Services - 03:30-10:20
• Business Strategies and Responsibilities for Sustainability - 10:20-19:23
• Challenges and Solutions in Addressing Sustainability Issues - 19:23-24:26
• Industry Collaboration and Collective Action for Sustainability - 24:26-30:25
• Wrap up – 30:25-31:53
• One thing I learned this week – 31:53-37:20

Additional Information

You can find out more about Darshita at: https://www.darshitagillies.com/

You can find out more about Maanch at: https://maanch.com/

The ‘mosquito net’ problem that Ross G referenced was covered in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/25/world/africa/mosquito-nets-for-malaria-spawn-new-epidemic-overfishing.html

In ‘One Thing I Learned This Week’, Ross D shared that he’d been using Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees: https://www.ecosia.org/

Ross G discussed the actor Tom Mix: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Mix

Bonus learning on the gunfight at the O.K. Corral: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfight_at_the_O.K._Corral