Water is essential for healthy ecosystems, socio-economic development, social well-being, and for human survival itself. In recognition of World Water Day on 22 March, Will Sarni, Founder & CEO at Water Foundry and Founder & General Partner at the Colorado River Basin Fund, looks at the ways in which water management and regulatory compliance alone are no longer a viable corporate water strategy. There is now a pressing need to address “outside the fence line” water issues such as scarcity, poor quality, inequity in access to safe drinking water, and the impacts of climate change. While regulatory compliance for water and associated management practices are the cornerstone of a corporate water strategy, they do not deliver the full value to corporations, communities, and other stakeholders. There is an opportunity to do more. And we must capitalize on it now.

With the launch of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), sustainability reporting will move from NGOs and done on a voluntary basis to securities regulators and done on a mandated basis. What will this mean for a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)? Robert G. Eccles, PhD, Visiting Professor of Management Practice at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, forewarns that CSOs could become more marginalized, less relevant to the strategic and capital allocation decisions of the company where they work. Or it could make them more central to their company's strategic decision-making. It all depends on how the CSO handles the situation and their relationship with the CFO.

The wake of COP26 left bitter disappointment. As we enter the third year of this decisive decade, what will get us to the Net-Zero Standard of cutting GHG emissions 50% by 2030 and 100% by 2050? For Bob Willard, PhD, SEP, Chief Sustainability Champion & Founder at Sustainability Advantage and ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Honoree, Glasgow made clear: it's up to us. We can't rely on national governments to fix climate change. We need to unleash market forces and make fossil fuel energy unnecessary, unwanted. How do we do that? He advises following the money and influencing the influencers.

As we observe the breadth of UN observances this October, from World Habitat Day to World Migratory Bird Day to United Nations Day, Denise DeLuca, Director, MA in Sustainable Design, MCAD and President of the ISSP Governing Board, describes how biomimicry inspires functional strategies, processes, and systems to create sustainable design solutions to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

In the context of the International Day of Peace on 21 September, Allen Hershkowitz, PhD, Founding Director & Chairman at Sport and Sustainability International and Environmental Science Advisor for the New York Yankees, takes a look at SDG16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions. Dr. Hershkowitz brings insight to the critical role of leadership in shaping organizational culture and operations to advance the sustainability imperative and the SDGs' aspiration for peace, justice, and equity.

The Covid-19 crisis has illustrated the insufficient resilience of our societies. Reflecting upon the UN's High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which took place 6-15 July 2021, Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations, calls on governments and civil society to work in a multilateral spirit towards the realization of the 2030 Agenda.

As the United Nations launches the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, Fabian Sack, Director of Sustainably Pty Ltd and ISSP Governing Board Member, reflects on why this super year for nature gives some hope that coordinated national and international policy leadership may be possible.

While rooted in providing hunger relief, the work of food banks does not stop at SDG 2. From women empowerment to climate action, The Global FoodBanking Network’s President and CEO, Lisa Moon, discusses how food banks are a vital partner in advancing regional development and the SDGs more broadly.

Across its 30-year history tackling community poverty, the Harlem Children's Zone has addressed “the fire, not the smoke” of interconnected, systemic social change. CEO Kwame Owusu-Kesse shares how.

What would happen if we put the same level of effort and resources into overcoming all global challenges that we have for the COVID-19 virus? Martin Rich, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Future-Fit Foundation, calls for a radical transformation in business—highlighting several companies working to become "future-fit" today.

In a world facing existential challenges, Marsha Willard, SEP, Co-founder & Governing Board Member of ISSP, tells why no other profession is as uniquely qualified to advance the knowledge, the skills, and the direction needed as the field of sustainability.

Lawyers help clients navigate their way through a thicket of complex and sometimes vexing regulations and standards. Jeffrey B. Gracer, Principal at Sive, Paget & Riesel and Chair and NYC Climate Action Alliance tells how lawyers can use these skills in the dynamic and evolving ESG field.

Sustainability is a long-term trajectory. Irena Zubcevic, Chief of the Intergovernmental Policy and Review Branch within the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs offers that, for a company to pursue sustainability, the SDGs need to be part of its business model.