Will Richardson examines real climate action across businesses: Vestey's land-use changes in agriculture, Renault Trucks' electric food-waste vehicles in the UK, and Positive Luxury's regenerative farming partnership. He argues genuine climate work must be measurable and core to strategy, not marketing spin, and calls out plug-in hybrids for overstated fuel efficiency.
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Hey, thanks so much for listening. I would love to be able to help you more on what it is that you are listening to and why you're listening to me. If you could click on the link in the show notes, that would be awesome because it will help me define what it is that we should be talking about on this podcast. Imagine I click my fingers and a bottle of water with a giraffe on it just disappears in front of us. That's what a lot of sustainability talk feels like. One moment the impact is there, the next moment it's vanished into a glossy promise or a net-zero slide. What I'm interested in and what I want to highlight are the organisations that are doing the hard, unglamorous work that doesn't just keep the problem disappear on paper, but actually changes trucks, land use, supply chains, and business models in the real world. Those are the changes that genuinely cut emissions and move us closer to a net-zero economy. And that's why I'm so excited about what these companies are doing. And that's why I'm so excited about what these companies are doing. I've been really inspired by some of the work our clients are doing right now. It's exactly the kind of practical, commercially smart climate action that moves the dial on global emissions. I wanted to highlight a few because they show what's possible when you take decarbonisation seriously and still run a successful business. Take Vestey. They sit right at the intersection of land, food, and climate, and they're making big strategic moves in how that land is used and managed. When you see major agricultural players reshaping their asset base, including irrigation and beef operations, it matters for global emissions because how we produce food drives a huge share of climate impact. The fact that Vestey is actively evolving its footprint is a positive signal. It shows that legacy food businesses can modernise, rethink resource use, and ultimately be a part of a low-carbon, more resilient food system rather than a drag on it. Renault Trucks is a brilliant example of how heavy transport starting to decarbonise in the real world Not just in PowerPoint. They've partnered on one of the UK's first OEM fully electric food waste trucks, now running with Keenan Recycling, delivering zero tailpipe emissions on demanding urban waste rounds. Why does that matter globally? Because specialist trucks are hard to decarbonise. If you can electrify those, you can cut diesel use, improve air quality in cities, and show the wider sector that high-duty, messy, real-world operations can run on low-carbon tech. And they're not doing this in isolation. That electric vehicles joins a wider low-emission fleet, including biofuel, CNG and hydrogen, and HVO-ready vehicles, which is exactly the kind of portfolio approach we need if we're serious about rapid emission reduction. Positive Luxury is helping to shift entire value chains, not just single products. Their work with pioneers like the Rug Estate, which is investing in carbon measurement, regenerative farming, renewable energy, biodiversity, and education, shows how you can run an award-winning organic estate that's carbon negative while strengthening soils, wildlife, and community at the same time. That combination of rigorous carbon accounting, Scope 3 focus, regenerative practice, and community engagement is exactly what global climate targets need. Less greenwash, more measurable progress on land use, supply chains, and behaviour change. If more brands followed that model, we'd be much closer to aligning food, land, and climate goals. Even the tough stories are useful. Recent analysis shows that many plug-in hybrids use far more fuel than advertised. It's uncomfortable, and it's actually good news if it forces regulators and manufacturers to focus on real-world performance instead of lab numbers. For me, that's a part of genuine environmental leadership. Being willing to confront data that says, this isn't working as claimed, and then redesigning incentives, products, and infrastructure so the technology actually delivers the emissions cuts that climate science demands. It's not about perfection. It's about honesty. Iteration and moving faster in the right direction. What I love about all of this is that it proves climate action is no longer a side project. It's core business strategy. Whether it's trucks, land, food, or luxury, these organizations are showing that you can cut emissions, innovate, and still win commercially. That's exactly the journey we support. Helping teams turn good intentions and great headlines into robust, scalable change that really contributes to global environmental reduction and creates new opportunities along the way. If you want to come and join us and become a referral partner to 51 to Carbon Zero, come and talk to me now and You can be a part of our journey and we can be a part of yours. We can discuss how that works. Thanks for listening.
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