From Sustainability to Resilience - 2 years of ISL

This is a highlights video for the 2nd anniversary of the IESE Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which aims to better connect research and reflection with the real progress companies had been making on sustainability and to prepare leaders already in key decision-making roles.

Prof. Fabrizio Ferraro, Academic Director of the IESE Institute for Sustainability Leadership (ISL), explained that reactions to progress typically followed three rhetorical templates—perversity, futility and jeopardy—and he warned that these narratives often made genuine change seem either dangerous, pointless or risky for past gains.

Emmanuel Lagarrigue, Senior Advisor at General Atlantic, stressed that those who did not like change would have liked irrelevance even less and argued that sustainability only endured when it created economic value, because “green” solutions that were more expensive or created friction ultimately disappeared.

Maria Salamero i Sansalvadó, Head of Sustainability and Sourcing at CELSA, recalled how sustainability had initially been framed around emotions and “saving the planet,” then shifted in Europe toward compliance, governance and reporting - while still needing to be fully integrated into business models.​

Fernanda Accorsi, Executive Director of the IESE Institute for Sustainability Leadership, described how, in its first two years, the institute had sought to “make knowledge purposeful” by linking IESE’s research with the concrete decisions companies had been taking and by building a community of leaders capable of steering complex transitions. She emphasized that ISL had worked as a bridge between academia and practice, helping executives translate sustainability goals into real change. Alejandra Beltran, VP of R&D and Global Packaging Solutions at AMOC, shared that the initiative had allowed her to bring perspectives from multiple sectors into her own business and to ensure that new generations entering management understood the scale of change required for a sustainable future.​

Raquel Espada, Strategy VP (EMEA) for Energy and Sustainability Services at Schneider Electric, underlined that younger generations had been actively seeking impact and looking for companies that genuinely created value, arguing that firms wanting to attract the best talent needed to invest in sustainability.

Finally, Beatriz de Diego Blanco, Head of Nutrition and Sustainability at Compass Group, highlighted that one of the most powerful outcomes of the institute’s first two years had been the creation of a strong network of professionals committed to sustainability and mutual support.