At Earth Action (EA), we bring together leading experts like Benoît Verzat to help businesses turn sustainability into strategy. In this exclusive interview, he shares insights on climate change, corporate sustainability, and business transformation. Learn how companies can align with carbon neutrality, integrate biodiversity into decision-making, and build a future-ready sustainability culture.
Benoît Verzat began his career at Quantis, gaining extensive experience in environmental impact quantification. He conducted more than 40 Life Cycle Assessments across various sectors, including renewable energy, construction, food, and cosmetics. In 2015, he joined the négaWatt Institute, supporting public organizations in ambitious energy transition processes using the systemic vision of the négaWatt scenario.
With 15 years of sustainability expertise, Benoît excels at transmitting knowledge and facilitating collective intelligence processes. In 2022, he founded moka.earth to broaden these activities, collaborating with pioneering organizations like EA.
Q: How does your expertise connect to global challenges like climate change and social equity?
Benoît Verzat: Humanity is presently threatening planet Earths’ habitability, pushing the planet beyond its limits, overshooting multiple environmental boundaries – greenhouse gas emissions, chemical pollution, and ecosystem destruction. These boundaries have provided us with a stable and safe environment for the past 10,000 years, yet we are now rapidly destabilizing them.
At the same time, economic inequality is worsening: the wealthiest 1% owns more than 95% of global wealth, while millions – even in wealthy countries – struggle to afford food and heating.
From my work with both companies and public organizations, I’ve learned that social and environmental issues must be tackled together. The societal shifts needed to create sustainable production and consumption patterns cannot happen without:
- Fairer resource distribution
- Support for workers affected by transitions
- More inclusive decision-making processes at all levels of human organization
This approach is well illustrated by Doughnut Economics, a model created by economist Kate Raworth:
- The outer circle represents environmental planetary boundaries.
- The inner circle represents basic human needs – healthcare, education, equity, and more.
Businesses must operate within this space, balancing environmental responsibility with social well-being.
Figure 1: The Doughnut of social and planetary boundaries. Credit: Kate Raworth and Christian Guthier. CC-BY-SA 4.0. Citation: Raworth, K. (2017), Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist. London: Penguin Random House.
Q: What key sustainability trend should businesses act on now?
Benoît Verzat: For decades, the mainstream narrative has glorified freedom as limitless consumption and expansion – the ability to accumulate more, go faster, and push further.
But true freedom is about being able to set your own limits for the sake of a sustainable and fulfilling life for all.
Leading companies are now integrating sufficiency as a core pillar of their strategy. The 2022 IPCC Report defines sufficiency as:
“A set of policy measures and daily practices that avoid the demand for energy, materials, land, water, and other natural resources while providing well-being for all within planetary boundaries.”
To align with this, businesses should:
- Develop carbon-neutral roadmaps using detailed prospective sustainable societal scenarios.
- Include biodiversity in decision-making, even exploring ways to give non-human species a voice in governance.
- Rethink corporate governance, increasing stakeholder participation and ensuring long-term sustainability.
I have successfully implemented this approach within local governments, and I’m convinced private companies can benefit as well. Integrating biodiversity and rethinking governance is not just a moral obligation – it’s a powerful strategic tool for long-term business resilience.
Q: How can businesses align environmental goals with profitability?
Benoît Verzat: Greenwashing is no longer an option – consumers and investors now demand real environmental action.
This makes transparent and sincere sustainability communication essential. Businesses must go beyond marketing claims and take a hard look at their real impact.
A crucial step is to determine what should grow and what should scale back in a truly sustainable economy.
This approach helps businesses:
- Align sustainability goals with profitability
- Build consumer trust through authenticity
- Strengthen stakeholder confidence with a compelling sustainability narrative
Companies that develop clear, purpose-driven storytelling will set themselves apart in an economy that increasingly values ethical and responsible business practices.
Q: How can leaders create a sustainability-driven company culture?
Benoît Verzat: The challenges we face today are unprecedented – never before have our current decisions had such lasting consequences for future generations.
To meet these challenges, we need collective intelligence. Studies show that a group’s ability to solve complex problems isn’t just based on individual intelligence, but on:
- Diversity – in gender, culture, and education
- Collaboration and active listening
To build a sustainability-driven company culture, leaders should:
- Train teams in collective intelligence tools to improve decision-making.
- Adopt shared governance models, integrating sustainability at the core of decision-making.
- Empower employees, making them active participants in sustainability transformation.
Companies that integrate diversity, collaboration, and shared governance will be better equipped to lead the sustainability transition.
Final thoughts: will your business lead or struggle to keep up?
At Earth Action, we work with and amplify the voices of experts like Benoît Verzat, who are helping businesses and organizations navigate the sustainability transition.
A sustainable future is no longer a distant goal – it’s already taking shape. The question is: Will your company lead the way – or struggle to keep up?
Sustainability isn’t just a responsibility – it’s a strategic advantage. The businesses that act today will lead tomorrow.
Stay connected with Earth Action for expert insights and real-world strategies to future-proof your business and drive meaningful change.
