inside sustain 2026: esg insights that matter

Paris in Spring is a wonderful place for a lot of reasons…For me, it’s all the green!

While I typically resist the blog writing/LinkedIn post swing toward hyperbole where possible, I’ll be uncharacteristically emotional on this one from the outset… I LOVE a sustainability event!

There’s something particularly energising about exploring a puzzle with the magnitude of impact that environment has, not just within the mobility space, but businesses and their global operations in general, and I struggle to name any other forum where so much innovation comes to the forefront of discussion. Sustain 2026 by EcoVadis was no exception. Travelling in the company of David Pascoe, attending as both the exec sponsor of our ESG program and in his role as Global Head of Cartus’ Supply Chain, we were, quite literally, seated front and centre for all the event had to offer.

Perceptions were challenged, excuses squashed and inspirations thoroughly sparked.

To outline every interaction, or takeaway from the sessions in a single post here would be both an unreasonable test of how much I can crowbar into an informal blog’s wordcount, and the level of attention I can expect of a reader, so I’ll limit this to my top five takeaways.

the business case

Performance in the ESG space inevitably converges with external factors, governance requirements, varying levels of political will, emergent technology and beyond, but across the content there was little ambiguity surrounding the economics of ESG performance, both as a safeguard against supply chain disruption or a pursuit of opportunity. The expansion of sustainability, evolving from risk mitigation or the pursuit of a specific company value to serving as an essential piece of supply chain resilience and advantage also had me scribbling notes for output enhancements.

a matter of perspective

As much as I leave these events in awe of those making a real impact and moved to further action by speakers extolling the impact businesses can bring at a strategic level, I cannot overstate how much of a brilliant sanity check a discussion with other ESG leads and practitioners in the wild can be. The moving parts associated with global mobility’s footprint and value chain engagement can feel like complex challenges at times, but a conversation with the sustainability owner of an international supermarket with a network of hundreds of thousands, or the procurement lead looking to manage the compliance of suppliers with products so specialised that alternatives simply don’t exist, force you to take a step back. It can really put your own headaches into a whole new light: we’re in this together.

An element I’m often struck by at sustainability events is the level of collaboration you see between peers, who by many metrics are considered competitors. It’s really encouraging to see the mobility industry itself increasingly following this pattern with the expansion of ESG coalitions through industry events like WERC, but seeing some of the depths of partnership and shared messaging continues to serve as an aspirational influence.

from roots to fruits

It’s the part of the post where I make it about how well Cartus is doing (and weave in a subtle call-to-action for readers to engage with our team on this topic)…

But in what I hope anyone reading this will take as a genuine reflection versus a coded boast, is that while we’ve still got a long way to go, Cartus has learned and achieved so much already, on our ESG journey:

This was my third visit to Sustain, and March 2026 marked the second anniversary of ESG being a formal part of my job role. In this time, we’ve come a long way from notepads of hastily scribbled down acronyms “to look up later” and a looming sense of dread at these events as I navigated the halls in fear of being discovered as a novice (totally unreasonably, I might add, the ESG crowd is a lovely bunch).

In 2026, we:

• have grasped so much more of our data, including our approved SBTi goals
• can speak to clients about the impact of their mobility program in ways we couldn’t have dreamed of before
• are engaging our supplier partners in a more meaningful way
• are elevating our conversations from, “Where do we start?” to “How far can we go?”

It gives me a great sense of progress, and at risk of falling into a LinkedIn hyperbole trap, pride to be able to participate in discussions where I once had to put all my energy into following.

As a contractual nod to blog posts, I should add here that if you would like to discuss how Cartus is approaching ESG with me or the wider Cartus team, do feel free to contact me or email cartussolutions@cartus.com.

climate comedian isn’t an oxymoron

Nothing more complex than a shout-out here, being a comedian at a corporate event is a tough gig, finding comedy in a serious topic is a challenge at the best of times, and even more so when your audience is engaged to try and solve the issues the topic presents. Stuart Goldsmith added some great levity to proceedings, while maintaining the presiding message of advocating for action presented by the rest of the agenda. Well, played!

And that was my Sustain 2026. Head full of insights, mental cogs turning with new ideas, and with a belly full of fire…and perhaps one or two pain au chocolat (I’m not made of stone), we bid Paris adieu and continue on our ESG journey (taking the train home, of course).