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Welcome back to Straight Talk Sustainability. I’m Sebastien, here to challenge the buzzwords and get real about what’s actually happening behind the scenes of corporate sustainability. If you’re here, it’s because you’re not satisfied with vague goals or fluffy language. You want the messy, practical, sometimes uncomfortable truth (and maybe even a glimpse of hope along the way.)
I left this conversation feeling more optimistic than I have in a long time.
Why? Because this time I had the chance to speak with Dr Lina K Wiles, Chief Sustainability Officer at Adapteo Group, someone who’s spent her career moving between sectors, systems, and structures, always with the same mission: to make sustainability matter. With a PhD in ecology, Lina started out studying animals and ecosystems and ended up helping steer large-scale sustainability efforts in family-run giants like Tetra Pak, listed companies like Elis, and now in a private equity-backed business shaping the future of modular buildings.
Through it all, she’s stayed grounded in reality and committed to driving change, not just through ambition, but by understanding the context, navigating complexity, and translating science into strategy.
We talked about the clash between sustainability ideals and quarterly business cycles, the messy world of ESG data, and why communication (not carbon) is often the biggest hurdle.
From Academia to the Boardroom
Lina didn’t set out to be a corporate sustainability leader. She started in academia, studying animals and ecosystems, driven by a love of nature. But like many of us, she reached a point where theory wasn’t enough.
“I wanted a ‘proper’ job at some point,” she told me with a smile. “I needed to get out of the theory and into something that could actually influence how things are done.”
That “something” turned into corporate sustainability, a space where Lina found her sweet spot: combining science, business strategy, and storytelling. From her first corporate sustainability role at Tetra Pak, where she handled communications and reporting across the Nordics and Baltics, to steering ESG strategy in a circular textile business, and now driving change in the built environment, she’s seen how different business models approach sustainability.
What’s fascinating? According to Lina, the ambition rarely changes. “The companies I’ve worked for have all wanted to be frontrunners. They’ve set science-based targets. They’ve wanted to ‘do the right thing.’” But the context always does.
Ambition Isn’t the Problem. Context Is.
Whether it’s a family-owned business or one backed by private equity, Lina believes the will to lead in sustainability is usually there. What changes is the speed, language, and metrics you need to work with.
“In a family business, you can take your time. If you want to spend six months or six years making a change, that’s your call. But in a listed company? You have the quarterly economy, and that’s a whole different game.”
Private equity, she says, can actually offer clarity; Fast-paced and high-pressure, yes – but with consistent direction. The challenge isn’t ambition. It’s making your case in the right language.
“It’s not that they care less, it’s just that you have to show how sustainability supports value creation, risk management, and margin. Otherwise, it slips down the list.” That means reframing sustainability not as a moral crusade, but as smart, strategic business planning.
The Omnibus and the Art of Translation
Like many in the field, Lina’s frustrated by the EU’s last-minute delay to CSRD implementation, the so-called Omnibus.
“We’re CSRD-ready. We’ve already done the work. The Omnibus has just added confusion and distraction, really.” But she also sees a silver lining. The rollback is forcing sustainability professionals to sharpen their communication and to better align with core business concerns.
“We know this isn’t about being ‘the good guys.’ It’s about managing risk. Protecting value. And we’ve got to get better at translating that into business terms.” That translation is essential, especially if we want to keep sustainability efforts from being sidelined when priorities shift.
CFO vs. CSO: The Clash (and the Collaboration)
Lina didn’t shy away from one of the most awkward (but essential) relationships in the business: sustainability vs. finance.
“CFOs have systems that have been vetted and audited for decades. Their house is in order. Ours? Not yet.”
Sustainability teams need massive amounts of data. From energy and production to procurement, but they don’t own any of it. They rely on colleagues who are already busy with financial reporting.
“We’re asking for the same data… but in kilograms, tonnes, consumption. And the answer we get is often, ‘We’ll get to that later.’” Add to that a fragmented system landscape… Digital platforms that don’t integrate, suppliers and assessors using different templates and terms, and you’ve got a mess.
“There are dozens of sustainability platforms – and reporting schemes – out there, none of them talking to each other. Even when everything’s ‘digital,’ it still requires someone to manually pull data.”
It’s why Lina (and many like her) are calling for more investment in ESG systems that match the rigour of financial reporting. Because without solid data, sustainability remains a side note instead of a core metric.
The Future Is Noisy But Not Hopeless
It’s been a rocky start to the year, politically, economically, environmentally. But when I asked Lina what keeps her going, her answer was clear:
“If you only read the news and scroll through social media, it can seem like governments are retreating and nobody cares anymore. But when you talk to investors, board members, business leaders – their focus is laser sharp. They know you can’t negotiate with planetary boundaries — and that business can lead where policy sometimes lags.”
She’s right. The sense of doom we get from headlines doesn’t reflect the conversations happening in the boardrooms or over kitchen tables, for that matter. Behind closed doors, people are paying attention.
“We need to stop treating sustainability, society, and economics as separate things. They’re completely intertwined.” And one way forward? New alliances. New dialogues.
“Get the people who’ve never been in the same room before, talking to each other.”
Words to Live By
When I asked Lina what advice she’d give to others working in this space, her answer was simple but powerful: “Keep stepping outside of your sustainability bubble. Talk to people outside your discipline. Join conversations that have nothing to do with your role.” Because that’s where the real insights (and the real impact) come from. “We need that reality check. We need to see the bigger picture. It’s how we keep evolving.”
