Sustainable
Sustainable
Encounters
Encounters
June 2025
Alba’s
Alba’s
Sustainable Encounters
DECONSTRUCTING
the Architecture
of Impact.
www.planetalba.biz
JUNE ISSUE 2025
We have become exceptionally skilled at building the machinery of sustain-
ability. Our world is now governed by a vast and complex architecture of
frameworks, metrics, ratings, and certifications. We build algorithms to
quantify risk, design standards to measure impact, and issue reports to prove
compliance. We are, in effect, attempting to engineer a better future.
This raises a fundamental question, one that forms the intellectual core of this
inaugural issue: In our focus on perfecting the machine, have we neglected
the most critical variable, the character, philosophy, and methodology of the
human operator?
A framework, after all, is inert. A data point has no intrinsic meaning. A cer-
tificate hanging on a wall cannot, by itself, prevent a catastrophe. These are
merely tools. Their effectiveness is entirely dependent on the hand that
wields them. A system designed for sustainability can, in the hands of a
complacent or cynical operator, produce nothing more than sophisticated
greenwashing. Yet, in the hands of a rigorous and principled leader, even a
nascent system can produce profound results.
The logical deduction is that the operator is the prime mover.
In this issue of Alba's Sustainable Encounters, we do not offer simple solu-
tions. We present a series of rigorous case studies through our encounters
with leaders who have tested this hypothesis in the real world. We explore
how a foundational attitude can supersede any learned skill; how the
undisciplined passion of an advocate can become a strategic liability; why the
internal governance of an organization must be secured before any
environmental goals can be meaningfully achieved; and how the empathy of a
leader is not a soft skill, but a hard, strategic asset in running the ESG
algorithm.
This magazine is a space for uncompromised inquiry. We do not tell you what
to think. We provide the arguments and the evidence, and we respect your
intellect enough to let you draw your own conclusions. Our purpose is to
sharpen the tools of your own perception.
Read. Think. Act.
Albert Schiller, CEO Planet Alba BiZ
The Operator
and the Algorithm
An Architecture
for Understanding
Informa�on is ubiquitous. Genuine understanding is rare. Most media is de-
signed for passive consump�on, a fric�onless �ow of content that is easily ab-
sorbed and just as easily forgo�en. This is not our purpose. True insight is not
absorbed; it is constructed. It requires a deliberate engagement between the
material and the mind.
At Alba’s Sustainable Encounters, we have built an architecture to facilitate this
process. We do not just provide informa�on; we provide the tools to build it into
las�ng knowledge.
This architecture has two layers:
1. The Framework for Self-Assessment
At the conclusion of each ar�cle, you will �nd a set of ques�ons. These are not
a test. They are a structured tool designed for a single purpose: to allow you
to deconstruct the core arguments, verify your own comprehension, and syn-
thesize the essen�al concepts. This is a private, rigorous exercise for your own
intellectual bene�t.
2. The Applica�on of Knowledge: The ASE Monthly Challenge
Separate from the individual ar�cle ques�ons is the ASE Monthly Challenge.
This is the applica�on of your synthesized knowledge. The Challenge consists
of a selec�on of mul�ple-choice ques�ons drawn from all the encounters in this
issue. It is a crucible for your integrated understanding, tes�ng your ability to
retain and connect complex ideas from diverse �elds.
Here, the incen�ve is aligned with our mission. The top three ranked par�ci-
pants will have trees planted in their name. This is our commited direct trans-
la�on of intellectual e�ort into tangible, ecological ac�on. (1st Place: 10 trees;
2nd Place: 6 trees; 3rd Place: 3 trees, cer��ed and free for you to share with
your community).
Our Uncompromised Commitment
This en�re architecture including the in-depth ar�cles, the analy�cal tools, the
ad-free experience, the deep dive complementary blog ecosystem, is built on a
founda�on of absolute integrity. This focused environment is possible for one
reason: it is funded by you, our readers.
We are not beholden to adver�sers, sponsors, or any external agenda. Our com-
mitment is exclusively to the reader and to the clarity of the ideas we present.
We provide this unburdened space so your thought process can be the only
thing that ma�ers.
We invite you to engage fully. The value is not just in the reading, but in the
thinking that follows.
Table of Content
The Attitude Axiom of
Sustainability: From Pollution
Control to Corporate Philosophy
p.10
p.22
p.34
p.46
p.60
p.72
The Passion Paradox:
Dhe Drive for Sustainability
The Forensic Eye
of Financial Integrity
GSE, What If...
Governance Comes First?
Empathy, The Missing Link
In The ESG Logic
The Anatomy of Assurance
Dr. Yogendra Saxena
Ashwini Mavinkurve
Hargovind Sachdev
Anuj Kumar Bhatia
Diya Sengupta
Antony Thaikkadan
10
The Attitude Axiom
of Sustainability
MY SUSTAINABLE ENCOUNTER WITH DR. YOGENDRA SAXENA
By Albert Schiller
From Pollu�on Control to Corporate Philosophy
What to expect
Tradi�onally, we’ve approached sustainability as a skill. We’ve invested in build-
ing frameworks, teaching metrics, and issuing cer��ca�ons, all in the belief that with
enough technical knowledge, we can navigate our way out of our global predicament.
But what if we’ve been looking at it all wrong? What if sustainability is not primarily
a skill to be learned, but an a�tude to be cul�vated? What if it’s an intrinsic way of
seeing risk, opportunity, and responsibility, without which all the technical skills in
the world are merely tools for more sophis�cated greenwashing?
Yogendra Saxena’s life’s work, spanning thirty-�ve years across the en�re eco-
system of sustainability, is not just a history of the environmental movement in
India but a robust data set. His career, spanning policymaking and academia to
heavy industry and C-suite leadership, has shaped a profound and challenging
thesis: all e�ec�ve, las�ng, and sustainable ac�on stems not from what a leader
knows, but from how a leader thinks. His journey provides a compelling and
logical deduc�on that a�tude is the necessary precondi�on for any skill to have
meaning. It is the opera�ng system upon which all successful programs are run.