Sustainability is Boring

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This article is a joint front-page publication between illuminem and the leading German-speaking newspaper Der Standard. Read this article in German here.

In these hours, the sustainability world gathers for COP30, the annual United Nations Climate Conference, carrying historic promises from Lula that now feel like a relic of a bygone era. Despite the anticipation once building on the eve of COP, today’s sustainability community has never felt more disheartened.

Nations send second-tier delegations, or worse, abandon the global climate summit altogether (USA). Companies go silent on sustainability (“greenhushing”), or worse, scrap their climate commitments as quickly as they once announced them. Former climate champions shift their focus (Greta), or worse, betray the cause (right, Bill?). More and more greentech startups struggle to fundraise and grow, or, worse, collapse into bankruptcy (Northvolt, Proterra, etc.). Environmental groups and activists, once clogging our streets with marches (Fridays for Future), now make no headlines, or worse, dissolve without lifeblood.

Yet, despite all this, our European 'green dreams' (American quotation) don’t feel so lonely in this world, as one global giant has emerged with the courage to double down on climate commitments and, above all, deliver real decarbonization: China.

A few weeks ago, when the world of sustainability gathered for its biggest business event, New York Climate Week, China already stole the show. I found myself in a small room where the Financial Times had assembled many “climate personalities”, the usual suspects: American policymakers, CEOs, and influencers. In that very same patriotic room, at the heart of New York City, something significant happened. Suddenly, everyone stopped listening to the well-curated panel, everyone turned to their phones. China’s President Xi Jinping (speaking from Beijing, not NYC) was announcing his country’s new climate targets. Even the FT editor on stage glanced at me and whispered: “What did he say?” (clearly not referring to the “illustrious VIP” at the podium). That moment made it clear to me and everyone: the climate world has a new leader.

For the record, Xi’s announcement wasn’t bold, extravagant, or great in its storytelling. It was simply credible, 100% concrete. And that’s why it matters.

In a world where Europe’s influence is (unfortunately) dimming and America’s leadership has retreated, China’s trajectory has become the new parable of sustainability. It shows a path to decarbonization that will not be spectacular or revolutionary, but pragmatic, incremental, and yes, boring.

The end of techno-romantic fantasies

For years, sustainability has been a playground for visionary ideas, futuristic technologies that verge on science fiction: from giant CO₂ capture machines and next-generation reactors to blockchain forests and autonomous sailing cargo ships. Much of it is fascinating, some of it even necessary. But despite billions in subsidies, most of these projects never progress beyond prototypes or PowerPoint slides. Critics even argued that they were never supposed to be (see CCS). In any case,  “cool sustainability” has failed to achieve the needed decarbonization of our time. And, perhaps, we no longer have time or interest in spectacles.

The future of sustainability, at least for a while, will not be decided in the laboratories or SaaS sketches of start-ups, but in the boring, cost-efficient factories already delivering decarbonization at scale: wind turbines, solar panels, EVs, and batteries.

China’s sober lesson

This is where China’s strategic approach offers valuable lessons. While Western nations have anchored their decarbonization economic strategy on delivering industrial “breakthroughs” (ironically, the name of Bill Gates’ climate initiative), Beijing has focused primarily on scaling proven, viable technologies that prioritize efficiency and, above all, cost-effectiveness. These are, also ironically, the same technologies that the West initially pioneered through R&D (e.g., the story of solar development for NASA space missions) and first commercialized (as seen with Germany’s Energiewende). China has now completed the cycle, making them truly accessible—and more importantly, driving real decarbonization.

Indeed, as Francesco Guicciardini once taught: history repeats itself. More than a decade ago, the U.S. tried to prioritize quality over quantity — and failed. Solyndra, the manufacturer of high-efficiency solar panels, once praised by President Obama as exemplary of the new America, bet on higher solar yields rather than cost savings, and went bankrupt. Meanwhile, cheaper and simpler Chinese modules now flood the market, from Africa to California. Not moonshots, but economies of scale.

With the opening of COP30, in a world where grand climate pledges have lost their appeal, relentless execution may be our only remaining hope. Sustainability is becoming boring, and yes, that’s a good thing. Because true success doesn’t lie in spectacle, but in steady, disciplined progress.