Kate Chilton, Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief of Staff at BamCore, has experienced both the corporate and startup sides of sustainability. After starting her career at Accenture and working her way into the core of climate startups, she now finds herself in the thick of it—caught between investor expectations, startup survival, and the uncompromising realities of planetary boundaries.

In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Kate takes us on a journey through the messiness of real-world sustainability: the idealism, the disillusionment, and the flickers of optimism that still make the fight worth it.

What Happens When Net Zero Becomes “Too Expensive”?

The catalyst for the conversation is Bloomberg’s recent report on the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a group of major banks committed to aligning their lending with the Paris Agreement. One by one—U.S. banks, Canadian banks, and then Japanese banks—have stepped away from the group.

Why? According to Kate, the answer is chillingly simple:

“By exiting NZBA, these banks have sought greater autonomy to set and adjust their environmental strategies without being bound by a commitment to stay aligned to the Paris Agreement—which they now view as a fictitious world.”

Put bluntly: NZBA is aligned with a future that’s becoming increasingly unlikely. And the market will punish banks for focusing on decarbonisation if they are perceived to be giving up earnings potential.

“Sustainability Only Works If It Makes Business Sense”

Having worked at a corporate giant like Accenture and now at a bio-based building materials startup, Kate sees the problem from both ends of the spectrum.

“The sustainable decision needs to be the right business decision. We can’t just expect businesses to do the altruistic thing when they are fundamentally mission-driven to turn a profit.”

Startups may be mission-first, but they’re not immune either. Even companies like BamCore, which manufactures climate-positive building products, must navigate a system where clean energy and low-carbon materials still struggle to compete—on cost, supply, and capital access.

Built-In, Not Bolted-On

Kate wears two hats—Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief of Staff—which gives her a unique view across the entire organisation.

“Sustainability shouldn’t be an afterthought. It needs to be built in, not bolted on.”

This dual role allows her to connect sustainability to every department—from marketing and product development to sourcing and manufacturing. It’s a model that makes sense for startups—but it’s rare in larger organisations, where ESG still too often sits in a silo.

The Capital Gap No One Wants to Talk About

One of the sharpest insights comes when Kate breaks down the climate finance landscape for startups:

• 🥇 Seed-stage: Government grants, angel investors, climate-focused VCs.

• 🏗️ Growth-stage: A funding valley between VC and private equity.

• 🏦 Mature-stage: Shift from equity to debt—often inaccessible for physical solutions that need massive CapEx.

“We’re not playing in electrons—we’re playing in atoms. In order to combat climate change, this is a physical problem. We need physical solutions.”

When capital dries up—particularly for manufacturing-heavy solutions like BamCore—the transition stalls, no matter how compelling the climate case is.

Realism vs. Idealism: Can We Still Be Optimistic?

Kate doesn’t sugar-coat it:

“There’s always a little flame of eco-anxiety driving me. But I’ve moved from being an optimist to an optimistic pessimist.”

And yet, there’s still hope:

• The next generation—Gen Z—is taking climate seriously.

• Clean energy is reaching cost parity with fossil fuels in more regions.

• The appetite for systemic change—from carbon pricing to Doughnut Economics—is growing.

“Our financial system is intertwined with emissions… We need to unwind them such that we can make decisions that are still good for our economies but that also drive down emissions.”

💬 Kate’s Magic Wand Moment

If given a magic wand, what would Kate change?

“Make it easier for companies that want to be sustainable to succeed.”

It’s a simple ask—but behind it lies a radical truth. We know what to do. We just haven’t made doing the right thing easy—or profitable—enough.