Yuko Nakahata combines start-up experience, board-level leadership, and a practical approach to sustainability that extends beyond theory, having built her career at the intersection of governance, business growth, and climate-focused action.
As well as being the founder and CEO of SustainaSeed, a global platform to connect businesses and investors with practical sustainability solutions, the Japan-based entrepreneur is also behind VerityBase, a database designed to help businesses identify, evaluate, and compare climate-focused innovations.
In parallel, she holds senior board positions at NAC Co. Ltd and Tameny, and advises on governance, sustainability, strategy, business development, and international partnerships.
Her background provides a broad perspective on what effective ESG action entails. Prior to founding SustainaSeed in 2021, she worked across sales, business management, and strategy, established her own recruitment consultancy, and supported multi-country business development and APAC regional operations across Hong Kong and Southeast Asia.
In this exclusive interview with the Inspirational Leadership Speakers Agency, Yuko Nakahata discusses why sustainability must move beyond reporting, how organisations can turn ESG into long-term value, and what leaders still get wrong about implementation, impact and action.
What commercial or strategic gap did you identify that led you to launch SustainaSeed?
I’m a serial entrepreneur and also a board director at listed companies. So I was thinking, what’s next? I really wanted to do something for social good, and during that time, I was seeing startups with sustainability-related solutions.
They really struggled with how to reach the right people, and at the same time, I saw that even at listed companies, at board level, people were saying they didn’t know what to do about ESG activities. They were issuing reports, but after that, they really struggled to find exactly the right strategy, and what to do.
So, I realised there is a huge gap between the solution vendors and the solution seekers. That’s why we started this – making a database of sustainability solutions and supporting not the reporting, but how to take action.
How should companies approach ESG if they want it to support growth, stakeholder trust, and long-term enterprise value?
People think ESG is a costly thing, but I usually say it’s not. Some parts can be, depending on what you choose, of course, but if you implement sustainability into your corporate strategy, it could be – not short term, but mid- to long-term – corporate value positive.
Your investors, clients, stakeholders, employees, and, recently, younger generations, are looking at what your company is doing. While there may be upfront costs, the focus should be on how sustainability contributes to long-term growth and value creation for all stakeholders.
When ESG is discussed at board level, what do you think leaders still misunderstand most about its strategic role?
I would say that people think this is because of the mandatory requirements and need to fit regulations. It can be costly, so some people – not everybody – are taking it in a negative way.
It is better to change that viewpoint – that this can be something positive, and something you can use as part of your strategy.
For companies looking to reduce environmental impact without major upfront investment, where should they start and what should they assess first?
At first, I recommend reviewing a company’s current situation. Of course, they need to understand what ESG is and what the environmental situation is.
So, for example, large organisations have many units, not only one business. So you need to review these one by one. Yes, it takes time, but if you can notice how to make some part efficient, it’s already directly related to environmental efficiency.
What do you most want decision-makers to understand about sustainability after hearing you speak?
For organisations, I would say sustainability is not about reporting, it is about action. I really want people to think, to move – what is the best action to take, what is the next step.
This interview with Yuko Nakahata was conducted by Tabish Ali of the Champions Speakers Agency.
