What should your sustainability learning programme include?

In a business world shaped by evolving climate regulation, investor pressure, moral imperative and societal demand, upskilling your workforce in sustainability has become vital to create efficiency, attract and retain talent, and unlock value. But as organisations scale their efforts, one truth stands out: the most effective learning starts with the foundations.

At Sustainability Unlocked, our most-viewed videos don’t dive headlong into the complex subjects. Instead, they meet learners where they are, with clarity, relevance, and practicality. These are the videos our learners return to time and again. And they all have something in common: they make core skills accessible, engaging, and strategically useful.

They also provide an essential stepping stone, allowing learners to ramp up to the platform’s more complex and specialised learning content at a pace that works for them and their role. This approach reinforces and develops understanding, and gives learners the ability to apply their expanding knowledge in context.

Our top-10 most popular videos on Sustainability Unlocked

1. Why Our Oceans Matter
2. Introduction to Net Zero
3. Introduction to Carbon Offsetting
4. ESG, Sustainability and Impact Jargon Buster
5. CSR and Sustainability in Financial Services
6. The Rising Tide against Greenwashing
7. Designing a Sustainability Strategy in Financial Services
8. Green Loans, Green Bonds &; Blue Bonds Jargon Buster
9. Types of Greenwashing and Key Terminology
10. Greenwashing and Impact Washing Jargon Buster

Why these videos resonate

Each of these titles reflects an essential theme: clarity over complexity. In fact, many of them function as decoding tools — helping learners cut through the noise and build confidence with the basics.

This aligns directly with one of our core beliefs at xUnlocked: learning is a growth lever, not a tick-box. But for learning to drive meaningful progress — in strategy, operations, or culture — it needs to be relevant, digestible, and actionable. That means:

• Start with core concepts. A shared understanding of net zero, ESG, or green finance terminology builds a common language across teams. It’s how organisations move from ambition to action. In a piece published in our Sustainability Unlocked newsletter, Why a common language is key to driving sustainable business solutions, Michelle Horsfield argues for the importance of a common language, one that breaks down internal barriers and helps develop interdisciplinary collaboration. The right learning across foundational skills helps support this.
  
  
• Don’t overcomplicate it. Learners are time-poor. They want straight answers to pressing questions. Short, bite-sized videos that explain the “what” and the “why” help people get unstuck fast. Achievable learning milestones and certificates, which can be posted to a learner’s LinkedIn profile, further boost learner engagement across important subjects. Lori Niles-Hoffman explains the advantage of short, focused learning that is accessible, flexible, and timely, more deeply in our recent insight into how learning can keep up with the pace of data and AI.
  
• Meet people where they are. Not every learner is a sustainability expert — nor do they need to be. Our on-demand, bite-sized content gives professionals the knowledge they need in the context they work in, whether that’s compliance, finance, strategy, or marketing. With the addition of our AI-enabled ‘Ask the expert’ feature, which we are introducing to our learning solutions, we can also provide a trusted guide to key learning questions, delivered in the flow of work, where it is needed.
  
  
• Tailor learning to the real world. Topics like greenwashing or ocean health aren’t just “nice to know”. They affect investor confidence, brand equity, and long-term strategy. The popularity of these videos reflects the rising demand for learning that’s rooted in both science and business impact. When rolling out a training programme, consider carefully the breadth and depth of your content, and how it is relevant to different individuals and teams across your organisation.

Learning that empowers change

At xUnlocked, our mission is to unlock knowledge that empowers people to drive real change. That means putting people, not just policies, at the centre of sustainable transformation.

Our most-watched videos show that when you equip teams with foundational understanding, you unlock new levels of engagement, alignment, and capability. It’s not about training for training’s sake. It’s about enabling your workforce to be credible, confident advocates for the future your business is building.

Whether you’re a sustainability professional, business leader, or Head of L&D scaling knowledge across your organisation, it is vital to start with learning content that works for everyone. Start with what matters and equip your learners to help shape your future growth.