Today’s sustainability challenges recognize no borders, and collaboration must be built across cultures worldwide to build an economy that supports people and planet. That’s one reason why Rajat Panwar, professor of responsible and sustainable business, travels the globe to collaborate and learn from colleagues and mentor and teach students. His research, which examines the impact of business practices on biodiversity loss and deforestation while also exploring potential solutions and ways to foster a sustainable bioeconomy, is especially relevant in today’s global and interconnected world.

Panwar recently traveled to Finland to deliver a keynote lecture at the 13th annual Responsible Business Research Conference. His speech, “Frontiers in Corporate Sustainability: Where Do We go from Here” explored the future of sustainable business in a world on edge — where geopolitical tensions are rising, corporate climate commitments are unraveling, and trust between businesses and society is fraying.

“The conference couldn’t have come at a better time. Seeing the impactful work people are doing was truly electrifying. With participants from 21 countries, it felt like a global rallying cry — we are not backing down,” Panwar said. “Emerging scholars give me hope; they are defying entrenched paradigms and exploring bold solutions.”

The conference aimed to spark thought-provoking discussions on the meaning of corporate responsibility today and increase the visibility of research on business sustainability and ethics. It explored what corporate responsibility means in today’s society and how we can conduct research around responsible and ethical business environments.

Sustainable business impacts everyone — after all, we rely on forests, but they also depend on us to protect and sustainably manage them. Our world is an intricate web, and understanding this interconnected system is key to finding groundbreaking solutions. Panwar emphasizes this importance of driving change through innovative global perspectives.

Later this month, Panwar will travel to Rome, Italy, for the Sustainable Wood for a Sustainable World (SW4SW) workshop hosted by Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. The workshop will present a six-year review of initiatives aimed at advancing sustainable wood practices to improve livelihoods and bolster climate resilience.

The insights from this workshop, which gathers organizations from the Collaborative Partnership on Forests, will inform the strategic planning of the SW4SW initiative that focuses on advancing the business case for sustainable, inclusive wood and international collaborations in forestry.

With teaching experience across Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America, Panwar is also a global distinguished faculty member at the National Institute of Agricultural Marketing located in Jaipur, India. Originally from India, Panwar is an interdisciplinary scholar with dual doctoral degrees — a Ph.D. in forestry and a DBA in sustainability and strategy. His experiences facing a rapid economic expansion and environmental degradation during his youth shaped his research and teaching passions today.

“I witnessed the development-conservation debate come alive. The belief that environmental loss was an inevitable price for escaping poverty, increasing income and generating local jobs ran too deep,” Panwar said. “These experiences profoundly impacted me, so my academic work is dedicated to finding sustainability and ensuring a future where meeting human needs doesn’t come at too high an environmental cost.”