John Pabon

About John

John Pabon is widely regarded as Australia’s leading authority on greenwashing. Over a twenty-year global career he has worked with the United Nations, McKinsey, A.C. Nielsen and BSR, and founded Fulcrum Strategic Advisors — through which he advises the UN and chairs The Conference Board’s ANZ Sustainability Leaders Council. He is the author of three books: Sustainability for the Rest of Us (2020), The Great Greenwashing: How Brands, Governments, and Influencers are Lying to You (2023), and Strategic Sustainability: A Pragmatic Blueprint for Responsible Business (2026). He is a TEDx speaker, a regular contributor to the ABC, Al Jazeera, BBC, CNN and NPR, and has appeared as a guest on more than one hundred podcasts in the past two years alone.

Pabon’s position in the sustainability conversation is deliberately contrarian. He argues that well-intentioned environmental messaging is often doing as much harm as good — and that the proliferation of greenwashing, from major brands to government communications, is undermining the credibility of the entire sustainability movement. His approach is not cynical but pragmatic: he believes the only path forward is one built on honesty, evidence, and the kind of accountability that organisations have so far been reluctant to embrace.

For sustainability leadership, marketing, corporate communications and governance conferences, John Pabon is a sharp, well-credentialled and provocative choice. His presentations are built for audiences that have heard too many sustainability promises and want to understand what genuine progress looks like. He delivers insight with clarity and wit — and leaves organisations with a more honest assessment of where they stand and what it would actually take to close the gap.