In this article « Realistic… really? » (SDA Bocconi Insight, La Libellula, October 2025), I critique the widespread invocation of « realism » by leaders and executives to justify weakening environmental commitments—such as scaling back ESG reporting, abandoning the 2035 combustion engine ban, retreating from « no net land take » by 2050, failing plastic pollution negotiations, and delaying regenerative agriculture.

While acknowledging the need for feasible goals and social support, I identify three flaws in this approach: an anthropological/moral issue (enabling denial, e.g., Trump’s 2025 UN speech), an economic one (procrastination escalates costs amid worsening crises like ocean acidification crossing a planetary boundary), and a political one (short-termism ignoring science).

Drawing on reports (EEA 2025, Dasgupta Review) and SDA Bocconi research, I argue that true realism demands urgent, evidence-based action for a nature-positive transition to safeguard competitiveness and avoid irreversible damage.