Video transcript: How sustainability leaders are creating change
3:15
How sustainability leaders are creating change
Transcript
Zubin Randeria, ESG Leader, PwC UK
The role of a chief sustainability officer is a really tough gig, isn't it? The CSO needs to inspire others around the organisation. It needs to make the case of change when others may want to deal with the short term pressures that an organisation is faced with and to create value for the longer term without necessarily scaremongering.
Jena Trolio, Sustainability Programme Director, Haleon
I would say one of the biggest transitions at Haleon would be building sustainability from the job that the sustainability team do to building sustainability into everyone's day job.
So if I'm a product formulator, what capabilities, skills, tools do I need to know how to more sustainably think about my product format. If I'm in packaging? If I'm a marketeer?
Darshana Myronidis, Group Sustainability Director, Virgin
I mean, sustainability is never just about sustainability, right? I think that what we're finding is sustainability was always thought of as just compliance and textbooks, but now it's a strategic element of a business that means that it's true transformation and it's changing the way that we actually do business.
Elisa Moscolin, Executive Vice President, Sustainability, Sage
The single most important thing to make a board listen to you is to make it relevant to the business. They have a very important mandate back to their stakeholders. So making sure that the agenda you bring at the board is relevant and shows and talks about the business value, risks and opportunities is what gets their attention.
Cat Schroeder, ESG Assurance Leader, PwC UK
So I think with the reporting and regulatory environment, there has been a disproportionate focus on compliance, whereas actually this information is so important in making decisions about where your business should be going.
Hannah Cool, ESG Transformation Director, PwC UK
Data is so much more important than it sounds. The biggest pitfall that I see regularly is not having the CTO or the CDO part of your sustainability transformation plan, get them in the room, get them on point and get them involved.
Zubin Randeria, ESG Leader, PwC UK
The technology is going to play a critical role in solving some of these challenges. And therefore, if you can equip yourself to understand the technology landscape and how to use technology effectively, you are going to be very successful as a CSO.
Mark Henderson, Director of Corporate Affairs, Wellcome Trust
What you need to do is to make it absolutely clear to the board members that this isn't something optional, something you do on top of everything else in the way that you used to do. CSR. But that actually has to be integrated into the entire organisation's operations and strategy if it's going to be effective.
Zubin Randeria, ESG Leader, PwC UK
It's hard, isn’t it? tough for boards. Many boards see sustainability dominated by the regulatory burden and the cost of compliance. Whereas an increasing number of enlightened boards see sustainability as a source of competitive advantage. And therefore framing the sustainability agenda as a business model opportunity and an investor opportunity, you can create value.
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