Embedding sustainability
The role of a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) can vary significantly depending on the specific companies or organizations they serve. Generally, their responsibilities encompass identifying sustainability risks and opportunities, setting assessment metrics, and reporting. Key deliverables for CSOs, especially in large corporations, include devising costed transition plans and addressing double materiality to evaluate how environmental changes impact the financials and vice versa. They also focus on devising improvement strategies and collaborating with stakeholders to implement necessary changes. However, like other emerging executive roles such as Chief Digital Officers and Chief Innovation Officers, CSOs often navigate through ambiguity, fragmentation, and overlapping functions during their initial phases.
To address these challenges, companies are recognizing the critical need to embed sustainability into governance and culture rather than standardizing the role itself. This shift focuses on empowering the entire organization to integrate sustainability into their operations. Upskilling the workforce and fostering a culture of sustainability are key strategies for achieving this integration. Companies are also moving away from roles centered on messaging, instead prioritizing the true integration of material ESG issues into corporate strategy and establishing structured reporting systems.
