Chief sustainability officer
Chief sustainability officer, sometimes known by other titles, is the corporate title of an executive position within a corporation that is in charge of the corporation's "environmental" programmes. Several companies have created such environmental manager positions in the 21st century to formalize their commitment to the environment.[1] Normally these responsibilities rest with the facility manager, who has provided cost effective resource and environmental control as part of the basic services necessary for the company to function. However, as sustainability initiatives have expanded beyond the facility — so has the importance of the position to what is now a C-level executive role.
As of 2005, nearly all of the 150 largest companies in the world had a sustainability officer with the rank of vice president or higher, and numerous MBA programs had incorporated sustainability training.[2] A 2011 study[3] found that the majority of top corporate sustainability executives are two degrees removed from their CEO in the corporate hierarchy, meaning that their boss reports to the CEO.
Examples
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- Enterprise Holdings, Inc.: Lee Broughton
- AT&T: Charlene Lake
- Covanta Energy: Paul Gilman
- DuPont: Linda Fisher
- SAP: Dr. Peter Graf
- Siemens: Barbara Kux
- Sun Microsystems: David Douglas
- YRC Worldwide: Mike Kelley
- Alliance Boots: Ornella Barra
- VANOC : Ann Duffy
- Vedanta Resources: Tony Henshaw
- Tata Power : Dr. Y. K. Saxena
- UPS: Scott Wicker
- Sinclair Knight Merz: Nick Fleming
- AECOM: Gary Lawrence
- Nike: Hannah Jones
Alternative titles
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Some alternate titles referring to the person in charge of sustainability are:
- Director, VP, EVP, or SVP of Sustainability
- Environmental policy manager
- Director of environment, energy, & safety
- Director of social & environmental responsibility
- Chief officer of environment
- Social & environmental sustainability manager
- Chief of environmental health and safety
- Certified sustainability administrator
See also
- Chief green officer (CGO)
- Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
- Employee engagement
- Micro-sustainability
- Sustainability
- Environmental Manager
References
- ^ Lianne R. Gourji (January–February 2008). "Adding Sustainability to the C-Suite". Corporate Board Member.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Bob Willard (2005). The Next Sustainability Wave: Building Boardroom Buy-In. New Society Publishers. ISBN 0-86571-532-7.
- ^ Schatsky, David. "Annual Sustainability Executive Survey, 2012". Green Research. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
Further reading
- Claudia H. Deutsch (2007-07-03). "Companies Giving Green an Office". The New York Times. The New York Times Company.
- "Green Pinstripes". Retrieved February 24, 2010.
External links
- CSO Back Story:How Chief Sustainability Officers Reached the C-Suite by Weinreb Group
- The Emergence of The Chief Sustainability Officer from Acre Resources
- Chief Sustainability Officer Career Stats (U.S.) at Myfuture.com
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