Networking, organisational knowledge, and a thorough grounding in the business singled out as essential attributes for CSOs in report from IIF and Deloitte
The role of chief sustainability officer (CSO) is set to become more and more common over the coming years across the finance sector, as firms step up efforts to align their operations and financial activity with environmental and social goals.
That is according to a study of more than 80 sustainability professionals working across the global finance sector published this week by Deloitte UK and the Institute of International Finance, a global finance industry association.
Nearly all survey respondents said they believed the role of chief sustainability officer (CSO) would "grow in prominence" over the next two years, as firms worked to mitigate climate risks and align their operations and investments with global climate goals and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) strategies.
"The CSO is emerging as the organisation's 'sense-maker in chief'," the report reads. "Understanding and predicting changes in the external sustainability environment has become essential to the role. So has navigating, influencing, and cutting through organisational complexities to allow the organisation to deliver on its ESG commitments for commercial gain."
Fewer than 15 per cent of survey respondents said their firm had a CSO in place, but nearly half reported their business had a similar role in place, such as head of sustainability. Roughly 12 per cent of respondents said their firm had a head of ESG, and less than one quarter reported no equivalent role in their organisation.
While the mandates of CSOs vary from firm to firm, responses to the survey suggest there are number of responsibilities seen to be integral to corporate sustainability leaders' work across the board. Senior sustainabilityt executives are required to make sense of the external environment and bring insights back into the firm; help the organisation reconfigure its strategy; and provide thought leadership and align management teams with the firm's overarching sustainability agenda, the report concluded.
Respondents to the survey singled out networking, organisational knowledge, and a thorough grounding in the business as essential attributes for CSOs.
IIF chairman Axel Weber emphasised that firms should tailor their sustainability agenda to their specific needs and circumstances. "One thing is clear: these are whole firm efforts, they need a strong and strategic mandate, and each firm must find its own approach that works for its structure and culture," he said.
One third of survey respondents said their firm's CSO reported directly to the chief executive officer. Reporting to the head of communications or marketing was the second most frequent reporting line highlighted in the study, with lines to the heads of HR and strategy also relatively common.
The report noted that CSOs that said they reported directly to their CEOs said this relationship was the "cornerstone of effectiveness in the role".
Anna Celner, global banking and capital markets leader at Deloitte Global, said chief sustainability officers would be critical to helping businesses address the climate emergency. "CSOs focused on measurable, decisive action can help make this a reality, and the more empowered we can make them, the more impact we will see across all areas of an organisation," she said. "The future of our people, planet, and professions depend on it."