In today’s advanced economy, where we can often see the outcomes of our business decisions on the environment, large companies are concerned about their business’s impact on the world. Sustainability has become a global goal. A business must address all three facets of sustainability—environmental, social equality, and financial goals. Many businesses are adding a chief sustainability officer to their list of C-suite staff to succeed in meeting those goals.
When we see the numerous advantages a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) offers the corporate world, it is not surprising that companies initiate a sustainability strategy to help the company achieve better eco-friendly tactics, social equality, and financial success.
Chief Sustainability Officers in Today’s Business World
What does a sustainability manager do? The CSO’s role in today’s business world is broad and varied. A general description would be that they run the “environmental” programs, which could include a lot.
So, what does a chief sustainability officer do? They address sustainability issues in and around the company, and they:
help the company meet UN sustainability targets
highlight the importance of sustainability to all C-suite executives
communicate environmental risks and prospects connected with sustainability and how the company’s profit margin could be affected
set a sustainability strategy and monitor existing projects
report to executives on sustainability world news and advancements
acquire and maintain environmental certifications, such as the USDA Organic certification
navigate the technical feasibility of goals, such as how to calculate the company’s carbon footprint or carbon emissions
manage for sustainability, which means managing the “sustainable element” of company systems such as waste management and supporting a circular economy
Average Sustainability Officer Salary
According to Salary.com, a sustainability officer’s salary ranges between $202,482 and $317,897, averaging $249,746 as of July 2024.
Different Names of the Chief Sustainability Officer
The chief sustainability officer CSO can also be known as the sustainability manager, the director of sustainability, the head of sustainability, or the environmental officer. Don’t be confused by the title “Microsoft Sustainability Manager,” which is not a person at all but an app that allows organizations to record, report, and reduce environmental impact.
The Role of the Chief Sustainability Officer in Sustainability Management
What is a chief sustainability officer? More recently, we have seen larger companies step up to the plate, managing sustainability more seriously. While it is reasonable to assume that their main objectives are to use sustainability goals to boost customer loyalty or advance other financial company goals, reports show that implementing economic sustainability changes generally spills over to all sorts of environmental advantages.
Sustainable Tech Partner devotes a page on its site to listing CSO executives worldwide, including chief sustainability officers of large businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations. Some of the big names include PepsiCo Foods North America, Deloitte, and Morgan Stanley. The 750-strong list is updated monthly, showing the tremendous growth expected in this area.
Why is a Chief Sustainability Officer important?
There is a rising demand for corporate transparency, not only from a financial perspective, but also from an environmental perspective. This is known as double materiality in corporate strategy. Companies must now manage their ESG (Environmental, social, and governance) impacts and are expected to report them transparently to stakeholders and the public. Employing a Chief Sustainability Officer dedicates a C-executive to this important role, managing not only sustainability efforts, but maintaining the company’s transparency and public reputation at large.
Having a C-level officer in charge of sustainability issues significantly raises the status of the issues. The CSO role would complement the existing role of head of ESG in more than 90% of companies in the top 100 FSTE index.
6 Business Advantages of a Chief Sustainability Officer
Recently, the investor ESG movement has grown significantly, and investors are increasingly interested in buying shares of environmentally and socially high-scoring companies. Consequently, companies must increasingly consider the impact of their environmental decisions across the entire value chain. That pushes sustainability and ESG leadership up to a C-level executive role, which brings with it powerful advantages and influence.f
A chief sustainability officer can:
Awareness and compliance: It is the chief sustainability officer’s responsibility to research environmental sustainability issues, and to ensure awareness of and compliance with contemporary ESG laws while using critical thinking in understanding their long-term impact and potential fluctuations.
Drive growth: Help organizations avoid bad publicity, fines, and remedial obligations and be able to channel that capital into real growth. Performance management is also the CSO’s role as they evaluate organizational activities. They often also evaluate effectiveness of strategy implementation and its cost effectiveness.
Stakeholder Relationships: Increase positive stakeholder interactions and evaluation of organizational activities, including those of investors, suppliers, and customers. By building healthy relationships that are a response to stakeholder interests, the chief sustainability officer can then use those bonds to further sustainability projects that center around your organization.
Direction management: An executive director of sustainability draws on skills from varied backgrounds of executives who become chief sustainability officers and can offer a strategic roadmap to build “holistic” sustainability programs. This enables organizations to manage environmental consequences and other facets that affect society and business toward profit.
Bilateral development: Chief sustainability officers contribute to the company’s development bilaterally by finding opportunities for innovation while reducing risks.
Strategies alignment: Aligning an organization’s business model and sustainability strategy needs an officer with outstanding communication skills since stakeholders often have conflicting perspectives and objectives. They must present corporate sustainability initiatives as a success unfolding. A chief sustainability officer is uniquely qualified to help sustainable practices take root in the company, its culture, and its overall mission.
How Folene Packaging Connects with the Chief Sustainability Officer
Folene Packaging is a forward-looking packaging company serving large end-users and distributors. We offer a supreme packaging material made of polyolefin, the premier polymer-based plastic. This material is effective and economical as a heat-shrink option. Our representatives will explain the different types of packaging we offer, many of which are customizable in terms of width, perforations, and gauge.
Folene packaging offers a full range of shrink-wrap packaging options. Many of the Flxtite® options are recyclable, and our groundbreaking Ecolene® line is 100% biodegradable. Ecolene® utilizes the environment to return the material to the environment through a simple, naturally occurring process of breakdown. We look forward to discussing the options with your sustainability director, vice president of Purchasing, Director of Material Procurement, Owner, or General Manager.
Contact us to learn more about Folene Packaging and how it can increase your organization’s sustainability agenda through your chief sustainability officer.
