Solutions for Our Times
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Estrella Partners Group, LLC
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Chief Sustainability Officer:
A New Face in the C-Suite
By Al Uretsky and Brigitte Bavousett

Introduction
Businesses today face increasing pressure to develop policies that are good for the planet,
good for consumers, and good for business. The new face sitting at the mahogany table in
the C-Suite is the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), also known as Chief Green Officer
(CGO). The CSO is the one eyeing that mahogany table and wondering if the wood was
sustainably harvested, or if it endured a long carbon-emitting overseas-transportation
process to its new home in the C-Suite. These are but a few of the issues a CSO must
address in an effort to meet a business' sustainability goals, be they voluntary courses of
action, or an effort to proactively comply with pending legislations at the city, state, federal
and/or international levels.
The first official school of sustainability to offer a comprehensive, interdisciplinary education
for a Masters or PhD in sustainability opened its doors in 2007 at Arizona State University.
Previously, many businesses began to appoint CSOs before any degreed graduates had
completed their curriculum. The momentum of sustainability, and lack of educational
institutions offering a degree in sustainability, prompted a majority of companies to
reorganize from within and then train a newly-titled long-term manager or higher level
executive to run a sustainability program. Often this individual possessed an academic
background in his or her field as well as leadership attributes developed during years of
real-world experience. The intrinsic challenges of trial-by-fire as a CSO are further
complicated by the onslaught of new sustainability policies, methodologies, mandates,
regulations, certifications, and the nebulous nature of sustainability itself. Many of today's
CSOs may still be getting their feet wet with sustainability initiatives, and haven't had the
time to study and facilitate a systems-thinking approach.
Due to the lack of sustainability degrees, the majority of newly appointed CSOs quickly took
advantage of the plethora of internet courses, hands-on workshops, and conventions to
learn as much as they could about the different aspects of sustainability (e.g.,
environmental, economic and societal). These offerings taught them the major challenge
for CSOs is to find and ensure the financial gains of sustainable practices, be they direct
and indirect cost savings, avoiding costs, competitive advantages for the expanding green
market, as well as all factors that contribute to enduring sustainability practices within their
organizations.

Defining the Role of a CSO
A Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), sometimes known by other titles such as a Chief Green
Officer (CGO), or Chief Environmental Commitment Officer (CECO), is the corporate
executive in charge of ‘environmental’ programs. Sustainability also encompasses
economic and societal needs, although environmental work is the most common
perception of a CSO.
In the past, these responsibilities were usually at a VP level and resided with the Facility
Manager, who provided cost effective resource and environmental control as part of the
basic services necessary for the company to function. This has changed over the years as
organizations are getting better educated and recognize that sustainability is more than just
environmental and has many other implications directly impacted by and impacting a firm’s
operation.
Several companies have created such positions over the past decade to formalize their
commitment to the environment. More than 150 companies by 2005, and that number has
doubled to date, implying there is a larger percentage of firms that have not yet addressed
this cultural change. Some companies that have adopted this role have done so only to
show they are socially responsible on the surface, without a full understanding of the
details and ability to implement a sustainability program. Fads come and go, albeit this is
no fad. Sustainability is here to stay and should thus become a part of an executive’s
leadership core values. The sooner companies acknowledge this fact, and start to leverage
this function, they will see benefits realization such as cost savings, increased brand
image, increased social responsibility, increased corporate stability, potentially decreased
legal costs and decreased healthcare expenses.
The CSO position is primarily responsible for giving back to their communities,
implementing and managing the corporation's commitment to reducing its carbon footprint
and protecting the environment. They also embed sustainable practices with their
employees. Defining this role as a corporate officer reinforces the efforts performed to
reduce the corporation's costs of ownership and operations, by giving increased validity,
responsibility, and accountability to this role.
As such, the CSO should be positioned as the highest-ranking corporate administrator of
the organization's eco-friendly programs, initiatives, and education, and share the
responsibility with the CEO and COO for the Direction of Research and Development of new
technologies and strategies for the organization. The CSO reports to the CEO or the Board
of Directors. The SCO and the COO could be peers, or have a dotted line from one to
another, but it is recommended that the CSO is a senior level member of leadership with
accountability to the CEO. The CSO needs to work closely with the COO if one exists in the
organization.