Top 20 Chief Sustainability Officers of Europe Announced by Futur/io

(Davos/Hamburg, December 10, 2024) Today, the names of the Top 20 Chief Sustainability Officers of Europe that are nominated for the CSO Awards 25 were revealed by Futur/io Institute. The members of the Grand Jury that will select the winners of the CSO Awards are also released. 

The final winners will be announced during the World Economic Forum Week at the Futur/io CSO Awards Gala Ceremony on 20 January, in Davos, Switzerland.

The 20 CSO Awards Nominees are, in alphabetical order:

• Anna Celsing Klingberg - Alfa Laval
• Christoph Nabholz - Swiss Re
• Claire Lund - Gsk
• Cléa Martinet - Renault Group
• Constance Chalchat - BNP Paribas Cib
• Elena Valderrábano - Telefónica
• Ingrid De Ryck - Ab Inbev
• Karin Reiter - The Adecco Group
• Katharina Stenholm - DSM-Firmenich
• Katie McGinty - Johnson Controls
• Lena Hök - Skanska
• Linda Freiner - Zurich Insurance
• Márcia Balisciano - Relx
• Melanie Kubin-Hardewig - Deutsche Telekom
• Nicolas Mounard - Barry Callebaut Group
• Noémie Bauer - Pernod Ricard
• Pascal Brun - Zalando
• Petra Wicklandt - Merck Gruppe
• Rajita D'Souza - STMicroelectronics
• Saskia Günther - Swisscom

The Grand Jury, who will choose the three winners among the 20 nominees, showcases a diversity of influential and inspiring sustainability voices: 

• Sandrine Dixson-Declève, co-president of the Club of Rome; Author & Chair of Earth4All
• John Elkington, Founder & Chief Pollinator at Volans, known as “the Godfather of Sustainability” 
• Claudia Malley, President and Managing Director of Partnerships at Economist Impact
• Livio Scalvini, co-founder and executive director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London
• Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO and founder of Competent Boards
• José Manuel Gomes, Business Development Director at Medialivre, Portugal
• Chris Luebkeman, Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub at ETH Zürich and founder of [y]our2040
• Isabelle Grosmaître, Author and Founder and CEO at Goodness & Co.
• Harald Neidhardt, CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute, as the Chair of the Grand Jury 

Now in its second edition, the CSO Awards Europe is an initiative of the Futur/io Institute, a pioneering organisation dedicated to nurturing and inspiring leadership in sustainable innovation and building the most impactful network of CSOs globally. The North American edition of the CSO Awards had its first edition during the New York Climate Week 2024. 

“With the CSO Awards, we want to create a tradition of celebrating the most prominent Chief Sustainability Officers of the world, highlighting the importance of championing change within corporations. That’s a tough challenge, but key to building desirable futures and a sustainable world,” says Harald Neidhardt, CEO & Curator of the Futur/io Institute. 

“The purpose of having a Jury in our CSO Awards is to integrate the human factor into the evaluation criteria for our CSO Awards, helping to identify and promote CSOs who are not only effective sustainability leaders, but also empathetic, innovative, and capable of fostering positive change within their organisations and beyond.” added Harald Neidhardt.

The Top 20 names have been drawn from the Top100 CSOs of Europe list, compiled by Futur/io using an extensive database including all the major European companies. The shortlist was defined using a four-quadrant model criteria, developed by Futur/io and scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, and supported by knowledge partners Denominator, specialized in human-centric data, Rainforest Partnership, focused on biodiversity and ClimateGPT by Erasmus.ai adding a balanced public sentiment on the Top 100 CSOs.

The four quadrant model takes into consideration the maturity of corporate behaviours, regulatory performance on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) criteria, environmental and human impact and also a self-assessment survey. 

Now, the members of the Grand Jury will add the human factor to the selection process, using their expertise to choose the final winners. Their names will be announced at a gala ceremony on 20 January 2025 in the iconic Schatzalp Hotel in Davos, Switzerland, during the week of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. The CSO Awards Europe is supported by premium partner IntegrityNext.

CSO Awards Europe Grand Jury:

‍Sandrine Dixson-Declève 

Co-President of the Club of Rome and Earth4All initiator. She chairs the European Commission’s Expert Group on Economic and Societal Impact of Research & Innovation (ESIR), and is involved in climate missions and advisory boards for organisations like BMW, UCB Climate KIC, and Imperial College London.

A TED global speaker and author, Sandrine’s recent publications like Earth4All aim to guide humanity towards a sustainable future. She was recognised most recently by Reuters as one of 25 global female trailblazers and by GreenBiz as one of the 30 most influential women across the globe driving change in the low-carbon economy and promoting green business.

‍John Elkington

‍Founder of Volans and chief pollinator. A true pioneer and foundational figure in the global sustainability movement, John brings over 50 years of experience as a strategic advisor to businesses across the world. 

‍Known as the creator of the "Triple Bottom Line" concept—People, Planet, and Profit—John’s visionary approach has become a fundamental part of business strategy worldwide. He has been at the forefront of movements such as the Global Reporting Initiative, Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes, and B Lab UK, and continues to guide sustainability conversations globally. 

John has addressed over 1,000 conferences around the world and was a faculty member of the World Economic Forum from 2002-2008. He is the author or co-author of 21 books including the best-selling Green Consumer Guide and the recently published “Tickling Sharks”.

‍Claudia Malley

‍President and Managing Director of Economist Impact, leading the global partnership business rooted in designing transformational solutions combining the rigour of a think tank with the creativity of a media brand to drive meaningful impact for organisations and the World.

A skilled executive with over 30 years of experience working at the intersection of purpose and media, Claudia has led corporate partnership business at global brands, including Disney, National Geographic and Runner’s World, driving both growth and impact by transforming the business model with new enterprise-wide partnership paradigms, award-winning brand storytelling, and purpose-based digital community platforms. 

She is known as a valued partner across a range of Fortune 500 companies, creating ‘what’s next’ and helping to navigate critical global issues using her purpose-driven brand expertise, creative energy, and solution-based approach.

‍Livio Scalvini 

‍Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London and leads the Sustainable Development Strategy of Imperial College Business School. 

With over 30 years of international experience in entrepreneurship, innovation, social impact, and venture capital, Livio's expertise spans diverse sectors including finance, sustainability, and education. His extensive background includes serving in C-level roles at financial institutions, advising start-ups, and co-founding the GOLDEN for Impact Foundation.

He has published books and articles on entrepreneurship, sustainability, business strategy, strategic planning, and risk management. He served as an advisor and investor in a wide range of start-ups and NGOs across Europe and Africa. Livio holds a Degree in Economics & Business Administration, MSc in Macroeconomics, and Executive Education in Exponential Technologies at Singularity University.

‍Helle Bank Jorgensen

‍CEO and founder of Competent Boards, the world's first globally accessible board training program, Helle is a leading global expert on governance and sustainable business practices, with a 30-year record of turning environmental, social, and governance risks into innovative and profitable business opportunities. 

Helle’s Amazon bestseller, Stewards of the Future: A Guide for Competent Boards, was published in 2022. She is a regular contributor to FTs Agenda and interviewed by many leading publications.

A business lawyer and certified public accountant by training, Helle is an internationally recognized voice on governance, sustainability, climate, and nature and serves at Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence’s Sustainability & ESG Insights Council; World Economic Forum (WEF) Expert Network for Corporate Governance, Leadership, and Emerging Multinationals; and as co-chair, global expert panel, Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) established by HM King Charles III, among other roles.

Board members and executives in over 55 countries – many from Fortune 500 companies – have achieved certification from Competent Boards, and have gone on to help their companies mitigate the risks and seize the opportunities presented by the ever-evolving governance landscape.

In addition to Competent Boards, Helle has a few other brainchildren, including the world's first green account, the first integrated report, the first holistic supply chain program and many innovative business solutions, and latest The Future Boardroom. 

‍José Manuel Gomes 

‍Business Development Director at Medialivre, one of the main media conglomerates in Portugal. He leads the commercial area and develops growth and innovation strategies for the company.

He started his professional career in 1998 with the launch of Jornal de Negócios. José Manuel led the launch of Negocios.pt, initially being responsible for the editorial area and later becoming the general manager. With the acquisition of the newspaper by Cofina, he became the digital commercial director of the group, where he continued to expand his skills in management and business development.

In 2014, José Manuel was promoted to Deputy General Commercial Director of the entire commercial area of Cofina Media. In this position, he was responsible for the group's 360º offering, which includes advertising on TV, newspapers and magazines, digital, Branded Content, Events, and Activations. 

In addition to his corporate career, José Manuel has also dedicated himself to academia, teaching at Porto Business School, Universidade Europeia, and Universidade Católica Portuguesa. His academic background includes a degree in Management from ISG, a Postgraduate degree in E-Business from ISEG, an Executive MBA from ISCTE, the AMP Advanced Management Program from Universidade Católica and Kellogg School of Management (Chicago), and the Strategic Leadership Program from ISEG and Columbia University (New York).

‍Chris Luebkeman 

‍Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub within the Office of the President at ETH Zurich, and founder of [y]our2040 community which is focused on creating pragmatic positive scenarios for the future.

His career to date has spanned professions and geographies. It started with a multidisciplinary education which was encouraged by his Mid-Western USA family of educators and entrepreneurs (Vanderbilt: degrees in geology and civil engineering, Cornell: structural engineering, entrepreneurship and at ETH Zurich: Doctorate in Architecture). He was then a faculty at the University of Oregon, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and at MIT where he taught courses on Design and Technology. 

He joined Arup in London to lead the Research and Development group in 1999 and became a corporate intrapreneur by founding the Foresight, Innovation and Incubation teams. He is proud to have been accused by the Guardian of having a mindset “in league with the future”. For twenty years he travelled the globe sharing his observations and insights by leading projects focused on the future for Arup, Arup’s clients and for many of the world’s leading institutions. 

He has spoken at TED, WEF, Aspen Design, keynoted hundreds of other conferences around the world and is a member of the nominating committee for the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. 

‍Isabelle Grosmaître

‍Founder & CEO of Goodness & Co, a new kind of change management consultancy to serve CEOs, leaders and organisations on a mission to shift purpose into practice. Author of "Business as a Force for Good – How Courageous Leaders Shift Purpose Into Practice”.

As Catalyst of Change, Isabelle is at the heart of leadership movements, acting for better futures. She is the Steward of the For Good Leaders movement, Co-founder of the “Board Member Program” of ChangeNOW, Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA), and Co-founder of Generation Glasgow. She has joined the 100 Women @Davos, the global community of impactful women leaders of the World Economic Forum.

‍Chair of the Grand Jury: Harald Neidhardt

‍CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute, where he has grown an influential faculty and think tank of innovators, futurists and thought leaders – home to the co-creators of desirable, regenerative futures. He is the initiator of the Futur/io CSO Awards for sustainable leadership and the host of the CSO Impact Podcast.

Harald is an advisor to the UNFCCC Resilient Frontiers initiative, Future Council of the Berlin Expo 2035 initiative and a prior expert member of the World Economic Forum workgroup on digital platforms & ecosystems projects. He is a Singularity University alumnus and is a keynote speaker on sustainable innovation at many international conferences, including COP26, TEDx (Hongkong, Hamburg, Marrakesh), SXSW, SingularityU Summit (NL/USA/DE), Wired, Next, MWC/4YFN and is a speaker at corporate executive events. 

He’s published five books, most recently “Leadership for Sustainable Futures”, “Moonshots for Europe”, and “Before this Decade is Out”.

‍Selection Criteria: the Four Quadrant Model

‍1 - Science & Behaviour Based Maturity Index - Imperial College (External Research Based): 

The Leonardo Centre at Imperial College has created a comprehensive global dataset that analyses corporate sustainability behaviours, enabling a thorough assessment of the maturity levels of the top 100 companies. Utilising this dataset, the Impact Maturity Index ranks companies within various sectors and geographies, providing valuable insights into their sustainability performance.

‍2 - ESG Qualitative Rating (External Research Based): 

Using publicly available ESG Ratings, it was assessed which companies are exceeding regulatory requirements in their advancements on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria.

‍3 - Planet (Internal & External Research Based) & People (External Research Based):

Futur/io trained an AI tool to analyse 100 sustainability reports from the companies of the Top 100 shortlisted CSOs for the CSO Awards, extracting pertinent information on Greenhouse Gas emissions, Biodiversity measures, and Water usage. Additionally, research partner Rainforest Partnership carried out an in-depth analysis on biodiversity aspects of each company. 

Finally, research partner Denominator created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) matrix score and research partner Rainforest Partnership created a matrix score for rainforest impact to assess relevant data in these areas. After that, scores were assigned for these five impact areas (GHG, Biodiversity, Water, DEI and Rainforest Impact).

‍4 - Survey & Self-Assessment (Internal Research Based):

The Top 100 CSOs were invited to contribute to a Survey & Self-Assessment, based on external ESG Ratings and the Imperial College Maturity Index.

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