Winners of the Futur/io CSO Awards Europe 25 Announced in Davos

(Davos, 20 January, 2025) The names of the most important Chief Sustainability Officers of Europe were announced at the Futur/io CSO Awards on Monday night. The celebration took place at a gala dinner at the iconic Hotel Schatzalp in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting week.  

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Claire Lund, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability of GSK received the Gold CSO Award. 

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The Silver Award went to Katie McGinty, Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer of Johnson Controls, while the Bronze Award was granted to Rajita D’Souza, President of Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility of ST Microelectronics.

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The Grand Jury also granted three Special Honour Awards to Petra Wicklandt from Merck Group, Karin Reiter from the Adecco Group, and Linda Freiner from Zurich Insurance. 

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Elena Valderrábano from Telefónica received a special Sustainable Supply Chain Award presented by Nick Heine, CCO & CSO of IntegrityNext. 

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List of the Winners on csoawards.org

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The Peer Award, chosen by the live audience of the CSO Awards gala ceremony, went to Anke Ehlers, Managing Director of International Sustainability at ALDI South, and was presented by Kevin Tayebaly, Co-Founder of ChangeNOW. 

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Among the speakers of the evening were Sandrine Dixson-Declève, of the Club of Rome, Ingmar Rentzhog, from We Don't Have Time, Joachim Swensson, of Made in Sustainability, Magnus Drewelies, of CEEZER Software, and jury members among others.

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“Here on the Magic Mountains of Davos, we look at the new year ahead, celebrating the humans who are role models in sustainability. By shining a light on the role of Chief Sustainability Officers, we hope to inspire others to be ambitious and work on building the desirable futures we want to live in”

– said Harald Neidhardt, CEO & Curator of the Futur/io Institute.

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The final winners were selected from the 20 Nominees list by a Grand Jury that includes some of the most influential and inspiring voices in sustainability. Members include John Elkington, known as “the Godfather of Sustainability”, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, honorary president of the Club of Rome, Claudia Malley, President and Managing Director of Partnerships at Economist Impact, and Livio Scalvini, Co-Founder and executive director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London. 

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Other members are Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO and founder of Competent Boards, José Manuel Gomes, Business Development Director at Medialivre, Chris Luebkeman, Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub at ETH Zürich and founder of [y]our2040, and Isabelle Grosmaître, Author and Founder and CEO at Goodness & Co. The Chair of the Jury is Harald Neidhardt, CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute. 

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This is the second edition of the CSO Awards Europe, 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 Chief Sustainability Officers globally. The North American edition of the CSO Awards took place during the New York Climate Week 2024. 

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The CSO Awards Europe is a collaboration with partner Made in Sustainability, and supported by premium partners Integrity Next and Waste Equity, together with scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, knowledge partners Denominator, Rainforest Partnership, Climate GPT, and Economist Impact, and also Gold Partner CEEZER Software. The complete list of community partners and supporting brands is available online. 

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Award Winners 

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Gold Award Winner

Claire Lund 

Vice President of Environmental Sustainability - GSK

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Silver Award Winner

Katie McGinty

Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer of Johnson Controls

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Bronze Award Winner

Rajita D'Souza

President of Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility - ST Microelectronics

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Special Honour

Petra Wicklandt

Head of Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance - Merck KGaA

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Special Honour

Karin Reiter

SVP Sustainability & ESG  - The Adecco Group

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Special Honour

Linda Freiner

Chief Sustainability Officer - Zurich Insurance

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Sustainable Supply Chain Award Winner

Elena Valderrábano

Global Chief Sustainability Officer - Telefónica

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Peer Award Winner

Anke Ehlers 

Managing Director of International Sustainability at ALDI South

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Awards Criteria 

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The 20 CSO Awards Europe Nominees 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. 

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CSO Awards Europe Grand Jury

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• 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 

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About Futur/io Institute

We believe in co-creating desirable futures where ideas and innovation drive a regenerative economy that benefits people and the planet within the planetary boundaries.

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The Futur/io Institute is a pioneering organisation to serve the most impactful network of Chief Sustainability Officers dedicated to transforming businesses to drive positive impact for people, planet and prosperity. We do this through publications, podcasts and convening at inspiring locations like Davos, Basel, Lisbon, Venice and New York.

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With a mission to inspire ambition, action and cross-pollination to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the institute provides a platform for thought leaders, innovators, and change-makers to shape the futures of business and society.

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Futur/io works with organisations like the UNFCCC or corporations in leadership training and curates Executive Programmes to inspire future leaders in sustainable innovation. Each year in Davos, the institute organizes executive receptions and recently debuted the annual CSO Awards to shine a light on the leadership role of Chief Sustainability Officers.

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Futur/io is based in Hamburg and works as a think-tank with a selected international and diverse faculty of 100+ leaders in sustainability. The most recent book “Leadership for Sustainable Futures” was published in May 2024 with Murmann Publishers. CEO & Curator Harald Neidhardt hosts the CSO Impact Podcast.

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