Last week, I participated in Climate Week along with hundreds of other sustainability professionals. Climate Week is the largest climate event of its kind, held annually in New York City since 2009 and happening alongside the United Nations General Assembly. Climate Week convenes government, business and civil society leaders to showcase climate action.
Representing CSL as the company’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, I arrived eager to share our sustainability approach and goals with others. I’m especially interested in learning from organizations that are farther along in their environmental sustainability journey and those who have made progress in areas of interest to CSL, like Scope 3 (how to reduce indirect emissions created by suppliers).
In roundtables and individual discussions within health care, we explored a more sustainable path forward for our industry, and how to positively contribute to society and the environment. I met with solutions companies advancing innovative methods for helping organizations identify and measure their impacts. It became clear that expanding deep collaboration across industries will help make meaningful advancement on our shared goals.
It was also valuable to observe how all businesses are called to adapt to evolving sustainability definitions, data measurement, tracking, technologies and regulatory changes. The key is to remain flexible. Our approach to sustainability at CSL has always been equally focused on our priorities while being adaptable. I am encouraged by the growing list of technologies aimed at addressing companies’ Scope 3 challenges. Harnessing the world’s supply chain data for strategy development, decision-making and ease of reporting will help ensure transparency and drive more responsible business globally.
These discussions also confirmed for me that CSL’s Sustainability Strategy sets us up for long-term success. I shared our ongoing work of embedding sustainability throughout the organization and our everyday processes. Attendees appreciated that CSL links Sustainability with Employee Health & Safety, Network Strategy and Portfolio Management in one enterprise function. This integration allows us to ensure all projects and investments are considered through a sustainability lens at inception and we’ll ask employees to make sustainability a daily responsibility, much like safety and quality.
Similarly, the significant actions we’ve undertaken leave us well-positioned to achieve our Science Based Targets ambition of aligning with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement, which we submitted in June 2023. As a company with a complex supply chain and global footprint, proactively monitoring our evolving sustainability landscape – and adapting as we progress on our journey – will keep CSL on track.
I returned to the office optimistic about the potential for progress across industries, and CSL’s progress to date. Certainly, there is a lot to be done. I am encouraged by the opportunities I see to innovate, to accelerate positive change, and to usher in a more responsible way of doing business that will preserve the planet. CSL is doing its part by collaborating with purpose together with our partners, suppliers and our passionate employees.
