3 ways to win sustainability allies in the C-suite

Many top sustainability professionals are at least one rung away from the executive leadership committee on their corporate organizational ladder.

Encouraging that group to prioritize environmental initiatives requires sustainability leaders to frequently reach beyond their direct boss.

“You basically have the seed of a mandate,” said Kim Luu, vice president, head of global sustainability and ESG at semiconductor supplier onsemi, during a session at GreenBiz 26 in February. “And it’s up to you to find the drivers, the value proposition and to quantify that over and over again in many conversations to really drive that message home.”

At onsemi, for example, sustainability strategy is tucked under the chief marketing officer, although Luu has the opportunity to present to the company’s board on a quarterly basis. Drink-mix maker Liquid I.V. uses a similar structure: Its impact function, which prioritizes water stewardship, reports to marketing.

“Our consumers want us to be doing these things,” said Jayce Newton, director of impact at Liquid I.V., during the same GreenBiz session. “There is a direct correlation between their love of the brand and the work that we do in impact, water and sustainability.”

The panel generated a host of useful strategies for persuading leaders to back sustainability initiatives. Here are three of the most important.

Demonstrate sustainability’s ability to generate sales

Liquid I.V., which is a Unilever subsidiary, dedicates 1 percent of its annual revenue to its impact program, which aims to expand global access to drinking water. 

Because that work is “financially significant,” Newton has regular meetings with Liquid I.V.’s CEO to make sure he is abreast of both wins and challenges. He also keeps closely connected to the company’s heads of regulatory affairs, supply chain and research and development.

“The data that I always like to have on hand when talking with the C-suite is our consumer engagement data,” Newton said.

For cosmetics retailer Ulta Beauty, environment, social and governance issues are also critical drivers of consumer engagement. Even though sustainability technically reports into the legal function, the merchandising team is an important ally in advancing strategy.

“Our customers want to know that the products they’re buying are sustainable, and we essentially work with our brand partners to highlight the work that they’re doing, which helps bring customers in our door and drive sales,” said Ame Igharo, senior director of sustainability strategy at Ulta Beauty. 

It’s important to tailor messages about business value for the audience, the panelists said. 

The onsemi sustainability team, for example, collects information about the ESG pledges of the company’s customers so that its sales team can be prepared during pitches. 

“We’ll have these meetings with them, where we will dissect this from a customer perspective — what our customers’ sustainability goals are, whether it’s a functional sustainability goal or an operational sustainability goal,” Luu said. “We’ll break it down for them and tell them the key words they should be listening to, in order to help them better make a sale. It’s this idea of we’re all in this together for the same result.” 

Build relationships that aren’t merely transactional

When Igharo joined Ulta four years ago, she spent her first few months meeting with executives from across the retailer, getting up to speed on their accountabilities and asking leaders how they envisioned being involved in the work of developing its science-based targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, eventually validated in 2023.  

“From the very beginning, it was about co-creation versus me coming in and defining what it was going to be,” Igharo said. “We weren’t going to actually be able to drive something forward unless we were on the same page of what this could be and what we wanted it to be for the organization.”

When it came to communicating about Ulta’s science-based targets, the messaging came from the chief merchandising officer rather than the sustainability team, because they were the partners in that work. 

The entire merchandising organization received training on how to discuss the goals, because they would have to convince the companies behind the brands Ulta sells that this is something to prioritize.

“Having these internal advocates bringing it into their day-to-day relationships and meetings with brand partners really helped us make significant progress,” Igharo said.  

Develop a credible proxy for when you can’t be in a meeting

While the executives from Liquid I.V., onsemi and Ulta all have access to their company’s top leadership, that’s not always the case for one- or two-person sustainability teams that report two or three layers lower than the C-suite.

To attract attention, they suggested, start with a small project aligned with the company’s key performance indicators, making sure that key influencers hear about the results. An example might involve changing the sort of paper the company buys by collaborating with the procurement team, then reporting on how that affects both sustainability and financial goals.

“That can create a pull for why others will want to reach out to you for your expertise,” Luu said. “Just be realistic about what you’re able to accomplish.”

Another way to add sustainability to the agenda — even if the sustainability team can’t be in the room — is to identify individuals who are trusted by those leaders and train them to deliver progress reports and other important messages.

“Someone’s direct report generally has more trust with them than I will ever be able to build with an occasional face to face,” Igharo said. “They can really be both your champions and your advocates for pushing things forward.”