Chief sustainability officers in demand as firms focus on ESG issues

An unprecedented hiring spree sweeps up everyone from marketers to scientists to plot the ESG future of companies. Picture: BLOOMBERG

The risks for companies perceived as moving too slowly are high. Just last month, the US Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a 500-page rule that would mandate corporate disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions. Activist investor Engine No. 1 forced a board shake-up at ExxonMobil last year in a dispute over climate change. That has thrust sustainability executives to the forefront as companies scramble to address new expectations, said Lucas Joppa, Microsoft’s chief environmental officer.

As demand has exploded, some companies are experiencing “sticker shock,” said Cheryl D’Cruz-Young, a recruiter at Korn Ferry. Total compensation can range from $800,000 to $1.5m , she said. Unlike members of the other chiefs in American C-suites — those who head up established disciplines such as finance, legal and human resources — the career paths of the burgeoning numbers of sustainability executives wind through roles as divergent as math and marketing, accounting and agriculture, or psychology and law.

Mandates for now are tailored to the type of business, but they are ever-evolving alongside the definition of ESG itself. “When it started, compliance was the name of the game,” said Neebe. “It has moved from ‘nice to do’ to ‘probably should do,’ to now, ‘must do.’ It’s a business imperative.”

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