Lifestyle | opinion THE RISE OF THE ‘CHIEF SUSTAINABILITY OFFICER’ Chartered Manager, Eman Deabil (DipESG, PfMP, IPMO-P, SIP), explores the rise of the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) role worldwide and in our region based on data availability. Sustainability has become an increasingly important topic in recent years. With sustainability being the talk of the town, businesses around the world are recognising the need to take serious actions to address critical challenges such as climate change, social justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion. One way that organisations are approaching this is by appointing a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) to oversee their sustainability practices. The First Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) The role of the Chief Sustainability Officer is to oversee a company’s sustainability practices, including environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and metrics. This can include developing and monitoring sustainability framework, strategies, setting objectives and targets, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and reporting standards. The CSO is also responsible for engaging with relevant stakeholders, including investors, board of directors, employees, customers, and communities, to ensure that sustainability efforts and outcomes are aligned with their expectations and needs. It’s worth mentioning that the role/title is not new as it’s been around for approximately 20 years! However, the role of CSOs might be new in this part of the world. In 2004, Linda Fisher was the first person to receive the title of ‘Chief Sustainability Officer’ at DuPont. By 2011, there were 29 CSOs in the USA’s publicly listed companies. Ms. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Arts, Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a doctorate degree in Law. She worked for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Deputy Administrator before joining DuPont as a CSO. According to a 2023 survey conducted by EY, 81 percent of the respondents confirmed that their organisations have a CSO or equivalent role. While 69 percent of the ones who responded that they don’t have a CSO confirmed that their organisations are planning to hire one within six to 12 months. * Reference: C-suite Insights: Sustainability and ESG Trends Index (2023). CSOs in Bahrain According to various companies’ websites, annual reports and recent news, seven out of 43 listed companies in Bahrain have CSOs appointed at an executive management (c-suite level). 29 percent are standalone CSOs and 71 percent hold the position of CSO and another role. Here are the titles for the listed companies: Listed Company Title / Role 1. National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) Group Chief Human Resources and Sustainability Officer 2. Beyon / Batelco Chief Communications and Sustainability Officer 3. Bahrain Islamic Bank (BISB) Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer 4. Arab Banking Corporation (ABC) Chief Sustainability Officer 5. Bahrain National Holding Company Corporate Communications Senior Manager and ESG Officer 6. Zain Bahrain Chief Sustainability Officer (at Zain Group) 7. SICO Head of Sustainability and Corporate Communications Womanthismonth.com 78 Jul 2023 Ms. Linda Fisher
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