A4S Academy Award Winners
The A4S Academy awards are given to participants who have shown particular commitment and resilience, they have innovated and inspired, and became true champions of sustainability in finance.
There are five categories for the Awards:
- Impact
The participant has achieved, or is likely to achieve, tangible environmental and/or social benefits, and it is clear that the implementation plan and objectives set out by the participant are linked to the benefits achieved. These benefits are in addition to delivering positive financial outcomes. - Innovation
The participant has developed a new and different product, service, offering or way of working that has the potential to drive organizational change in the direction of positive sustainable impact. - Inspiration
The participant has inspired others to take action, and they have clearly demonstrated that others are following their positive example. - Resilience
The participant has faced and overcome (or has set out a plan to overcome) significant challenges, and has made progress despite the obstacles faced. - Advocacy
The participant has played an active role in supporting the A4S Academy and advocated for integration of sustainability within and outside their organizations.
2023 AWARD WINNERS
Nicolas Royer, Chanel
Impact Award Winner
Nicolas embedded ESG considerations into procurement activities for point of sale and marketing at Chanel. As part of his plan, he defined what data to collect and outlined the relevant criteria to help with request for proposal (RFP) decision-making processes.
Key achievements:
- Integrated sustainability KPIs into procurement for marketing and point of sale activities.
- Added ESG data requests into suppliers' specifications.
- Collaborated with the sustainability team and internal stakeholders to get their support.
- Reduced energy consumption by proposing low energy consumption materials and a more sustainable strategy for shopfitting.
- Encouraged suppliers to be more committed to sustainability and to supply more precise data.
“Nicolas took a proactive approach to social and environmental responsibility that resulted in positive and measurable impact, most notably a reduction in energy consumption, enabled by selecting more sustainable materials from suppliers. We felt this was a great example of someone who understood and capitalized on their sphere of influence, and as a result was able to deliver real and sustainable transformation.” - The Judges
John Levi, OTPP
Innovation Award Winner
John led various projects to improve management information (MI) systems and impact reporting of ESG initiatives. He worked with IT to incorporate sustainability analytics into searchable dashboards and tools. These automated tools and improved MI help users assess the impact of sustainable initiatives and investments.
Key achievements:
- Developed an automated portfolio carbon footprint (PCF) calculation tool to enable more frequent reporting
- Produced an integrated Power BI management dashboard to track real-time information on carbon footprint activity for all investments and the impact of carbon reduction initiatives.
- Improved climate-related reporting to the board and audit committees, including detail on the drivers of PCF, results of broader ESG strategies, peer benchmarking and the interplay between returns and PCF.
- Generated KPIs to measure the success of OTPP's new impact strategy.
- Created a roadmap for transitioning to integrated reporting.
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure. John has demonstrated brilliant innovation in this area by developing an automated carbon footprint calculation tool. It is exciting to see real-time data being integrated into decision making and the positive impact that this can have.” – The Judges
Rob Sherrington, Ramboll UK
Inspiration Award Winner
Rob progressed a range of actions through his plan: he enhanced GHG reporting, implemented carbon budgeting and introduced an internal carbon price. He also coached four internal “future leaders” using A4S Academy principles to design and develop solutions to help achieve their 2030 decarbonization targets. This included scenario analysis to look at how different decisions and options could affect the achievement of targets and also enabling insights into management decision making.
Key achievements:
- Represented Ramboll UK on the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) working group to support the development of a group wide GHG reporting platform. Rob challenged and scrutinized underlying data through a finance lens, providing analysis on how to support management decision making.
- Collaborated on the development of an automated internal reporting tool for project-specific travel and the development of a tool to support decision making on travel.
- Progressed against 2030 decarbonization targets, developed an internal carbon budgeting process for divisions, and introduced a carbon emissions levy.
- Worked with the wider finance team to explore cultural change in support of sustainability.
“It was clear to us that Rob’s achievements whilst on the Academy programme were comprehensive and effective, as well as inspiring. Rob’s achievements, such as his work on carbon budgeting, will make a real difference to the way decisions are made at Ramboll UK. We are also delighted to see that Rob is sharing the knowledge he gained on the A4S Academy programme with colleagues.” – The Judges
Simon Davie, SSE
Resilience Award Winner
Simon led SSE's review and update to climate scenario modelling processes. In FY22, SSE was non-compliant with the requirements of TCFD. SSE acknowledged this and Simon looked at the process from scratch. He was responsible for performing the review, establishing a TCFD steering group and revising the TCFD scenario modelling process. Simon’s main challenge was to educate nonfinance colleagues in the rigour and discipline applied to regular financial reporting processes and incorporating that structure into the TCFD process.
Key achievements:
- Achieved compliance with TCFD requirements in 2023. This was accomplished by conducting a complete review of the climate scenario modelling process.
- Identified five climate-related opportunities and four climate-related risks for SSE to address.
- Quantified each risk and opportunity across various timeframes.
“Simon demonstrated excellent resilience and leadership in the face of complex compliance challenges. We were particularly impressed by Simon’s approach to cross-functional collaboration, his swift establishment of new processes and governance structures, and his work to navigate evolving industry standards.” – The Judges
Maryke Keet, Royal Ahold Delhaize
Advocacy Award Winner
Maryke worked across the organization to improve guidance, drive consistency and execute actions to identify and mitigate climate-related risks and opportunities. This cross-team collaboration resulted in an ESG accounting manual that is a source of guidance for the whole business. She also shared numerous A4S resources with colleagues so they could broaden their knowledge and utilize different tools in their own roles.
Maryke supported A4S by sharing her experience on one of our Information Calls and encouraging a colleague to join the 2023/24 programme and participating in one of our pilot programmes.
“Maryke’s dedication to collaborating with colleagues and peers is abundantly clear. Her work and commitment over the past 18 months are already having tangible impact both within and outside her organization.” – A4S
Nick McCreath, NATS
Advocacy Award Winner
Nick worked to develop the finance culture at NATS to instil a common understanding of climate change and ultimately support sustainable decision making. He engaged with colleagues across the business through workshops and meetings, as well as at Executive and Board level. Nick also actively engaged with peers at other organizations to discuss and share ideas.
Nick recommended a colleague join the 2023/24 Academy programme and took part in one of our pilot programmes.
“Nick’s Progress Report is a fantastic example of meaningful collaboration and an excellent demonstration of leadership and influencing skills. We can see that he put his knowledge into action at NATS and that the organization is already reaping the rewards.” – A4S
Jancy Castro, VMware
Advocacy Award Winner
Jancy has wholeheartedly engaged with A4S, not just through the Academy programme itself, but also A4S as a wider organization. Jancy consistently demonstrated great commitment and enthusiasm during Academy sessions and check-in calls. She is also a valued member of some of A4S’s formal working groups.
Jancy has encouraged and enabled cross-team collaboration to help embed sustainability into processes and decision making, as well as supporting two colleagues to join the A4S Academy programme 2023/24.
“We appreciate greatly Jancy’s continued enthusiasm and support for A4S’s work. Her involvement across A4S’s different workstreams and activities is hugely valued.” – A4S
2023 HIGHLY COMMENDED
Impact Award – Jancy Castro, VMware
Jancy helped integrate ESG issues into financial planning and budgeting. She upskilled the finance team in sustainability and brought finance and ESG together on several projects. She also developed a portfolio of top ESG priorities to highlight the most important initiatives to fund. Jancy compiled a process framework to assess data quality and controls of over 300 ESG metrics and addressed any control risks.
Key achievements:
- Improved integration of ESG issues into financial planning and budgeting and developed a portfolio of the top ESG priorities.
- Developed a framework to prioritize budget requests.
- Developed criteria and governance for a ringfencing model. This was used in FY24 planning to protect capital from budget restrictions.
- Ran training sessions on the role of finance in sustainability and developed materials for sustainable finance workshops.
- Implemented a framework to assess the data quality and controls of 300+ metrics (eg GHG emissions, diversity, equity and inclusion) and remediated any control risks.
“We were impressed by Jancy’s ambition and her efforts to bring about change. Integrating ESG into financial planning and budgeting will have significant positive knock-on effects within the organization. Jancy’s work is a great demonstration of the actions needed for meaningful change to happen.” – The Judges
Innovation Award - Peter Lööw, Stora Enso
Peter conducted a pilot of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) Framework. This was centred within the biomaterials division, looking at value chain dependencies and the impact on nature (with chemicals identified as having a material impact). Peter also worked to publish a new Green Bond and Sustainability-Linked Framework and to include a biodiversity KPI within the sustainability-linked bond part of the framework.
Key achievements:
- Supported a pilot TNFD assessment within the biomaterials division, identifying key value chain dependencies and impacts on nature.
- Strongly advocated for TNFD within the organization.
- Collaborated with wider teams on developing a new green and sustainability-linked bond framework, which included biodiversity KPIs.
“We were excited to read about Peter’s work and see how he is working towards integrating nature into decision making. The inclusion of biodiversity within sustainable finance is not something we see regularly, but we expect to see much more over the next few years, as it can support protection.” – The Judges
Inspiration Award – Rachael Ryan, Verizon
Rachael drove the finance team’s involvement – in the form of digital solutions, analysis and governance – to create significant improvement and acceleration in Verizon's GHG emissions reporting process. This brought the process forward by over three months. Rachael was also instrumental in developing a three-stage training programme for finance professionals to give them a better understanding of ESG and how it relates to their role.
Key achievements:
- Accelerated GHG emissions data collection by three-and-a-half months.
- Streamlined the collection, reporting, and assurance of scope 1, 2 and 3 GHG emissions through analysis, simple digital tools and financial oversight.
- Developed a three-stage training programme to equip the finance team with sustainability competencies, completing delivery of stage one training in September 2023.
“Rachael took on ambitious objectives as part of her plan; improving reporting cycles can be very hard and running a training programme for finance colleagues shows tenacity. It is inspiring to see how Rachael approached these goals, and how this positively influenced those around her.” – The Judges
Resilience Award – Tan Swee Chuan, CapitaLand Investment Limited
Swee Chuan embedded material sustainability reporting requirements into CapitaLand’s new ERP system. Key metrics were identified and signed off and are due to be rolled out in early 2024. Swee Chuan also raised the finance team’s awareness of sustainability reporting through training. His key challenges included push back from project teams, concerns over timelines, and a lack of understanding and consistency across functions relating to sustainability requirements. Swee Chuan worked to reach an agreement on scope and expected outcomes.
Key achievements:
- Embedded sustainability reporting requirements into the new ERP system, which will be rolled out in early 2024.
- Formed a working group and conducted sustainability training for finance staff to help them better understand their role in supporting the organization’s wider sustainability goals. This included a technical briefing on the new ISSB exposure drafts and workshops on the implications of sustainability requirements for accounting and finance.
- Shared training sessions with finance, treasury and sustainability teams on the group's sustainability achievements and updated 2030 targets.
“We were impressed with Swee Chuan’s resilience when faced with internal push back and his commitment to reach a resolution so that sustainability reporting is part of the build of the new ERP system. Swee Chuan’s continued efforts will ensure that when the new ERP system is rolled out early next year, it will help the business deliver on its wider sustainability goals and reporting needs.” – The Judges
2022 AWARD WINNERS
Bethan Pearce, BBC
Advocacy Award Winner
Collaborating
Bethan’s commitment to integrating sustainability led to the finance and sustainability teams working alongside one another, sharing best practice and collaborating across the organization on risk scenario planning. She also set up a working group to look at how to embed quantitative sustainability information into investment appraisal processes.
Encouraging
Bethan encouraged others to participate in the Academy by sharing insights into her own positive experience on our information calls for future cohorts. Within her organization, she also motivated colleagues to join the programme.
“Bethan’s passion for collaborating and encouraging others shone through during the Academy programme. Her efforts are already having impact, with one of her colleagues joining the 2022-23 cohort.”
A4S
Chris Moreton, Velindre University NHS Trust
Advocacy Award Winner
Sharing
Chris shared his knowledge with the wider finance community as a panel speaker for an A4S Sustainability in Action webinar. He was always willing to share his insights and knowledge with peers during the Academy seminars and check-in calls. Through his implementation plan he developed an "Introduction to the Foundational Economy" guide for finance and non-finance professionals. This was presented at NHS Wales Finance Academy's national conference and is available online for all Wales public sector professionals.
Collaborating
Chris’ focus on collaboration progressed cultural change for NHS Wales leadership through roundtable sessions and the establishment of a forum for sharing knowledge at a national level.
“Chris’ commitment to sharing his knowledge with others and collaborating both within his organization and across the sector has been inspirational.”
A4S
Ton Brown, Moody's Corporation
Advocacy Award Winner
Supporting others
Ton showed real passion for helping peers whose companies were less advanced in their sustainability journey, providing supportive guidance, tips and practical insights into the approaches taken at Moody’s. She was always willing to support her peers, imparting useful information and thoughtful contributions during the Academy seminars and check-in calls.
Encouraging
Ton encouraged others to participate in the A4S Academy by sharing insights on her own positive experience during our information calls. She demonstrated how finance professionals could make a positive impact within their organizations by describing her own objectives and key achievements. Within her organization, she collaborated with colleagues who were also on the A4S programme and motivated others to explore joining the Academy.
“Ton’s passion for sustainability and supporting others was evident in every interaction.”
A4S
Lisa Marie Kar Yee Djeng, Keywise Capital Management (Hong Kong)
Impact Award Winner
In addition to delivering positive financial outcomes, Lisa Marie Kar Yee achieved tangible results that matched her implementation objectives and that will have ongoing positive environmental benefits.
Lisa helped identify areas of the business with low awareness of sustainability, and created and ran training programmes to upskill those teams. She embedded a culture of sustainability in the investment team, and throughout the whole organization.
With the drive and support of senior management, including the COO, Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Lisa was able to make sure that sustainability was well integrated into business processes, culture and reporting. For example, it is now compulsory to incorporate ESG into every investment. Keywise Capital Management also introduced the relatively unknown concept of ESG to the Chinese market, including biodiversity to the pharmaceutical sector (Chinese medicine).
Key achievements:
Further strengthened climate knowledge by joining the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change.
Identified areas of the business with low awareness of sustainability and provided training. For example, Lisa Marie implemented training on climate disclosures for the investment team, the investor relations teams in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the management team, trader and compliance teams.
Made it compulsory to include ESG considerations into every investment, including looking at discounted cash flow modelling, carbon impacts, energy efficiency and social metrics.
“The judges were impressed by Lisa’s approach to ensuring meaningful impact – from identifying areas of the business with low awareness of sustainability to running training programmes to upskill teams. Lisa’s achievement of making it compulsory to look at ESG considerations for every investment is particularly commended. Introducing the relatively unknown concept of ESG to the Chinese market, including biodiversity to the pharmaceutical sector, for example, has the potential to have a significant positive impact.”
The Judges
Lindsay Murray, Asahi UK Limited
Innovation Award Winner
Lindsay developed a new and different way of working that will drive organizational change in the direction of positive sustainable impact.
Her work on developing a matrix to measure the environmental footprints of products in Asahi UK helped heighten awareness of the impact of the company’s products on the planet. She took the finance lead in UK&I on communicating the need for change, both within the finance team and at board level, calculating and explaining the matrix methodology and impact on overall P&L.
Lindsay has also started to build CO2 emissions, plastic and water budgeting into the 2023 budgeting cycle. Her work was complemented by the launch of a group-wide Sustainability-EBITA project in 2022, which sets out to allocate Scope 1 and 2 emissions and Scope 3 packaging and transport emissions by product.
Key achievements:
Created a UK matrix for calculating CO2 emissions and virgin plastic in order to track the environmental footprint for Stock Keeping Units.
Began to build CO2 emissions, plastic and water budgeting into the company’s 2023 budgeting cycle.
Took the UK&I finance lead on communicating the need for change, both within finance and at board level, explaining the methodology and impact on overall P&L.
Drove the adoption in the UK of ‘Sustainability-EBITA’ for Asahi, which tracks Scope 1 and 2 emissions, as well as Scope 3 packaging and transport emissions.
“Lindsay demonstrated innovation by developing a matrix to measure the environmental footprints of products and embedding this into the capex and opex budgeting cycle. Measurement, focused on carbon emissions, packaging and water use, is now being incorporated into a sustainable profit measure (S-EBITA) to inform reporting and decisions. We can see that through embedding this tool into the budgeting cycle and driving awareness internally, Lindsay created lasting positive impact.”
The Judges
Dr Jeannette Vinke, American University of Sharjah
Inspiration Award Winner
Jeannette inspired others at the American University of Sharjah to take action and to follow her positive example, by developing a Climate Action Plan for the operations departments. She put finance at the heart of this plan, to make sure that financial and carbon budgets were aligned.
Jeannette ensured that the operating team had knowledge of the severity of the sustainability issues they face and the motivation to support the project. She made sure that all staff in her teams were trained. This included over 300 members of staff across finance, campus development, facilities, construction, IT and cybersecurity, and supply chain.
Jeannette also made sure all her direct reports were incorporated into the steering committee to develop the Climate Action Plan. This ensured that the project became every department's priority. She also rallied support from the wider community of students, staff and government organizations.
Key achievements:
Trained the operations and finance department teams on the severity of sustainability issues.
Currently developing a ‘Climate Action Plan’ that includes full financial calculations of making the cost of carbon visible. This will also include the wider community such as students, staff and governmental organizations.
Ensuring that the financial and carbon budgets are aligned.
“Jeannette developed a Climate Action Plan, putting Finance at the heart, to make sure that financial and carbon budgets are aligned. What stuck out for us when reading Jeanette’s Progress Report was the sheer number of people she influenced. Educating and training over 300 staff on the severity of sustainability issues, in addition to rallying support from the wider community, is a brilliant achievement. The work Jeannette has done to bring people along on this journey has real potential to have a significant snowball effect.”
The Judges
Hélène Reymond, Zurich Insurance
Resilience Award Winner
Hélène faced and overcame significant challenges, making progress despite the obstacles she faced.
Hélène addressed the challenge of changing reporting requirements by creating an agile system for reporting. She also looked at definitions of non-financial KPIs, agreeing them with group functions and sustainability teams. She then successfully designed and built a system for collecting and reporting on relevant ESG KPIs, and linked them to Zurich's sustainability pillars, as well as allocating the ownership of KPIs to various functions.
Hélène also helped raise awareness of sustainability within the organization and challenged the finance executive team on how to embed sustainability in their work. She was willing to take risks on a topic close to her heart and her efforts to onboard the management team had a clear impact.
Key achievements:
Successfully designed and built a system for collecting and reporting on relevant KPIs from the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), World Economic Forum and TCFD. This included changing KPI definitions, linking them to one of Zurich's sustainability pillars and allocating KPIs to group functions.
Raised awareness of sustainability and challenged Zurich’s finance executive team on how sustainability is embedded within the group finance department.
“Hélène’s resilience was clear for us all to see. During her time on the A4S Academy, Hélène has transitioned her role from Senior Financial Controller to Sustainability Analyst, bringing her finance skills to help solve Zurich’s sustainability challenges. Despite facing setbacks, such as changing reporting requirements, Hélène’s perseverance has paid off. It enabled her to design and build a system for collecting and reporting on relevant ESG KPIs. Hélène also demonstrated tenacity by challenging Zurich’s finance Executive team, asking tough questions around the topic of sustainability, and exploring how sustainability should be embedded within the group finance department.”
The Judges
2022 HIGHLY COMMENDED
Impact Award - Ashleigh Langs-Saltzman, Autodesk
Ashleigh supported the launch of a sustainability financing framework that allowed sustainability to be better incorporated into the organization's financing strategy. This has allowed Autodesk to develop its first sustainability bond of US$1 billion, which will fund projects in a broad range of areas, such as eco-efficient products, production technologies and processes, sustainable water and water management, renewable energy and energy efficiency, and socioeconomic advancement and empowerment.
Autodesk also refinanced its line of credit in 2021, as it wanted KPIs to be tied to corporate sustainability targets (reducing scope 1 and scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the number of women working in technology).
“We were impressed by Ashleigh’s passion and achievements throughout her time at the A4S Academy, and in particular can see the potential for lasting and tangible impact that her work can have. This is through a combination of the notable size of the debt raised, the KPIs linked to the refinanced line of credit and also the breadth of the areas the funds will invest in, including socioeconomic advancement and empowerment; and increasing the number of women working in technology.”
The Judges
Innovation Award - Emily Francis, Burberry
Emily led the TCFD disclosures programme, which included complex and ambitious scenario analysis across multiple temperature changes and climate-related risks. She partnered with the University of Cambridge for Risk Studies on developing the scenario analysis. This provided a quantified range of examples around how climate-related risks may impact the business, which was externally assured by EY.
Emily also set up a cross-disciplinary team and curated a training programme of bitesize events for the global COO team of circa 700 colleagues.
“Emily’s Progress Report showed us that Burberry is ahead of the curve when it comes to TCFD reporting. It’s great to see the innovation, strategic thinking and collaboration that she has applied to these disclosures.”
The Judges
Inspiration Award - Andy Mounsey, John Lewis Partnership
Andy embedded Ethics and Sustainability (E&S) into John Lewis Partnership's financial strategy and set out how profits should be invested in supporting their three organizational pillars: 'Happier Business, Happier People and Happier World'. He is also developing a new mechanism for measuring E&S linked appraisals – for example, looking at how scores are weighted for sustainability investments.
Andy placed emphasis on capturing the hearts as well as minds in the finance function. In so doing he tailored training to cover personal, technical and partnering perspectives. Andy also supported the creation of a Finance Sustainability Squad, led by A4S Academy participant Nicola Wright, which is a team of partners focused on sharing knowledge and taking action to drive a sustainable future.
“Andy’s emphasis on capturing the hearts as well as the minds of those in the finance team has allowed him to bring in the wider skills and experience of his colleagues to help to integrate sustainability within the finance function at John Lewis Partnerships.”
The Judges
2021 AWARD WINNERS
Cassandra Greeff, GSK
Advocacy and Inspiration Award Winner
My ambition was to integrate sustainability into business-as-usual ways of working within finance, focusing on driving a change in culture and embedding TCFD reporting.
To achieve this, I collaborated with finance, sustainability, supply chain and procurement teams to activate the delivery of GSK’s environmental goals.
My objectives were to develop a finance culture and an understanding of sustainability, to develop an action plan for improving areas where further understanding is required – and implement training accordingly – and to realize recognizable progress against the TCFD recommendations.
“Cassandra’s commitment to sharing knowledge as an effective approach to enable change shone through. She demonstrated how to get board-level participation and buy in, leading to her achieving a position where she could enable positive change.”
The Judges
“Cassandra’s passion for sharing her knowledge and encouraging others shone through throughout the Academy programme.”
A4S
Elizabeth Rubin, VMware
Advocacy Award Winner
My plan had two objectives:
- Build and grow the ESG office to be a cross-functional team poised to deepen the ESG agenda across the business.
- Influence and guide the integration of ESG into the finance organization with a mission to transform financial decision making.
The first step was to elevate ESG as a business-critical topic with our executives, their staff and the board. This was essential to meaningfully progress our 2030 agenda. Once we received executive and board endorsement, the next step was raising awareness in our finance leadership teams of the increasing importance of ESG to VMware’s strategy and business and their role in driving this change.
“Elizabeth’s drive and determination for integrating sustainability across her organization, sharing and supporting others was evident in every interaction.”
A4S
Supriya Sobti, NatWest Group
Advocacy Award Winner
As a result of my implementation objectives and active participation in the carbon emission calculation project, I am now leading this project. To enhance to quality of our external reporting, governance for Climate and ESG disclosures now follow similar discipline to other financial reporting.
My implementation plan focused on delivering climate reporting intended to align with TCFD, supporting the work to calculating financed emission and incorporating climate considerations into the budgeting process.
“Supriya’s commitment to sharing her knowledge with others and supporting our work has been inspirational.”
A4S
Chris Tregenna, Pennon Group
Impact Award Winner
My implementation plan focused on three areas: our sustainable financing framework, our TCFD reporting and supporting the pension trustees to review our investment strategy.
Our updated sustainable financing framework will form the basis for all our future funding requirements. The new framework incorporates all current sustainable and green principles. We adjusted our use of proceeds to include both operational and capital expenditure, allowing the group to allocate funding to defined expenditure that helps us to meet our sustainable goals. This includes some of our upstream and downstream thinking expenditure that tackles issues such as restoration and biodiversity.
To meet the minimum requirement of the TCFD recommendations, we needed to collaborate across the business to conduct scenario analysis. The biggest challenge is understanding the potential financial impact of climate-related risks and opportunities and ensuring these are communicated to our stakeholders.
“The judges were impressed with Chris’s level of ambition and his multidimensional approach, from updating the sustainable financing framework and developing TCFD disclosures through to the commitment to making their pension investment strategy net zero. A particular highlight was that all future funding will align to the sustainable financing framework, demonstrating the impact that is, or will be, achieved.”
The Judges
Alexander Ashby, Tesco
Innovation Award Winner
My plan focused on developing sustainability-linked supply chain finance to incentivise our suppliers to report on their GHG emissions and align with 1.5°C climate targets. We started with a focus on environment which will be broadened out over time to other elements of ESG.
The project went through various internal teams and governance forums, culminating at the Tesco Executive Committee. The project was then initiated by finance. It required a project charter covering vendor selection, scope, costs, benefits, resource profile and an implementation plan. We created a cross-functional project team to deliver the project when it started. Key to the plan was developing a new scalable supply chain financing platform with an ESG link that would go live in the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
The platform links Tesco-sponsored benefits to suppliers’ ESG achievements, aligned with Tesco’s overall sustainability strategy.
“Alex demonstrated inherent innovation by starting with a clean sheet of paper and developing a thought-provoking approach to incentivizing action within Tesco’s supply chain. He has developed something new and different that he is keen to share with others.”
The Judges
Chris Cox, Pennon Group
Resilience Award Winner
My plan focused on reporting ESG metrics in the same management reports and to the same standard as financial reporting.
Part of the plan was to include those metrics in the planning cycle for our forecast review pack and to embed carbon metrics in the investment planning process for capital decisions. I also intended to start assessing and creating a plan for multicapital reporting.
I achieved good progress in my work on ESG metrics, working alongside the ESG team now in the finance organization. On multicapital reporting, work is ongoing to establish the priorities in this complex area, and I will continue to support this.
“The judges were impressed by Chris’s ambitious plans and his willingness to try new approaches. A particular success was the integration of sustainability metrics within regular board reporting.”
The Judges
Download the 2021 and 2022 Academy Yearbooks to read the story of each of our graduates. These stories illustrate what is possible by rethinking the role of finance.
