The Council on Sustainability Transformation, a group of senior leaders from corporations, governments, and academia, has been launched to accelerate private sector action on critical sustainability challenges.

The Council is convened by ERM, the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy. Its launch comes at a time when thousands of major companies remain committed to delivering on their environmental and social commitments despite economic uncertainty and political pushback yet struggle to overcome barriers to achieving transformational change.

The Council marshals the extensive experience of its members across industries to provide C-suite executives and board members with practical guidance on how to tackle obstacles to progress on ambitious sustainability targets, while preserving and growing financial value. Its members are:

  • Peter Agnefjäll, former CEO of IKEA Group, current Chair of Ahold Delhaize
  • Mark Cutifani, former CEO of Anglo American
  • Connie Hedegaard, former EU Commissioner for Climate Action
  • Naoko Ishii, former CEO and Chairperson, Global Environment Facility
  • Hixonia Nyasulu, former Chair of Sasol, current board member of Anglo American
  • Feike Sijbesma, former CEO of Royal DSM, current Chair of Philips
  • Johannes Teyssen, former CEO of E.ON

Rachel Kyte, former CEO of the UN's Sustainable Energy for All initiative, was also a founding member and is now an alumna of the Council.

Guidance from the Council will be delivered through a series of position papers, with the first of these advocating for new approaches to company-investor engagement to unlock climate solutions. It argues that companies must better communicate how their decarbonization plans align with future-proofing their businesses and calls for clearer guidance to be provided to investors for assessing the value of corporate climate strategies.

Commenting on the launch of the Council, ERM’s Global Leader of Sustainability & Risk Sabine Hoefnagel, said: “ERM has always been committed to driving meaningful change at scale.

“The formation of the Council on Sustainability Transformation reflects our belief that collaboration between sustainability leaders across industries is essential to solving today’s most pressing sustainability challenges. By bringing together pioneers who have successfully navigated complex sustainability transformations previously, we aim to provide actionable insights for the world’s largest corporations as they grapple with the dual imperatives of ambitious climate action and financial resilience.”

Future papers will explore topics revealed by further Council work and feedback received at Council convenings including inaugural sessions held at COP28 in Dubai in late 2023, at Climate Week New York City in September 2024, and at COP29 in Baku in November 2024.

About ERM

Sustainability is our business.

As the world’s largest specialist sustainability consultancy, ERM partners with clients to operationalize sustainability at pace and scale, deploying a unique combination of strategic transformation and technical delivery capabilities. This approach helps clients to accelerate the integration of sustainability at every level of their business.

With more than 50 years of experience, ERM’s diverse team of 8000+ experts in 40 countries and territories helps clients create innovative solutions to their sustainability challenges, unlocking commercial opportunities that meet the needs of today while preserving opportunity for future generations.  Learn more here.