Article
How Does Futur/io Choose the Winners of the CSO Awards?
The day of the CSO Awards North America is fast approaching: in less than two weeks, the names of three Top Chief Sustainability Officers of the USA and Canada, as well as the winners of the Special Honors Awards, will be revealed.
The selection of the final names results from a rigorous and data-intensive process, assessing several dimensions of the sustainability performance of companies and professionals, as well as equally important but less tangible characteristics, such as empathy and thought leadership.
The Criteria
From an extensive database including all the major companies of the USA and Canada, the most relevant names were selected using a four-quadrant model criteria, developed by Futur/io and scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, and supported by knowledge partners Denominator, specialized in human-centric data, and Rainforest Partnership, focused on biodiversity.
The Four Quadrant Model
1 - Science & Behaviour Based Maturity Index - Imperial College (External Research Based):
The Leonardo Centre at Imperial College has created a comprehensive global dataset that analyses corporate sustainability behaviours, enabling a thorough assessment of the maturity levels of the top 100 companies. Utilising this dataset, the Impact Maturity Index ranks companies within various sectors and geographies, providing valuable insights into their sustainability performance.
2 - ESG Qualitative Rating (External Research Based):
Using publicly available ESG Ratings, it assessed which companies exceed regulatory requirements in their advancements on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria.
3 - Planet (Internal & External Research Based) & People (External Research Based):
Futur/io trained an AI tool to analyse 100 sustainability reports from the companies of the Top 100 shortlisted CSOs for the CSO Awards, extracting pertinent information on Greenhouse Gas emissions, Biodiversity measures, and Water usage. Additionally, research partner Rainforest Partnership carried out an in-depth analysis of the biodiversity aspects of each company.
Finally, research partner Denominator created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) matrix score and research partner Rainforest Partnership created a matrix score for rainforest impact to assess relevant data in these areas. After that, scores were assigned for these five impact areas (GHG, Biodiversity, Water, DEI and Rainforest Impact).
4 - Survey & Self-Assessment (Internal Research Based):
The Top 100 CSOs were invited to contribute to a Survey & Self-Assessment, based on external ESG Ratings and the Imperial College Maturity Index.
Data Scores
The next step was to translate these four dimensions into 9 data scores:
- Imperial College Maturity Index
- ESG Qualitative External Rating
- GHG
- Biodiversity
- Water
- DEI
- Rainforest
- Futur/io Survey Score
- Imperial College Survey Score
These 9 scores were combined into a comprehensive ranking system used to select the top 20 Nominees.
Grand Jury
Finally, the members of the Grand Jury assessed all the nominees’ scores. In order to stay within the mission of highlighting the human factor, they added an extra data score based on their own expert experience and judgement. After all, the goal of the CSO Awards is to identify and promote Chief Sustainability Officers who are not only effective sustainability leaders, but also empathetic, innovative, and capable of fostering positive change within their organisations and beyond.
Don’t miss the announcement of the final winners at the CSO Awards gala dinner, on 23 September, during the New York Climate Week!
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The detailed judging process, which is based on criteria ranging from scientific data to qualities such as empathy and leadership, means that the awards are not just about achievement but also about deep sustainability values. This creates respect for individuals and companies that have made significant contributions to sustainable development goals and environmental protection. https://flappybirdgame.io
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It is with regret that I observe that there is no requirement for the winners of these awards to recognise the need for humanity to return within the carrying capacity of Earth. Perhaps Futur/IO is does not recognise the threat posed by pronatalism and growth economics. Until humanity return within the carrying capacity of Earth, nothing that we do is sustainable. Every day we are escalating mass extinction and ecosystems collapse. Please consider recommending an aspiration to peacefully and equitably shrink both the global economy and population size until we return within the carrying capacity of Earth. The insights from I=PAT warn us of the dangers of applying growth economics during ecosystems collapse. Please check out my article explaining how to calculate Earth's carrying capacity, and offering suggestions how we might peacefully and equitably return within half the biocapacity of Earth; this would allow biodiversity to recover from the onslaught and loss of habitat that we are inflicting right now. https://app.wedonthavetime.org/posts/5b7db59b-a9d0-4ba0-b727-dfb0c6ee7b20 I urge Futur/IO to challenge anyone expressing aspirations to continue to grow the global economy and population until humanity successfully reduces its needs to within half the biocapacity of Earth.