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Winners of the Futur/io CSO Awards Europe 25 Announced in Davos


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Leading Chief Sustainability Officers revealed that showcase net zero ambition and ESG initiatives at large European corporations.

The names of the most important Chief Sustainability Officers of Europe were announced at the Futur/io CSO Awards on Monday night. The celebration took place at a gala dinner at the iconic Hotel Schatzalp in Davos, Switzerland, during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting week.

Claire Lund, Vice President of Environmental Sustainability of GSK received the Gold CSO Award.

The Silver Award went to Katie McGinty, Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer of Johnson Controls, while the Bronze Award was granted to Rajita D’Souza, President of Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility of ST Microelectronics.

The Grand Jury also granted three Special Honour Awards to Petra Wicklandt from Merck Gruppe, Karin Reiter from the Adecco Group, and Linda Freiner from Zurich Insurance.

Elena Valderrábano from Telefónica received a special Sustainable Supply Chain Award presented by Nick Heine, CCO & CSO of IntegrityNext.

The Peer Award, chosen by the live audience of the CSO Awards gala ceremony, went to Anke Ehlers, Managing Director of International Sustainability at ALDI South Group, and was presented by Kevin Tayebaly, Co-Founder of ChangeNOW.

Among the speakers of the evening were Sandrine Dixson-Declève, of the Club of Rome, Ingmar Rentzhog, from We Don't Have Time, Joachim Swensson, of Made in Sustainability, Magnus Drewelies, of CEEZER Software, and jury members among others.

“Here on the Magic Mountains of Davos, we look at the new year ahead, celebrating the humans who are role models in sustainability. By shining a light on the role of Chief Sustainability Officers, we hope to inspire others to be ambitious and work on building the desirable futures we want to live in,” said Harald Neidhardt, CEO & Curator of the Futur/io Institute.

The final winners were selected from the 20 Nominees list by a Grand Jury that includes some of the most influential and inspiring voices in sustainability. Members include John Elkington, known as “the Godfather of Sustainability”, Sandrine Dixson-Declève, honorary president of the Club of Rome, Claudia Malley, President and Managing Director of Partnerships at Economist Impact, and Livio Scalvini, Co-Founder and executive director of the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College London.

Other members are Helle Bank Jorgensen, CEO and founder of Competent Boards, José Manuel Gomes, Business Development Director at Medialivre, Chris Luebkeman, Head of the Strategic Foresight Hub at ETH Zürich and founder of [y]our2040, and Isabelle Grosmaître, Author and Founder and CEO at Goodness & Co. The Chair of the Jury is Harald Neidhardt, CEO and Curator of the Futur/io Institute.

This is the second edition of the CSO Awards Europe, an initiative of the Futur/io Institute, a pioneering organisation dedicated to nurturing and inspiring leadership in sustainable innovation and building the most impactful network of Chief Sustainability Officers globally. The North American edition of the CSO Awards took place during the New York Climate Week 2024.

The CSO Awards Europe is a collaboration with partner Made in Sustainability, and supported by premium partners Integrity Next and Waste Equity, together with scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School, knowledge partners Denominator, Rainforest Partnership, Climate GPT, and Economist Impact, and also Gold Partner CEEZER Software. The complete list of community partners and supporting brands is available online.

Award Winners

Gold Award Winner - Claire Lund
Vice President of Environmental Sustainability - GSK

Silver Award Winner - Katie McGinty
Vice President and Chief Sustainability and External Relations Officer of Johnson Controls

Bronze Award Winner - Rajita D'Souza
President of Human Resources and Corporate Social Responsibility - ST Microelectronics.

Special Honour - Petra Wicklandt
Head of Corporate Sustainability, Quality and Trade Compliance - Merck Gruppe

Special Honour - Karin Reiter
SVP Sustainability & ESG - The Adecco Group

Special Honour - Linda Freiner
Chief Sustainability Officer - Zurich Insurance

Sustainable Supply Chain Award Winner - Elena Valderrábano
Global Chief Sustainability Officer - Telefónica

Peer Award Winner - Anke Ehlers
Managing Director of International Sustainability at ALDI South Group

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  • Patrick Kiash

    1 w

    Congratulations to all current winner's and you may you continue inspiring many out there. And good luck to future winners willing to join this winners and inspire many in future too through this great awards. Together we can do it.

    • Sarah Chabane

      1 w

      Congrats to the winners! Interesting to see that they are all women 🤓

      1
      • Boniface Kuria

        2 w

        Congratulations to all winners

        2
        • Ann Nyambura

          2 w

          Huge applause for Claire Lund and all the award winners

          3
          • Sally Wangari

            2 w

            When awards are given about keeping our environment green, this is encouraging, will also make others work hard, commitment and responsible and also able to sustain what has been started. Go green, clean energy, renewable energy, sustainability of healthy environment.

            4

            Watch all the Davos Hub content!

            Re-watch all our COP29 broadcasts

            We need to stop methane and #BuyMoreTime