We recently gathered board members for an online session, titled Chief Sustainability Roundtable: What Is Happening in the Field. We had the pleasure of hearing from Kathleen McLaughlin, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer of Walmart Inc.; Roger Martella, Chief Corporate Officer, Chief Sustainability Officer, and Head of Government Affairs at GE Vernova; and Ann Tracy, Chief Sustainability Officer of Colgate-Palmolive. These leaders shared insights on how they are shaping strategy, engaging with the board, and ensuring sustainability remains a key driver of long-term value creation for their companies.
What follows are the panel’s highlights:
Optimism on the Rise in the Energy Industry
Despite a complex and ever-changing political and regulatory landscape, the energy industry is reaching a tipping point, particularly with electrification. One panelist shared that after decades of inaction, the energy sector now has demonstrated real potential to drive investment at scale, with the energy transition at all-time high level of investment globally. With this investment comes a clear pathway to solving energy and other sustainability goals. “When we think about energy, we're at the beginning of an electrification super cycle. The world is a little different now, and everyone is foreseeing double demands,” they shared.
Creating Shared Value through Board Engagement on Sustainability
The board’s engagement in sustainability matters has never been so imperative. With intensifying societal issues—such as climate change, equity, the energy transition, digital divides, responsible use of AI, and beyond—fiduciary duty is more crucial than ever. Boards need to provide guidance on navigating these complexities and to build organizational capabilities to deliver shared, long-term value. This means defining strategies to prioritize and tackle these issues, enhancing disclosure capabilities, as well as using advocacy and philanthropy strategically, in partnership with the Chief Sustainability Officer and broader C-Suite. “For the board, the role [in Sustainability] hasn’t changed, but the level of engagement has been higher—these issues matter, are more complex, and need higher guidance from the board,” a panelist said.
Panelists also discussed how board governance on sustainability has matured. For global companies, in particular, compliance with regional requirements is key, but can be enhanced with a value creation proposition. Amid competing priorities, it is the board's duty to establish the importance of sustainability. “The board’s role is to provide guidance regarding adequate talent, structure, systems, controls, and have built this into the enterprise risk management,” said another panelist. This pragmatic approach to sustainability, with measurable goals directly related to the business, is essential.
Both the CSO and the broader executive team play crucial roles in tackling these matters. As one panelist highlighted, delivering on sustainability goals in ways that create value requires a culture of collaboration and sharp business acumen to solve short- and long-term technical and operational challenges. For example, Walmart’s energy transformation strategy seeks to optimize across access to energy, cost, resilience, and emissions involving teams from real estate, operations, finance and sustainability.
Aligning the Board and the C-Suite on a focused approach to Sustainability
One of the key challenges discussed was the integration and communication between CSOs and the board. Even when boards have chartered responsibilities related to sustainability, the CSO must be able to clearly articulate tangible areas of progress—for example, Colgate Palmolive’s sustainability strategy includes eliminating one-third of their new virgin plastics compared to 2019 and make all of their packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. Making this happen a reality includes a focused, aligned approach with the board.
To ensure consistent communication between CSOs and boards, our panelists highlighted three main approaches—one, ensuring the board understands the sustainability strategy and how it fits into the company's long-term risks and opportunities. Two, demonstrating how the company can benefit from better consumer convenience, improved margins and P&L. Lastly, the board must demonstrate stewardship to drive long-term value creation and sustainable success, focusing on long-term ambition, managing risk, and seizing the right opportunities.
This virtual gathering was part of Championing Sustainable Growth from the Boardroom, an immersive, one-week residential program taking place in July of 2025 exclusive for board directors and offered in collaboration with Egon Zehnder and Stanford University's Doerr School of Sustainability.
