The Chief Financial Officer’s role embedding sustainability

The urgency has been recognised. Stakeholders internally and externally, including investors, employees and shareholder, are driving companies to address sustainability. Governments and regulators are significantly strengthening external disclosure requirements and companies are increasingly required to disclose climate-related information in public filings. Moreover, in response to heightened investor scrutiny, companies across all industries are pledging to decarbonise their operations.

The CFO should therefore be the organisation’s sustainability champion, role model and leader, building the path to long-term sustainability success. CFOs and other Finance leaders are key to the shift to sustainability as they are at the heart of decision-making. Finance’s inherent analytical capabilities, business knowledge and understanding of data, metrics, processes, and governance puts them in a position to help formulate and operationalise the organisation’s strategy.

No other function within the organisation has the capability to collect detailed data at source, aggregate across businesses and geographies, and validate and report internally and externally with the robust processes and controls needed. And Finance also manages key external relationships with shareholders, auditors, investors, and rating agencies.

CFOs are key to the drive towards sustainability. They need to move from financial steward to enterprise leader and strategist, ensuring sustainability receives its rightful required attention and consideration in corporate decision-making. CFOs own their organisation’s performance and are the architects of their performance management frameworks, including the financial frameworks. Deloitte’s “Sustainability Lab for CFOs” can help you navigate the sustainability landscape and understand which topics must be addressed most urgently.