Champions of change

What activities have you been involved in? 

Last year, I was part of the launch of the sustainable delivery clause, our commitment to working with clients in the most sustainable way, from going digital-first to reducing emissions from business travel. I loved having the opportunity to share what sustainable delivery looks like to me. 

To illustrate how much my day job and my role as a Climate Champion is intrinsically linked, I also had the opportunity to contribute to a talk in Guernsey during Sustainable Finance Week 2023, with one of our charity partners, Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC). There's so much value in the ocean that isn’t acknowledged, and these discussions are vital to raising awareness of how the environment and ecology impacts into business decisions. Tax is a part of the puzzle and can be a catalyst for change, as I said in the event video here.

Has being a Climate Champion influenced your decisions outside work? 

Absolutely! At Deloitte we have access to Giki, a personal carbon footprint calculator, and it’s been eye-opening. My footprint is five tonnes, which is around the global average. It’s good to have a number to put it into context and it means I can take practical steps to decrease it. 

This year I went to the European premiere of the movie Dune: Part Two in Paris with my friends. It would have been cheaper to fly but I decided to take the Eurostar instead, as the carbon footprint of travelling by train is around 95% less than flying. 

What would surprise people about you? 

I’m a big fan of the arts and pop culture in general! I’ve got several memberships to cinemas and arts galleries in London. I also love going to live concerts. When Bruce Springsteen announced a new tour, I was looking at going to Spain or Italy but I decided to buy tickets for London, and keep emissions low!

How are you influencing behaviours in Italy?

As a Champion, I’m an ambassador for WorldClimate within my business area. So, for example, if Deloitte Italy launches a new commitment to make our ways of working more sustainable, it’s my responsibility to make sure my colleagues are taking the right actions and continuing the discussion on climate action.

I recently created an adventure game for everyone in the Climate and Sustainability team. Colleagues compete in teams and earn points by completing team building and community engagement activities such as volunteering initiatives or educational workshops, which promote positive environmental and social impacts.

Introducing new ways of working like this is really helping to change attitudes and engage people on topics related to sustainability. It’s early days, but the feedback from the more than 100 people involved has been positive.

Has being a Climate Champion impacted your own behaviours?

It’s definitely given me a new perspective on key sustainability issues like, for example, food, waste or resource use.

I’m learning so much from other Climate Champions and being part of this community. And, on a professional level, this knowledge is helping me drive positive and sustainable change. Through my work, I’m keen to facilitate stimulating discussions which question the status-quo, by asking, “How could we help our clients in this area? How are we using our influence to drive change? How could we address this issue, and become part of the solution?”

Tell us something interesting about yourself.

I was a boy scout for more than 15 years, which hugely contributed to my passion for sustainability. I also used to be a professional actor and if I hadn’t chosen to study Globalisation, Business & Development, maybe I still would be!

This was a pivotal moment in my life. While pursuing my master’s degree, I had the opportunity to meet some of the most prominent figures in the field of sustainability, and as I became increasingly interested in subjects like social entrepreneurship and sustainable finance, I knew I had found my path.

What impact are you hoping to have?

There is also Ecosia, the search engine that plants trees. Building on the work of colleagues in Italy, Switzerland and Belgium. I supported the pilot roll-out in Ireland and put together a team of people across NSE to look at how we can deploy it consistently to save even more trees.

In Ireland, we’ve addressed the carbon impact of our laptops. Donating retired laptops involves a lot of work so I figured out a way to use our internal volunteering programme to get them wiped and ready for their new homes.

Have your behaviours at work influenced you at home – or is it the other way around?

We've done great things in our house to reduce food waste almost to zero. We conserve water, make our own compost, grow our own vegetables, don’t use plastic bottles and are reducing single-use plastic. I want to bring some of that thinking to our IT department. IT pollution is a challenging area but as key users of technology, we’re doing a lot to reduce our consumption.

Do you have any hobbies?

Yes, I love woodwork and making things from recycled materials – I’ve even made my own shoes!

How did your ESG journey begin?

Tell us about the green skills training programme you’re involved with.Back in school I used to run the recycling team. I’ve advocated for so long – volunteering, mentoring, empowering women, being a champion – and I want to always continue leading by example.

We’ve contributed to the creation of a half-day green skills training course with the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), the worldwide alliance of environment and sustainability professionals. Green skills are technical skills, knowledge and behaviours required to tackle environmental challenges – whether that’s the use of green technology or facilitating environmentally sustainable decision-making in the workplace.

This collaboration between our WorldClass, WorldClimate, strategy and innovation teams aims to build awareness of the skills we need for a green economy that is net zero and socially inclusive.  A group of Deloitte facilitators have been trained to deliver the course to a range of audiences including underrepresented groups, so they don’t miss out on this new world of work.

As a facilitator it is a chance to develop my own professional and technical expertise and make a wider social impact.

What initiatives have you taken part in?

It turns out that every time we are working closely with our teams and delivering quality client service with purpose, we are making an impact both on our people and our clients.

For the past decade I’ve been a volunteer with INJAZ*, a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, helping school and university students get a glimpse of the business world.

I was also part of an all-female panel at GITEX GLOBAL, the world’s biggest tech and start-up show, discussing the impact of ESG on youth. Moreover, for two consecutive years I was an advisor for the first ever NSE virtual design thinking workshop, aimed at our future female innovators – solving business challenges.

Youth empowerment is a real focus for me and is engrained in my everyday life and career. About 10 years ago at Deloitte, I was involved in delivering sessions about entrepreneurial skills and economics at a school with children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Recently, one of these young women reached out to me to share her success story which had been inspired by these sessions.

What else are you passionate about?

I’m an art enthusiast and curator and I’m obsessed with Art Basel, which is strongly committed to using its platform to encourage wider environmental change across the art world and inspire actions about sustainability. I love how this event can feature over 4,000 artists from all over the world – and importantly – give the spotlight to emerging artists too.

*INJAZ UAE is a local chapter of INJAZ AL Arab and a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide. It is one of the world’s largest non-profit business education organisations, reaching more than 10 million students a year across 121 countries.