With the increasing prominence of ESG and Sustainability roles, the range of roles on offer, and areas of focus, is also expanding.
The United Nation’s definition of sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” When asked for a definition of sustainability within the corporate setting, it is not quite so simple. It is often said that if you want 20 different definitions of sustainability, just ask 20 people. At its simplest form though sustainability has three pillars that it must consider: environmental, social and economic. Historically sustainability covered environmental and social programs within an organisation and was often referred to as corporate social responsibility or CSR, however over the past decade these functions have moved from cost centres to value-adding functions within organisations.
Sustainability and ESG shows up in many different departments across an organisation and there are also many ways to generate impact in addition to an inhouse sustainability role; be it as a consultant, within government, through investment, or the not-for-profit sector. This has also meant that the pathway into sustainability and ESG is also nonlinear with individuals coming into the space from a range of different backgrounds.
The majority of Talent Nations’ experience lies within the corporate sector having recruited sustainability, ESG, climate, energy, human rights and social procurement roles for more than 1/3 of the ASX 100.
In Talent Nation’s annual remuneration report we profile 15 different roles across Environment, ESG and Sustainability, Consulting (environment, sustainability, climate and human rights) and Sustainable Finance/ Responsible Investment.
For more information on roles within each of these functions: click on the links below:
