Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
September 23, 2025

North America's Top Sustainability Leaders Honored at Futur/io CSO Awards

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TLDR

  • Workday's Erik Hansen won the top CSO Award, giving his company a competitive edge in sustainability leadership and corporate reputation.
  • The CSO Awards used a four-quadrant model evaluating ESG performance, net zero goals, and corporate maturity to select winners from a Top100 list.
  • Recognizing sustainability leaders inspires broader corporate action toward achieving UN Sustainable Development Goals and building better futures for people and the planet.
  • The Futur/io CSO Awards honored sustainability executives from companies like Tiffany & Co. and Philip Morris International during New York Climate Week.

Impact - Why it Matters

This recognition matters because Chief Sustainability Officers are increasingly critical in steering corporate strategy toward meaningful climate action and sustainable business practices. As companies face growing regulatory pressure and consumer demand for environmental responsibility, these leaders bridge the gap between business objectives and planetary needs. The awards highlight that sustainability is no longer a peripheral concern but central to long-term corporate viability and competitive advantage. For consumers and investors, these awards signal which companies are genuinely committed to environmental stewardship versus those merely engaging in greenwashing. The recognition also elevates the profession, encouraging more talented executives to pursue sustainability leadership roles and accelerating the transition to a regenerative economy. In an era of climate crisis, corporate sustainability leadership directly impacts everything from supply chain resilience to product innovation and workforce development.

Summary

The Futur/io CSO Awards North America 2025 celebrated the most influential Chief Sustainability Officers during a prestigious gala at New York Climate Week. Erik Hansen from Workday claimed the Gold Award, while Jackie Jung of Western Digital received Silver and Susan Uthayakumar of Prologis earned Bronze. The ceremony also recognized Annika Dubrall from Tiffany & Co. and Ann Tracy from Colgate-Palmolive with Special Honour Awards, while Ara Erickson of Weyerhaeuser won the Sustainable Supply Chain Award presented by IntegrityNext. Jennifer Motles from Philip Morris International received the Peer Award chosen by the live audience.

The awards were selected by a distinguished Grand Jury including sustainability luminaries like John Elkington, Sandrine Dixson-Declève of the Club of Rome, and former Starbucks CSO Michael Kobori. The selection process utilized a sophisticated four-quadrant model developed with scientific partner the Leonardo Centre on Business for Society at Imperial College Business School. This comprehensive evaluation considered corporate maturity, ESG performance, net zero goals, environmental impact, and public sentiment analysis through ClimateGPT. The event highlighted both progress and challenges in corporate sustainability, with Futur/io noting some companies delaying sustainability reporting amid economic pressures and potential "greenhushing."

This second edition of the CSO Awards North America, organized by the Futur/io Institute, aims to inspire greater ambition in achieving Sustainable Development Goals and accelerated net-zero targets. The initiative represents a growing recognition of Chief Sustainability Officers' critical role in driving business transformation toward regenerative economies. As CEO Harald Neidhardt emphasized, the awards seek to showcase leadership that can "build the desirable futures we want to live in" while maintaining the pace needed for meaningful climate action. The European edition of these prestigious awards recently took place in Davos alongside the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2025.

Source Statement

This curated news summary relied on content disributed by citybiz. Read the original source here, North America's Top Sustainability Leaders Honored at Futur/io CSO Awards

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