National Grid has announced the appointment of Steve Smith as its Chief Strategy and Regulation Officer. In this role, Steve will lead the company's strategy and regulatory efforts across both the US and UK as National Grid accelerates the energy transition. He will join the executive committee and report directly to John Pettigrew, Group CEO.

Steve has been overseeing this area on an interim basis since August 2024, after Ben Wilson transitioned to lead National Grid Ventures. His appointment is effective immediately.

Steve Smith commented, “I’m honored to take on this role at such an exciting time for the energy industry. The strategy and regulation teams have already done exceptional work to position National Grid for success, and I look forward to continuing this progress as I take on the permanent position.”

John Pettigrew, CEO, stated, “With our ambitious plans to invest £60bn over the next five years, the strategy and regulation teams will be vital in ensuring this investment drives growth, job creation, and decarbonization. Steve’s strong leadership and extensive experience will bolster our executive team as we continue to lead the energy transition. We’re excited to have Steve in this role and look forward to collaborating with him.”

Steve joined National Grid in October 2021, where he served as Group Head of Strategy and President of National Grid Partners. Prior to his time at National Grid, Steve spent 11 years at Lloyds Banking Group and was a member of the Retail Executive Committee. He has also held roles as a Board member and Managing Director at Ofgem and worked at American Electric Power and PwC early in his career. With over 25 years of experience in energy and finance, Steve brings expertise in areas such as venture capital, fintech, innovation, competition, government policy, market strategy, and regulatory reform.

Northern Trust has announced that Srilatha Lakkaraju has been appointed as the Director of Charitable Giving Solutions within the Foundation & Institutional Advisors (FIA) practice. In her new position, Lakkaraju will be responsible for directing the national strategy and execution of the Donor Advised Fund and Private Foundation Administration services.
 
Before joining Northern Trust, Lakkaraju served as a Senior Vice President and Philanthropic Client Manager at Bank of America for 14 years, where she managed private foundations and nonprofit organizations across the country. She provided valuable insights, education, and thought leadership to her clients in these sectors. Earlier in her career, she worked in public policy, focusing on advocacy and lobbying related to nonprofit tax policy, governance, and compliance issues.
 
“I am thrilled to welcome Srilatha to our Foundation & Institutional Advisors team,” said Darius A. Gill, National Practice Executive for FIA. “Her extensive expertise will be crucial as we strive to enhance the growth of our Donor Advised Fund and Private Foundation Administration offerings.”
 
Lakkaraju holds a Master of Science in Public Service from DePaul University and a Bachelor of Science in Management of Information Systems from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

We have reached Earth Overshoot Day 2023, the day when we have exhausted all the natural resources that our planet can regenerate in a year. The National Footprints and Biodiversity Accounts show that this year’s date is five days later than last year’s. But this is not a cause for celebration. Only one day of this delay is due to real progress. The other four days are because of improved data sets in the latest edition of the accounts.
 
As leaders, we have a duty to drive change and create a positive impact. We can help build a more balanced relationship between humanity and our planet by adopting sustainability, promoting innovation and collaboration, and advocating for policy change.
 
I have listened to Global Footprint Network CEO Steven Tebbe’s warning: he says that continuous overshoot leads to more severe consequences, such as unusual heat waves, forest fires, droughts, and floods. This, in turn, increases the risk of compromising food production. His conclusion: it is in the interest of cities, countries, and business entities to secure their own resource security if they want to prosper – to the benefit of the Earth as well.
 
It is inspiring to see how organizations across the world work together for a sustainable future that will help us #MoveTheDate. According to the Science Based Target initiative, 5,500 companies are taking actions to reduce emissions. More than 2,100 companies out of those have made net-zero commitments. Businesses have realized that it is important to integrate sustainability in their business strategies to mitigate the evolving investor pressure, consumer demand, and regulatory constraints. As the 2023 IPCC AR6 report rightly pointed out, more rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary to achieve deep and sustained emissions reductions and secure a livable and sustainable future for all.
 
But how can we make this happen? Actually, there are several levers that might significantly move Earth Overshoot Day closer to year’s end – and companies like SAP can contribute to them. Reducing the carbon component of humanity’s ecological footprint by 50% would move Earth Overshoot Day by 93 days, or more than three months.
 
The most impactful change as identified by the Global Footprint Network is carbon reduction. SAP has continuously expanded its portfolio of carbon reduction measures since 2009. It became the first German company to work with science-based emissions reduction targets in 2017. Two years later, SAP was one of the first seven global companies to have 1.5°C-aligned reduction targets for 2050.
 
We accelerated this timeline last year by committing to becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030, 20 years earlier than the original target. While walking the talk is key, providing digital solutions and services to help every business run as an intelligent and sustainable enterprise is how we can scale these efforts. We can support thousands of customers in managing their carbon footprint, reducing material waste, and becoming socially responsible businesses. For example, SAP Green Token helps businesses gain material sourcing transparency and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data across their supply chains.
 
This includes the material input scope 3 carbon footprint as it moves from supplier to supplier. SAP’s new green ledger initiative helps companies track their carbon accounting with more precision and control by using actual data across their business operations and supply chains instead of estimates.
 
We have reached Earth Overshoot Day 2023, the day when we have consumed more natural resources than our planet can renew in a year. The National Footprints and Biodiversity Accounts reveal that this year’s date is five days later than last year’s. But this is not a reason to celebrate. Only one day of this delay is due to real improvement. The other four days are because of better data sets in the latest edition of the accounts.
 
As leaders, we have an obligation to drive change and create a positive impact. We can help establish a more equitable relationship between humanity and our planet by adopting sustainability, fostering innovation and collaboration, and advocating for policy change.
 
I have paid attention to Global Footprint Network CEO Steven Tebbe’s warning: he says that constant overshoot leads to more serious effects, such as unusual heat waves, forest fires, droughts, and floods. This, in turn, increases the risk of compromising food production. His conclusion: it is in the interest of cities, countries, and business entities to ensure their own resource security if they want to prosper – to the benefit of the Earth as well.
 
It is motivating to see how organizations around the world cooperate for a sustainable future that will help us #MoveTheDate. According to the Science Based Target initiative, 5,500 companies are taking actions to reduce emissions. More than 2,100 companies out of those have made net-zero commitments.

Businesses have realized that it is important to incorporate sustainability in their business strategies to mitigate the evolving investor pressure, consumer demand, and regulatory constraints. As the 2023 IPCC AR6 report rightly pointed out, more rapid and far-reaching transitions across all sectors and systems are necessary to achieve deep and sustained emissions reductions and secure a livable and sustainable future for all.
 
But how can we make this happen? Actually, there are several levers that might significantly move Earth Overshoot Day closer to year’s end – and companies like SAP can contribute to them. Reducing the carbon component of humanity’s ecological footprint by 50% would move Earth Overshoot Day by 93 days, or more than three months.
 
The most impactful change as identified by the Global Footprint Network is carbon reduction. SAP has continuously expanded its portfolio of carbon reduction measures since 2009. It became the first German company to work with science-based emissions reduction targets in 2017. Two years later, SAP was one of the first seven global companies to have 1.5°C-aligned reduction targets for 2050.
 
We accelerated this timeline last year by committing to becoming a net-zero emissions enterprise by 2030, 20 years earlier than the original target. While walking the talk is key, providing digital solutions and services to help every business run as an intelligent and sustainable enterprise is how we can scale these efforts. We can support thousands of customers in managing their carbon footprint, reducing material waste, and becoming socially responsible businesses.

For example, SAP Green Token helps businesses gain material sourcing transparency and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data across their supply chains. This includes the material input scope 3 carbon footprint as it moves from supplier to supplier. SAP’s new green ledger initiative helps companies track their carbon accounting with more accuracy and control by using actual data across their business operations and supply chains instead of estimates.

Reduced environmental impact is critical to The Home Depot's efforts to build a better business, workplace, and world. Ron Jarvis, The Home Depot's chief sustainability officer, has spent more than two decades driving sustainability improvements. He provides insights into our progress here.

ESG at The Home Depot
Many colleagues and business leaders throughout our organization! They take pride in continuously improving their departments and businesses in terms of ESG. Our leadership recognises that a successful environmental, social, and governance strategy cannot exist in isolation. A corporate ESG team is not solely responsible for this. Rather, our ESG strategy must reflect The Home Depot's core values and be integrated into all aspects of our business operations. It belongs to everyone.

Driving ESG progress at The Home Depot 
Do The Right Thing is one of our eight core values, and it motivates our associates to find new ways for our organization to reduce its environmental impact. This is demonstrated by our packaging team, which seeks ways to reduce package footprints and use more sustainable materials for our private-label products. Another example is our associates who work to upcycle packaging waste in our stores and supply chain into new products such as Trex composite decking.

Helping clients with sustainability at their homes and businesses 
Our Eco Actions program, which expands on our original Eco Options program, which we launched in 2007, assists our customers in undertaking more sustainable DIY projects and selecting greener products that can save water, energy, or are formulated to reduce certain chemicals. Products can earn this distinction only if manufacturers provide third-party verification of environmental claims that meet our programme's criteria. This programme also provides customers with green project ideas and advice, such as how to grow an organic garden.

Furthermore, we encourage our customers to recycle used compact fluorescent light bulbs and rechargeable batteries. We collected 1,162,800 pounds of recycled batteries in 2021, a 24% increase over 2014.

We also assist our customers in ways that may be less obvious to them. For example, we provide circularity-focused products such as our Home Depot-branded moving boxes, which are made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper fiber, and composite deck boards made from recycled plastic waste from our stores. We are making strides towards our goal of eliminating expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film from our private-brand product packaging by the end of 2023.

Customers who rent tools from us help to reduce the environmental impact of new product manufacturing. Another example: Since 2010, our stores' electricity consumption has been reduced by 50%, providing our customers with a less energy-intensive shopping environment.

Gaining a competitive edge in sustainability to drive business
We believe that good business decisions drive sustainability.

Examples include investments we've made to create the most efficient supply chain in home improvement. These investments have assisted us in reducing the number of trucks required and the distance travelled to deliver our products from our supplier to our customers, as well as lowering fuel emissions. Another example is our store investments, which included switching to LED lighting, which allowed us to reduce operating costs and electricity consumption.

We also believe that by collaborating with our suppliers to bring innovative and sustainable products to market, we can assist our customers in creating more environmentally friendly homes and workplaces. Our efforts to drive innovation are visible throughout the store, and we believe that this is a key differentiator in the market.

We also want sustainability to be the norm across our entire industry. We are encouraged when we see other retailers make bold moves and do innovative things that push all of us to do a better job of protecting the environment, and we hope that the innovation we bring through our operations and products inspires others to do the same.

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While others see reasons to withdraw from the foundation's work, even as they continue their efforts to create a circular economy. From 2016 to 2018, Sealed Air Corporation was a member of the EMF-led New Plastics Economy initiative. According to Ron Cotterman, vice president of sustainability innovation and strategy at Sealed Air, the company then shifted its focus to strengthening the recycling system for flexible plastics.

“Bringing together like-minded companies to collaborate on circularity initiatives for flexible plastic packaging created a better opportunity for us and our industry,” said Cotterman.

“As a result, we created some pretty remarkable circular plastic loops for flexible packaging.”
According to Cotterman, Sealed Air focused on total system design, where it is better to find ways to recycle materials that have significant societal value rather than aiming to eliminate materials that are difficult to recycle today.

Sealed Air's commitment to design 100% of its packaging solutions to be recyclable or reusable by 2025, with an average of 50% recycled or renewable content across all material solutions, was inspired in part by EMF. However, Sealed Air went beyond the EMF's work by leading supply chain collaborations with partners worldwide to solve problems with recycling systems, according to Cotterman.