Leaders Share Their Long-Term Business Strategies on Climate at CECP's CEO Investor Forum

Eight CEOs representing $703 billion in market capitalization set the context for future engagement with institutional investors on climate action
Nov 16, 2023 2:50 PM ET
CECP CEO Investor Forum

NEW YORK, November 16, 2023 /3BL/ - CECP’s CEO Investor Forum, the premier platform that brings CEOs and investors together to discuss Integrated Long-Term Plans, hosted eight CEOs from the world’s largest companies—Siemens US (OTCMKTS: SIEGY), Exelon (NASDAQ: EXC), Nestlé (OTCMKTS: NSRGY), NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas) (OTCMKTS: MSBHF), BD (NYSE: BDX), Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM), Montrose Environmental Group (NYSE: MEG). They presented to investors representing trillions of dollars in assets under management on November 14 and November 15 in New York and virtually.

The following CEOs shared Integrated Long-Term Plans for sustainable business including material financial, as well as non-financial, metrics around sustainability efforts and risks. It featured Integrated Long-Term Plans for sustainable business from:

  • Tom Polen, Chairman, CEO &President, BD
  • Calvin Butler, President &CEO, Exelon Corporation
  • Tetsuo Kawate, President & CEO, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas)
  • Vijay Manthripragada, President & CEO, Montrose Environmental Group
  • Mark Schneider, CEO, Nestlé
  • Mauricio Gutiérrez, President & CEO, NRG Energy
  • Jacek Olczak, CEO, Philip Morris International 
  • Barbara Humpton, CEO, Siemens USA

The presentations will soon be posted on CECP’s YouTube channel.

More than 60 CEOs to date have presented their Integrated Long-Term Plans at the CEO Investor Forum to an audience of institutional investors, representing $25 trillion in assets under management. The next CEO Investor Forum for climate leaders will be held in New York in November 2024; watch cecp.co for more information.

Key themes from the Integrated Long-Term Plans presentations emerged, including:

  • ESG is all about how you run your company. Lead with the business case by demonstrating both rational judgment and actions. Grow your license to operate,
  • Focus on workers first. Build a skillset to fuel the transition because we don’t know what is yet possible.
  • Create internal incentives and the commercial business case by putting the why and the how together.
  • The search for climate solutions will be the biggest macro spend in our lifetimes—and investors can be first movers. It’s about competition and economics, not policy.
  • While disclosures are not the full solution, they are a catalyst to change.
  • Corporations can create the market and move markets in support of a longer-term strategy.
  • There’s a demand for urgent systemic transformation, and every day is critical. But there is also a need to celebrate milestones, create confidence, and have patience.
  • What’s the cost of doing nothing? Act with what we have now and don’t let perfect be the enemy of the good.
  • Find a way to operationalize “glocalization” by investing in local communities to ensure broad sustainability.
  • Change customer behavior in support of sustainability and climate. Better understand customers, create more value, and elevate experiences to control and move demand.

“Today’s short-term market expectations create a challenge for companies investing in longer-term sustainable solutions,” said Daryl Brewster, CEO, CECP. “That’s why we created CECP’s CEO Investor Forum and its frameworks for companies to share their corporate purpose and how they will allocate capital, focus R&D, incent organizations, and connect it to how they address the pressing problems faced by the planet and people. It gives investors and others increased confidence that business will continue to play a critical role in handling the long-term risks of climate.”

Additional speakers included:

  • Sandy Nessing, Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, American Electric Power
  • Beth Bafford, Vice President, Strategy, Calvert Impact
  • Nili Gilbert, Vice Chairwoman, Carbon Direct
  • Daryl Brewster, CEO, CECP 
  • Kari Niedfeldt-Thomas, Managing Director and COO, CECP
  • Nandika Madgavkar, Chief Growth Officer, CECP
  • Kristen Sullivan, Sustainability and ESG Services Leader, Deloitte
  • Emilio Tenuta, Senior Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer, Ecolab
  • Avipsa Mahapatra, Climate Campaign Director, Environmental Investigation Agency
  • Stephen Brown, Senior Advisor, KPMG Board Leadership Center
  • Robert Eccles, Visiting Professor of Management Practice, Said Business School, University of Oxford
  • Moses Choi, Director, RBC Capital Markets, Sustainable Finance Group
  • Yusuf George, Co-Head of Engagement and Active Ownership, The TCW Group
  • Leo E. Strine, Jr., Of Counsel in the Corporate Department, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz 

CECP thanks Exclusive Sponsor S&P and media partners IR Magazine and Responsible Investor for their support of the CECP CEO Investor Forum.

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About Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose (CECP)

Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose® (CECP) is a trusted advisor to companies on their corporate purpose journeys to build long-term sustainable value. Working with CEOs and leaders in corporate responsibility, sustainability, foundations, investor relations, finance, legal, and communications, CECP shares actionable insights with its CEO-led coalition to address stakeholder needs.

Founded in 1999 by actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and other business leaders, CECP is a movement of more than 200 of the world’s largest companies that represent $8.7 trillion in revenues, $47 billion in total community investment, 15.1 million employees, 16 million hours of employee engagement, and $34.1 trillion in assets under management. CECP helps companies transform their strategy by providing research, benchmarking, strategy, convening, and communications in the areas of societal/community investment, employee engagement, environmental social governance/sustainable business, diversity equity inclusion, and telling the story.

For more information, visit http://cecp.co.

CECP Media Contact 
Katie Leasor 
kleasor@cecp.co