Blog – Sustainability Roundtable Inc

SR Inc's Q2 Executive Symposium: Foregrounding Strategy Amid Change

Written by Sarah Lehan | Jun 13, 2025 2:00:00 PM
 

In June, SR Inc hosted its quarterly Executive Symposium for Member-Clients across its Health and Life Sciences; Information, Communication and Technology; and Corporate Operations Roundtables. The conversation across the Boston, San Francisco, and virtual rooms emphasized the importance of foregrounding Corporate Sustainability programs on the enterprise's long-term success.

Event Highlights

  • Welcoming Julia Wick, Sustainability Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific, to discuss the life science company's approach to supplier engagement for Science-Based and science-aligned targets. Gathered Member-Clients appreciated Julia's robust, concrete articulation of her team's approach to driving Scope 3 Decarbonization outcomes.
  • Robust small-group discussion on SBER's Chartered Research on "Financial Quantification of Climate Risk: Strengthening Risk Strategy and Disclosure" and "Advancing Corporate Sustainability Policy: Empowering Collaboration & Readiness," as previewed by the SBER service team.
  • Defining the function: SR Inc CEO Jim Boyle argued that one of the most foundational ways a sustainability function can situate themselves for strategic contributions is to called "Corporate Sustainability," defined as "an approach to business that creates multi-stakeholder value for the near-, mid-, and long-term by managing opportunities and risks deriving from economic, environmental, and social change in a world challenged as never before by human-caused climate breakdown.” Our Member Advisory on Defining Corporate Sustainability, available exclusively for Member-Clients, explains how this definition prepares the function to go from cost center to strategic partner in the enterprise's long-term success. Other interested parties should look for more on this topic in an upcoming blog post.

Research Preview

As current Member-Clients know, SBER's quarterly Symposia facilitate peer-to-peer learning through the collaborative workshopping of Membership-based Insights, Guidance, and Highlighted Tools (MIGHT) that cultivate sustainable leadership. This quarter's executive Symposium involved in-depth discussion of two topics in this year's Research Charter.

They are:

Financial Quantification of Climate Risk: Strengthening Risk Strategy and Disclosure:

This Member Briefing from Sustainability Roundtable, Inc. (SR Inc) provides directors of sustainability in health, life sciences, and ICT sectors with a clear, actionable guide for financially quantifying climate-related risks—a growing requirement for robust disclosures and strategic planning. Recognizing the process's complexity and company-specific nature, the recommendations set aside a one-size-fits-all solution in favor of a flexible framework with practical recommendations tailored to company context.

Ultimately, the briefing argues financial quantification can be a strategic tool for risk management, stakeholder engagement, and informed decision-making—empowering sustainability leaders to drive business value while meeting rising regulatory and investor expectations.

Navigating the Reporting Landscape & Driving Stronger Sustainability Policies

This Member Advisory argues why and how clients can turn compliance uncertainty into a strategic advantage by providing the breathing room needed to align sustainability with business value, enhance decarbonization efforts, and build credibility with external stakeholders.

Instead of seeing postponements as setbacks, leading teams can use this breathing room to strengthen data quality, risk management, and core sustainability content. With non-climate topics temporarily off the table and extended timelines, SBER advises teams to use this time to prioritize what matters, refining reporting processes and positioning the enterprise as a sustainability leader. Despite political swings, the market consistently favors ESG-aware companies. Now is the time, it argues, to prepare for the next wave of regulation and market demand.

What Makes SBER Different

SBER is distinctive in its collaborative, peer-informed approach to guidance development. SBER's Strategic Advisory Services team will iterate on these pieces based on Member-Client input. The magic of SBER's Symposia is that Member-Clients see the in-progress research pieces, then pressure-test them based on their experiences in small groups with their peers at the Symposium itself and later in individual meetings with their SBER account leads. The result is collaborative MIGHT honed by years of collective expertise, more valuable and practical for each party, thanks to the collaboration all provided.

SBER prides itself on offering strategic advisory services, not consulting. Our annual six-phase change management solution centers strategy in everything. We help Member-Clients design, build, and execute Corporate Sustainability strategies that drive long-term value creation for the enterprise, helping it continue to thrive even in a world facing unprecedented climate breakdown. Every week, every month, every quarter, SBER is there for its Member-Clients, supporting their leadership as they drive their enterprises toward more sustainable high performance.

What Comes Next

The SR Inc team is already hard at work implementing Member-Client feedback from this quarter's Symposium, and continuing their research for the Member Advisories and Member Briefings that will be delivered at our Q3 Executive Symposium at the Library Hotel in New York, NY. We look forward to continuing our shared work toward breakthroughs in Master Mandatory Reporting and Value Chain Decarbonization, which will debut at Summit IX in Denver in March of 2026.

Interested to learn more about how SBER could help your enterprise to align business with life? Schedule your briefing here.
 
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