On 25 June, Green Business Switzerland will be evaluating the sustainability record of CEOs for the first time.
CEOs will now be rated on the impact they have made in terms of sustainability. The ‘Green Business CEO Rating’, which will take place on 25 June, will highlight top Swiss managers’ track record on sustainability for the first time. To make this rating, close collaboration with the business world is essential, states Cédric Habermacher, director of Green Business Switzerland: ‘It is crucial to us that the senior managers see us as competent and fair.’ To ensure this is the case, key stakeholders from the Swiss business world form part of the organising body. Some of the country’s major business leaders will be on the judging panels and sit in an advisory capacity on the sounding boards. ‘In Doris Leuthard and Mirjam Staub-Bisang, we have two highly credible representatives of the business world as presidents of the jury,’ points out Cédric Habermacher.
Key factor to success
Green Business Switzerland is supported primarily by the Swiss Environmental Foundation, which presented the Swiss Environmental Award for 20 years. Since 2019, it has focused on the business world, staging the ‘Green Business Award’ under the umbrella of Green Business Switzerland. The annual award recognises Switzerland’s best solutions to combine eco-innovation and economic success. Cédric Habermacher was particularly impressed by last year’s winner. Eberhard, a family-run business, has declared war on construction waste. ‘Their aim is to make all construction materials recyclable,’ he explains. ‘It is a very risky business undertaking for Eberhard. But I’m convinced that it will pay off for them – and for the environment.’ We need innovations to preserve the planet for future generations. ‘That’s why we are keen to reward, inspire and bring together pioneers of sustainable business,’ explains Cédric Habermacher.
‘That is why we want to honor pioneers’
Cédric Habermacher
The new CEO rating is designed to add impetus to this undertaking. He sees potential here. Unfortunately, there are still plenty of businesses that have not made sustainability a top priority. Their horizons are short-term. ‘Convincing them that sustainable entrepreneurship will become a key competitive advantage in future is what drives us on,’ he states. Happily, the number of entrepreneurs who are prepared to forge ahead, be innovative and take risks for the sake of the environment and society is increasing. ‘For this transition to take place, it is crucial that senior management decide to address the issue of sustainability,’ he states. The CEO rating is designed to act as a visible incentive.
All of these formats which the Swiss Environmental Foundation has launched under the umbrella of ‘Green Business Switzerland’ have now reached a level of magnitude that exceeds the foundation’s financial and personnel resources. Cédric Habermacher explains, ‘This is why we are looking for partners – philanthropists who can help encourage business leaders to make a positive contribution to solving significant social and ecological problems.’