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Women in Sustainability, ESG Leadership, and Corporate Environmental Strategy with Sharon Oranekwu
Episode 42
In this empowering episode of Straight Talking Sustainability, host Emma Burlow interviews Sharon Oranekwu, an award-winning ESG consultant and sustainability leadership expert, for the third instalment of the "Speak Up Woman" series.
Sharon specializes in ESG reporting, CSRD compliance, corporate sustainability strategy, and environmental governance, helping companies across Europe navigate complex sustainability regulations and reporting requirements.
This in-depth conversation covers women in sustainability careers, ESG implementation strategies, and sustainable business practices.
Sharon shares her proven problem-solving methodology for corporate environmental challenges and explains why women leaders are driving innovation in the ESG and corporate sustainability space.
The discussion explores sustainability career development, climate action in business, and how female leadership brings strategic thinking and data-driven approaches to environmental governance and corporate responsibility.
In this sustainability leadership podcast episode, you'll discover:
- Essential problem-solving strategies for ESG professionals and sustainability consultants
- How to build confidence and competence in corporate sustainability and environmental careers
- Female leadership approaches that drive successful ESG implementation and climate action
- Why ESG frameworks align with business values despite political resistance to sustainability initiatives
- Data-driven strategies for presenting environmental governance solutions to corporate boards
- Preventing sustainability professional burnout while maintaining environmental impact
- The evolution from CSR to ESG to future sustainability frameworks and corporate responsibility models
Key Sustainability and ESG Highlights:
(05:45) "I got here by problem-solving. That's the biggest, most important thing to me... Every business that starts, they're essentially saying, hey, there's a problem out there and we think we can give it a go."
(08:44) "A massive part of my confidence comes from competence... Competence is the ability to keep going and keep asking questions. That's how you know you're competent when you haven't let the space beat you."
(29:21) "I show up to the boardroom with data. That's what I show up with... Because as much as our field is known for passion, we're also known for data."
(34:45) "If someone was to change the branding let them so long as we still do the work... Call it whatever you want. We're going to keep doing the work because the work matters."
(42:16) The "calm down, woman!" Pub incident that inspired Emma's "Speak Up Woman" sustainability leadership series
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