Siobhan Gardiner appointed Deloitte Ventures climate change lead
Global professional services firm Deloitte has appointed Siobhan Gardiner as the climate change and environment lead of Deloitte Ventures. Gardiner joins following a two-year stint with Unilever, where she was latterly a Senior Manager in the firm’s Global Sustainable Technology Programme.
Businesses cannot afford to ignore purpose-led consumption anymore, as the majority of consumers now expect companies to take a stand on current and broadly relevant issues such as sustainability, transparency and fair employment practices. The consulting industry is no different than any other in this regard, and so the trend toward customers demanding more from their brands has led to consulting firms launching a range of ‘purpose driven’ initiatives in recent years.
The advisory and auditing world’s largest companies – the Big Four of Deloitte, EY, PwC and KPMG – are having to make a particularly concerted effort in this regard. Following a number of accounting scandals like Carillion being linked to the quartet, as well as the Panama Papers having revealed their role in helping clients shift wealth to tax havens which foster damaging environmental policies – the firms are taking major steps to restore their reputations among clients.
As the Deloitte looks to move toward a more sustainable model in the UK, the consultancy has appointed Siobhan Gardiner as climate change and environment lead in its Deloitte Ventures wing. Heading up the climate change and environment studio within Deloitte Ventures, Gardiner will be working with clients and internal teams on climate change mitigation and environmental resilience. This will include looking at how emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence and blockchain, could improve sustainability within businesses and future-proof operations.
Gardiner said of the new challenge, “With the future of our planet at stake, businesses must launch into this new decade with action and accountability on climate change. I am thrilled to have joined the Deloitte Ventures team, working closely with experts in emerging technologies to develop new tools that will improve sustainability and reduce the climate impact of businesses in the UK and beyond.”
Joining Deloitte from Unilever, Gardiner spent the last two years at the fast moving consumer goods giant, holding the position of Senior Manager in sustainable technologies, reporting directly to the company’s CIO. A biochemist by background, Gardiner has a PhD from Cranfield University, with her research examining environmental and market resilience of supply chains and ecosystem services. She was also recently awarded the ‘Woman of the Future Award’ in the Commonwealth category for her work in pushing technology transfer and policy regarding food security, access to education and addressing the challenges of gender inequality.
Scott Campbell, Leader in Deloitte Ventures, said of her arrival, “Deloitte Ventures was conceived to find new ways to solve our client’s most urgent business challenges using emerging technologies. For the vast majority of organisations today, the leading challenge is how to make their businesses more sustainable, reduce their impact on climate change and achieve net zero emissions. New technologies have the vast potential to help organisations to achieve this, and Siobhan will be leading the team in developing solutions that do so.”
