Justin Keeble joins Google Cloud as Global Leader of Sustainability
Former Accenture expert Justin Keeble has joined Google Cloud, as head of its sustainability proficiency. Keeble arrives with the firm with 24 years of experience advising CEOs and companies on sustainable business practices.
“After 14 fantastic years at Accenture, I am delighted to let you know that I'm joining Google Cloud as Managing Director of Global Sustainability,” Keeble confirmed on his personal LinkedIn page. “I leave behind an awesome team of wonderful people – particularly in Accenture's Sustainability Services and at a time where the entire 670k+ employees are embracing the challenge to make this the decade of action under the leadership of Julie Sweet and Peter Lacy.”
The post garnered more than 2,000 likes and comments from colleagues and well-wishers. Meanwhile, looking ahead, Keeble noted he was joining Google Cloud because technology is proving to be a “key enabler” in accelerating the transformation of industries to more sustainable business models. Recent studies have shown businesses across the industrial spectrum agree – with IT sustainability budgets set to rise by a fifth over the coming three years.
Over the last 15 years, Google has worked consistently to improve its sustainability credentials. In 2007, Google became the first major company to claim carbon neutrality, using offsetting to mitigate its emissions. A decade later, it also became the first large company to match its electricity consumption with renewable energy. Now, the firm is committed to running on carbon-free energy full-time by 2030.
However, speaking on the company’s “ambitious goal of system wide change on a global scale,” Keeble noted in a blog post on social media that just solving the firm’s own footprint “isn’t enough.” He will now work to further foster collective action on part of Google Cloud, as exemplified by the company partnering with SEforALL and UN Energy in 2021. During Climate Week, this saw the firm call on “companies, governments, and other stakeholders to join the 24/7 carbon free energy movement to decarbonise electricity globally.”
Keeble added, “Every company and organisation can find their unique superpower to take action on climate… Climate change is the biggest challenge we face and one that will affect all of us in deeply personal ways. Google’s scale, reach, capabilities, and technologies give us the important responsibility to play a role in helping all of our customers solve this collective challenge, and I’m really excited to be part of that.”
In his former role with Accenture, Keeble was the Managing Director of Accenture Sustainability Services in Europe, Africa and Latin America. Specialising in financial services, telecoms & ICT and transport and the linkages between these sectors, he is also a specialist in city wide climate change programmes with a particular expertise in the establishment of large scale public sector energy efficiency programmes. Outside consulting, he previously sat on the WWF's One Planet Business Steering Group on Sustainability Mobility and on the UNEP-Finance and Global Reporting Initiative's working group for financial services.
