THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
into core operations and business strategy rather than bolting it on at the edge so that when priorities shift, it remains central to how the organisation runs and grows.
“ We ' re entering this phase that I like to call commercial sustainability,” she explains,“ which is where sustainability teams are becoming much more strategic commercially and thinking about how they ' re impacting either the top or bottom line.” Beyond its established role in operational excellence, risk management and talent attraction, she sees sustainability as central to the future growth trajectory and long-term success of the business.
Realising this potential, however, requires sustainability leaders to“ speak the language of business,” from balance sheets to return on investment.“ I don ' t think we should be afraid,” Hilary reassures,“ because those use cases where sustainability is good for people, planet and the business are becoming more and more evident.” Her advice to sustainability leaders in executive or board discussions is clear: start from growth and value creation, not just targets, emissions and carbon, so the conversation becomes strategic rather than purely reactive.
This strategic framing is particularly critical when tackling Scope 3 emissions, which are both a challenge and an opportunity. While many organisations have focused on Scope 1 and 2, Scope 3 remains“ a massive challenge that no organisation can really solve on their own”. Here, Hilary sees technology and
“Unless sustainability is integrated into your core business strategy and operations, it’ s always going to be on the sidelines – bolted on, not built in”
Hilary Tam, Sustainability Leader, EMEA AWS
platform thinking as critical, enabling data sharing or access across value chains to create end‐to‐end supply chain visibility and optimisation. The hardest problems, from supply chain intelligence to logistics optimisation, are also where she believes innovation potential is greatest.
Cloud and AI as powerful enablers The strategic shift Hilary describes requires the right infrastructure and tools to deliver on that promise. For AWS, cloud and AI are becoming essential for sustainability leaders, especially for organisations navigating increasingly complex reporting requirements such as CSRD, TNFD and TCFD. Hilary points out that the breadth and complexity of data required makes manual approaches impractical, particularly as the rest of the organisation digitalises. aws. amazon. com