Instagram Live with Patrycja Drainville
This Social Distance Learning is a conversation all about integrating diverse perspectives on Boards. This week’s (Social) Distance guest was Patrycja Drainville. She is an award-winning, sustainability and ESG professional in the Canadian business community. She currently works with Suncor Energy to drive the integration and issues management of sustainability risk and opportunity across the organization and leads development of the company’s approach to the UN Sustainable Development Goals to align Suncor’s environmental and social efforts with the vision of the 2030 global sustainability agenda. Today, she lends her expertise to the Canadian Standards Association in the development of a Sustainable & Transition Taxonomy representing the sector as Chair of the Oil & Gas sub-committee.
Patrycja holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Calgary and is currently working towards her MBA at Dalhousie University specializing in Sustainable Finance. She is an active mentor and board member of the University of Calgary’s sustainability student association Fuse Collective and was recently awarded the 2018 Young Women in Energy Award, recognizing women in the oil and gas industry for their leadership, innovation and community service.
We were so honored to learn from her expertise. If you missed the IG Live with Patrycja, here are our top takeaways from the interview.
Governance is a pillar of sustainability
Patrycja provided wonderful insight about governance through the lens of her ESG experience and working for large corporations. She says, “you need the committees that underpin a lot of the decision making. Be it how to manage compensation, to audit, to human resources, so it’s all a very structured approach to decision making and ensuring there is proper oversight of the activities that are within the organizations, that they are ethically conducted, that there is full transparency, it is absolutely a pillar of ESG. Often, a proxy as well to how a company may manage its environmental and social performance because with that infrastructure of good governance you can have greater faith that the proper risks are being addressed or that there’s visibility down to the ground that there are some potential opportunities or again, I think there’s just a framework that really helps support a business in its decision making”.
More organizations are looking for directors with this skill
“One of the really interesting things that’s happening of course is greater emphasis on climate change mitigation and risk management. I find more and more companies are looking to appoint directors with environmental backgrounds or climate change backgrounds. I think people with sustainability expertise overall who can see all dimensions of ESG will and should be one of those skills that organizations look for. I think sustainability is one of those next qualities that I would like to see on boards, and I think that will improve the diversity of the corporate boards as well.
How you can learn more about sustainability
“What we’re talking about is managing your environmental footprint, making sure that you are respectful and considerate of stakeholder concerns on the ground where your operations touch. Be it the communities, be it Indigenous groups, thinking a little bit more about diversity within your company and overall good risk management and performance around those areas and not just communications. Interesting websites that I like to go to that keep me up to date on different trends are The World Economic Forum that touches on the macro view on sustainability, the UN Global Compact has an academy that teaches you all about different issues, the Responsible Investment Association which is a Canadian group here that has membership with most of the investors and asset managers, financial players, banks and they’re really studying the trends there around where the money is going. And maybe more from the theoretical standpoint, the Network for business sustainability is also a really great resource”.
The demographics of boards are changing
“We understand, generationally, that we’re pushing the limits on our planet, we live within constraints for not only the society by the environment at large so we need to start thinking more about pricing and pollution and those externalities that haven't typically been on the agenda before. There’s been a call to action by the youth, the next generation, marginalized communities to really start thinking beyond the shareholder and start really considering what is sustainability for the long term. We’re starting to see a real shift in what matters at the top and with that I think you’re starting to see the same emphasis being placed on boards and what kind of climate change education do they need to understand these systemic risks. We’re also starting to see the issues change and that all together is going to reshape the way businesses show up and the way they think and prioritize amongst a backdrop of regulatory changes.”
Thank you to the wonderful, Patrycja Drainville, for shedding light on the importance of recognizing sustainability on boards.
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Make sure to follow us on Instagram @directhernetwork and join us live for more powerful conversations on our latest Social Distance Learning instalment.