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HRH The Prince of Wales called on major businesses to appoint chief sustainability officers, saying the private sector has a "crucial role" in tackling the climate crisis

Prince Charles
Britain's Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, on January 22, 2020. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images

  • HRH The Prince of Wales called on major businesses to appoint a chief sustainability officer at the launch of the new S30 Group.
  • S30 is a new group of leading C-suite sustainability leaders, launched by the Sustainable Markets Initiative.
  • "I believe fundamentally that the private sector has a crucial role to play in solving the health, climate and biodiversity crises we all face," HRH said.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
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His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales called on major businesses to appoint chief sustainability officers on Wednesday night.

The Prince of Wales, who has historically campaigned for his environmental causes, stressed the importance of companies appointing chief sustainability officers, at the first meeting of the newly launched S30 group.

The S30 group is made up of leading C-Suite sustainability leaders from around the world. It was launched by the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI), in collaboration with professional services organization EY and PR firm Freuds. According to a press release, it aims to "collaborate on initiatives and actions to help protect and drive sustainable stakeholder value."

HRH The Prince of Wales said: "The role of the CSO is fast becoming one of the most important and influential roles in the corporate world and is increasingly central to market competitiveness."

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He continued: "I very much hope to see major businesses around the world appoint suitably empowered Chief Sustainability Offers to ensure sustainability is central to business strategy, decision-making, procurement, supply chains and customer engagement."

Prince Charles remarked on the need for sustainability leaders to work "hand-in-hand'' with their C-Suite counterparts and with younger employees who "care deeply about sustainability and want to see real demonstrable action."

"Increasingly, businesses are expected to be responsible global citizens delivering returns not only for shareholders, but for society and for Nature – Chief Sustainability Officers are critical to meeting this expectation," HRH added.

"We are at the beginning of the Decade of Action, but time is already running out," HRH said, adding that "we must urgently reverse the environmental challenges the world faces to protect it for future generations."

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"I believe fundamentally that the private sector has a crucial role to play in solving the health, climate and biodiversity crises we all face," HRH concluded.

The S30 group members represent a total market cap of $6.7 trillion and revenues of approximately $2.3 trillion in 2019, the release said.

"The S30 is a forum where sustainability leaders from 30 of the world's leading companies will connect and collaborate with each other," Steve Varley, EY Global Vice Chair – Sustainability, as well as S30 Co-Chair, said. "It will ask the most challenging business questions facing our planet today and use the collective power of the group to find answers."

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