Procurement & Sustainability: Accor's New CSO Coline Pont

Coline Pont has been chosen by Accor to be its new Group Chief Sustainability Officer.

She previously worked for the business for six years from 2016, moving to AXA as Chief Procurement Officer in 2023, and is now making her return after the departure of previous CSO Brune Poirson.

Coline said on LinkedIn: “After several energising years at AXA Group Operations as Chief Procurement Officer, I’m delighted to be joining Accor as Group Chief Sustainability Officer.

“At AXA, I had the privilege of leading a global procurement strategy that combined performance, resilience and responsibility. Thank you for your trust and what we achieved together.

“Coming back to Accor means reconnecting with a culture I know and stepping into a mission that truly matters to me, making sustainability a strategic driver of transformation.

“In a complex world, I believe hospitality has a role to play in building a more inclusive and sustainable future.

“Thank you as well to Brune Poirson for her visionary commitment over the past few years, and to the Accor teams for your warm welcome in front of the Eiffel Tower.

“I am excited to write this next chapter with you!”

Coline Pont's career so far

Coline holds a masters degree from French university Grenoble Ecol de Management and has completed studies at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.

She held a variety of roles in consulting and venture capital before joining Bouygues Telecom as an Internal Audit Manager. 

After seven years at the business, she took on the role of Head of Procurement before moving to Accor as its Chief Procurement Officer.

She moved to AXA as Group Chief Procurement Officer in 2023 and re-joined Accor with her new role in July 2025.

Alongside her successful career, she has been a lecturer at EESEC Business school for more than seven years.

About previous CSO Brune Poirson

Brune Poirson held the role of Chief Sustainability Officer at Accor from 2021 to April 2025.

She took on responsibilities as a teaching professional at HEC Paris in January of 2025 alongside her role as an Independent Board Member at Getlink.

Brune has also continued her role as a Strategic Advisor at AVP since 2021.

Previously, she worked within the French Government where she championed an anti waste law addressing plastic pollution.

In 2017 she became the Secretary of State for the Environmental Transition, continuing this for three years before joining Accor.

Inside Accor

Accor is a global player in hospitality, with 330,000 employees across 110 countries.

Having good sustainable performance is part of the company's core values and it says it believes that hospitality has the power to unlock a better tomorrow.

Accor says that the travel and tourism industry represents 9-12% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

It has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 in line with the Paris Agreement.

Sébastien Bazin, Chairman and CEO of Accor, says: “Pursuing our commitment of over 30 years of pioneering responsible hospitality, we are accelerating our global sustainable transformation by bringing to life a model where we make an active contribution to the environment and society, both locally and globally. 

“Our strategy is ambitious:  I want Accor to not only set the hospitality sector standard for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) commitments and initiatives, but to inspire and mobilise our entire industry.

"By collaborating with industry peers, global organisations and innovation partners, we are forging a more sustainable future for hospitality. 

“We are embarking everyone across our organisation to play a part in collectively building solutions, and I strongly believe that sustainability creates value for all stakeholders: our teams, owners, partners, clients and communities. 

“The future of hospitality must be sustainable, or there will be none.”