Top 10: Women in Sustainability in EMEA
In March, we published a special Sustainability Magazine supplement: Top 250 Women in Sustainability.
For that magazine, we spotlighted some of the worldâs most outstanding female leaders across the sustainability sphere, but this week, weâre refining our focus to the EMEA region.
The economies of Europe, the Middle East and Africa contain some of the worldâs largest companies, so, naturally, those organisations require some of the most innovative thinkers when it comes to decarbonisation.
In this weekâs list, weâve included executives with expertise in climate change, net zero, human rights, international relations, ESG, sustainable finance and much more.
You can read the 2025 edition of our Top 250 Women in Sustainability in full here.
10. Ulrike Sapiro
Company: Henkel
Position: Chief Sustainability Officer
Industry: Consumer goods and chemicals
Henkel's Chief Sustainability Officer oversees ESG strategy, business integration and sustainability reporting.
Ulrike previously spent over a decade at Coca-Cola, leading global water stewardship and environmental initiatives to advance corporate sustainability.
Recognised for her expertise, she serves on the 2030 Water Resource Group and the CEO Water Mandate.
9. Nicki Lyons
Company: Vodafone
Position: Chief Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Officer
Industry: Telecommunications
Nicki leads Vodafone's corporate affairs, external communications and sustainability strategy, having been appointed in 2021.
With senior roles at Boots Alliance, Walgreens, PepsiCo and Unilever, she has deep expertise in stakeholder engagement and ESG.
She is passionate about championing sustainability to create long-term impact.
8. Claire Lund
Company: GSK
Position: Global VP of Sustainability
Industry: Pharmaceuticals
Claire, GSK's Global VP of Sustainability, focuses on integrating sustainable innovation into vaccines, medicine, supply chains and R&D.
With a background in energy and environmental strategy, she also advises on initiatives that link planetary and human health in the fight against climate change.
7. Lisa Malmquist Ekstrand
Company: Vestas
Position: Head of Sustainability
Industry: Renewable Energy
Lisa, Vice President and Head of Sustainability at Vestas, is a leading figure in renewable energy sustainability.
She spearheads Vestas' ambitious strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030 without offsets and produce zero-waste turbines by 2040.
She has fostered ground-breaking partnerships, such as with Orsted for low-carbon steel turbine components and innovations in recycling turbine blades.
6. Karin Lepasoon
Company: ABB
Position: Chief Communication & Sustainability Officer
Industry: Industrial and automation
With expertise spanning marketing, corporate affairs and sustainability, Karin drives ABB's environmental initiatives.
She has a background in law and has held executives roles at SEB, Vattenfall, Nordic Capital and Skanska.
She chairs the BB Jurgen Dorman Foundation for Engineering Education, promoting responsible business innovation.
5. Judith Wiese
Company: Siemens
Position: Chief People & Sustainability Officer
Industry: Industrial and technology
As Chief People and Sustainability Officer at Siemens, Judith oversees sustainability while sitting on the company's Managing Board.
She has held leadership roles at Mars and DSM (now dsm-firmenich) and serves as Siemens AG's Labour Director, guiding environmental and workforce strategies.
4. Antonia Wanner
Company: Nestlé
Position: Chief Sustainability Officer
Industry: Food and beverage
With a background in procurement, Antonia leads Nestlé's sustainability strategy, focusing on regenerative food systems.
Her deep understanding of supply chains allows her to implement meaningful change.
Antonia also serves on the Swiss Post Board of Directors, chairing the Committee for Sustainability and Personnel.
3. Karen Pflug
Company: Ingka Group
Position: Chief Sustainability Officer
Industry: Retail and home furnishing
In her three years as CSO for Ingka, Karen has made a huge name for herself in the field of sustainability, guiding the IKEA brand through countless exciting ESG initiatives and overseeing the company's 'People and Planet Positive' strategy.
She is leading IKEA's fight against unsustainable consumption and rising inequality, spearheading change for its 170,000 employees.
Karen champions circular economy principles, overseeing IKEA's commitment to become fully circular by 2030.
She has seen significant investments in renewable energy and her strategic vision emphasises integrating sustainability across all business aspects, fostering a culture of shared responsibility among employees.
2. Virginie Helias
Company: Procter & Gamble
Position: Chief Sustainability Officer
Industry: Consumer goods
Virginie Helias is a celebrated figure in global sustainability today and one of its most important advocates.
It is easy to find evidence of her infectious passion. The title of her 2017 Ted Talk - âHope in a (plastic) bottleâ - speaks to the positivity and vision she inspires. Her achievements speak for themselves.
Virginie has led P&G's sustainability efforts since 2011, overseeing major brands including Pantene, Ariel and Pampers.
She became the company's first CSO in 2018 and is focused on solving global environmental challenges.
She put together the Ambition 2030 goals, transforming sustainability integration across the company's supply chain, innovation and brand building.
1. Rebecca Marmot
Company: Unilever
Position: Chief Sustainability Officer
Industry: Consumer goods
Since joining Unilever in 2007, Rebecca Marmot has championed eco-friendly practices, making one of the worldâs largest consumer goods companies a leader in sustainability.
Under her leadership, Unilever has played a crucial role in major sustainability milestones, including the creation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in 2015.
More recently, Rebecca led Unileverâs calls for the EU to maintain the stringency of its reporting directives, as the Omnibus package threatened to oversimplify the sustainability obligations of companies.
She is also behind the companyâs desire to see a Global Plastics Treaty. Unilever is one the highest polluting companies in the world when it comes to plastic waste, but Rebecca wants to change this.
Her impact extends beyond Unilever, too. She actively advocates for global water access and in 2023 she presented at the UNâs Water Conference, making the business case for joint funding and action to provide clean water for all by 2030.
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