Sophie Beckham on the Evolution of the CSO

Is the day of the Chief Sustainability Officer over? Far from it. In this exclusive executive insight, Sophie Beckham, Chief Sustainability Officer at fibre-based packaging giant International Paper (IP), discusses how the modern CSO role has evolved past mere voluntary or regulatory compliance. Moving beyond a traditional "nice-to-have" checklist, sustainability at IP is laser-focused on real impact—walking hand-in-hand with customer centricity, supply chain stability, and business innovation to act as a flywheel for long-term growth.

From surpassing their 2030 strategy goal to restore and conserve one million acres of forestland ahead of schedule, to driving pre-competitive and cross-industry collaboration, Sophie shares pragmatic solutions for balancing short-term quarterly targets with decadal ambitions.