Geneva, 14 October 2020 – The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) today announced the election of five new members to its Executive Committee for a two-year mandate during its Annual General Meeting.
WBCSD’s Executive Committee is responsible for supervising the strategy and monitoring the effectiveness of operations, controls and governance of WBCSD.
The new WBCSD Executive Committee members are:
- Dominic Blakemore, Group CEO, Compass Group PLC
- Annica Bresky, President and CEO, Stora Enso
- Piyush Gupta, CEO, DBS Bank
- Geraldine Matchett, Co-CEO & Member of the Managing Board, DSM
- Takahito Tokita, President and CEO, Fujitsu Ltd
Six serving members of the Executive Committee were re-elected for another two-year period:
- Magdi Batato, Executive Vice President, Head of Operations at Nestlé
- Andrea Alvares, Chief Brand, Innovation, International and Sustainability Officer and Member of the Executive Committee, Natura
- Svein-Tore Holsether, President and CEO, Yara
- Harry Brekelmans, Projects & Technology Director, Shell
- Andreas Fibig, Chairman & CEO, IFF
- Remi Eriksen, Group President and CEO, DNV GL
In addition, Ana Botín (Executive Chairman, Banco Santander), Keryn James (CEO, ERM), Alan Jope (CEO, Unilever) and Ilham Kadri (CEO, Solvay) were appointed as Vice Chairs while Sunny Verghese (Co-Founder and Group CEO, Olam International) remains Chair until the end of his mandate on 31 December 2021.
In order to strengthen the diversity of backgrounds and experience represented in WBCSD’s ExCo, the Committee’s Charter was updated to allow for up to 23 members to be appointed, up from 18 in the past and 22 last year. The appointment was enacted by a vote from members at the 2020 Annual General Meeting of WBCSD, held online today. Their term will begin on 1 January 2021 for a duration of two years.
Peter Bakker, WBCSD’s President and CEO said: “It’s an honor to welcome our new colleagues to the Executive Committee. Their broad, impressive and varied international business experience will undoubtedly be of added value to WBCSD. Their insights, advice and guidance can only help further WBCSD’s mission, vision and strategy during these uncertain times. Their know-how across various industries will be valuable in helping WBCSD and our members navigate the COVID-19 crisis and add renewed impetus to our key objective of accelerating the just transition to a sustainable world.”
The new appointees replace Tatsuya Tanaka, Chairman, Fujitsu Marketing Ltd; Tony Townes-Whitley, President, US Regulated Industries, Microsoft; and Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, Chairman, ENGIE, who are stepping down at the end of their mandates.
“On behalf of the Council, I would like to warmly thank Tatsuya Tanaka, Toni Townes-Whitley and Jean-Pierre Clamadieu for their time, input and leadership”, added Bakker during the AGM.
More information
- Ongoing WBCSD ExCo members include:
- Yaofeng Cao, Board Director of Sinopec Corp Vice President, China Petrochemical Corporation
- João Castello Branco, Chairman, The Navigator Company
- Wiebe Draijer, Chairman of the Managing Board, Rabobank
- Nadir Godrej, CEO of Godrej Industries
- Jan Jenisch, CEO of LafargeHolcim
- Peter Oosterveer, CEO, Arcadis
- Takeshi Uchiyamada, Chairman of the Board, Toyota Motor Corporation
- The full composition of the WBCSD Executive Committee 2021-2022 is available here
