ESCP Business School believes that business education must take responsibility for creating a sustainable, carbon-neutral, and more equitable economy and society. In line with that vision, ESCP has created a new Sustainability Advisory Council, bringing together 13 inspiring leaders from diverse backgrounds, including climate science, activism, public policy, finance, tech, civil society, and international development.
First announced in April 2025 at the ChangeNOW climate summit held in Paris, the goals of the Council include:
● Shaping the future of business and society: Through targeted discussions, events or dialogues, we aim to explore pressing questions like embedding sustainability in business education, reengineering current social and economic systems, or mobilising younger generations toward sustainable practices.
● Ensuring accountability and impact: Providing external oversight on ESCP’s sustainability strategy, ensuring alignment with long-term objectives, and driving measurable change.
● Creating a powerful platform for collective action: Collaborating on publications, thought pieces, and strategic initiatives, amplifying sustainability efforts in education, research, and industry.
“Our goals with this Council are two-fold: Ensuring control and accountability of our strategy actions as well as fostering creativity, innovation and, ultimately, impact. With the Council, we will harness the full breadth of environmental and social sustainability, benefiting enormously from these diverse, outside perspectives,” says Prof. Gorgi Krlev, Associate Dean of Sustainability at ESCP Business School.
“To have an outside view for a business school on what sustainability means—what it means for business, what it means in practice—really helps the quality of education,” says Hans Stegeman, Member of the ESCP Advisory Council & Chief Economist at Triodos Bank.
“I think it’s a bold move for a business school to open up to people who are not business oriented, nor academic oriented,” says Nisreen Elsaim, Member of the ESCP Advisory Council and Former Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change. “It’s getting more and more common right now to have people from totally different backgrounds because you can never see the bigger picture until you speak with people who see the picture from a different angle.”
Full list of council members:
● Sheree Atcheson: Valtech Group Senior Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion
● Gunther Beger: Managing Director of the Directorate for SDG Innovation and Economic Transformation, UN Industrial Development Organization
● Nisreen Elsaim: Former Chair of the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change
● Nicolas Froissard: Director, Sauvegarde de l’Adolescence à Paris
● Sophie Graham: IFS Chief Sustainability Officer
● Tatjana Kiel: CEO, Klitschko Ventures & We Are All Ukrainians
● Romain Mouton: Founder and President, Le Cercle de Giverny
● Emmanuel Normant: Vice President Sustainable Development, Saint-Gobain
● Daniel Nowack: Head of Social Innovation, World Economic Forum
● Hans Stegeman: Chief Economist, Triodos Bank
● Alison Taylor: Professor, NYU Stern School of Business, & author of Higher Ground
● Éliane Ubalijoro: CEO, Centre for Intern, Forestry Research
● Diana Ürge-Vorsatz: Vice Chair, IPCC
● Presided by Gorgi Krlev: Associate Dean and Professor of Sustainability at ESCP Business School