Redefining sustainability
John O’Brien's Story
John’s mission to drive step change drive step change across the value chain
John O’Brien is Deloitte’s Global Lead for Climate Governance and Decarbonization in the Mining and Metals sector. With over 30 years of experience in sustainability-related investments, he is driving sustainable transformation and advising clients on thriving in a low carbon economy.
About Deloitte
Deloitte is a global leader in professional services, offering industry-leading audit, consulting, tax, and advisory services to the world’s most admired brands. With a network spanning more than 150 countries and territories, Deloitte is dedicated to making an impact that matters for clients, people, and society.
Sector: Professional services
Employees: 457,000
Geography: Headquartered in London, with offices worldwide
Website: www.deloitte.com
Challenges
faced
John first joined Deloitte back in 2018 – with a mission to inspire change on a larger scale than possible in his boutique agency at the time. However, he soon found that the road to change was not an easy one.
One of John’s biggest challenges was overcoming the natural resistance to step change. In a world accustomed to incremental change, the idea of transformative, long-term transformation seemed overwhelming. Many people worried the task was too big, or simply someone else’s responsibility. Additionally, wavering government support for a low-emissions economy had not helped his mission.
John also noticed that the traditional narrative around climate change was predominantly negative, acting as a barrier rather than a bridge. To truly drive change, he needed to find an effective way to communicate about sustainability in a way that inspired people to drive change.
John had to convince his clients and organization that having sustainability was not only important but a shared responsibility – one that was also good for business and could only be addressed across their entire value chain.
He needed to find a way to get companies to look beyond their scope of impact – of managing internal emissions, complying with new standards, and ensuring data accuracy – to foster collaboration with partners along the value chain.
Actions
taken
John is a trailblazer at Deloitte, driving transformation for both the company and its clients.
His strategy is anchored in building strong partnerships to create change across the entire value chain, by bringing together leaders from different areas to work on big problems that go beyond their own businesses.
John also reframes sustainability as a business opportunity, underscoring its significance in strategic decision-making. John is deeply invested in creating solutions that show his clients what ‘good’ looks like to help them with their decision process.
John also places a high priority on hiring the right people, who harness a deep understanding of business and technology solutions and are passionate about making a difference.
Equipping his employees with knowledge is another key element of his mission. To make sure that all employees have a minimum level of know-how, he conducts in-house trainings and showcases success stories to help everyone relate. This way, an expert team can support with specialist insights, but sustainability in general is treated as business as usual.
Resonance
of impact
John’s approach has inspired significant change, not just within Deloitte, but across the industry.
His strategic partnerships have brought together leaders from various sectors to tackle significant challenges, extending beyond their individual businesses under two key initiatives: the Climate Leaders Coalition, a collective of around 50 CEOs from major Australian corporations, all committed to making a substantial impact; and the Climate Governance program, a global initiative in partnership with the World Economic Forum that fosters a sustainability mindset among influential board directors around the world.
John also pioneered innovative solutions to help his customers make better-informed decisions, and see the real-time impact of their initiatives. One key innovation was Deloitte’s GreenLight Solution, a decarbonization data tool that leverages diverse data libraries and cloud AI technologies to enable its teams globally to deliver rapid insights, accelerating enterprise-level emission reduction planning for maximum impact.
He also spearheaded Deloitte Carbon Forests, an economic solution to sourcing carbon credits through purchasing and replanting land with native forests in collaboration with local and traditional communities and high biodiversity rehabilitation goals.
In the future, John hopes to embed sustainability in every project Deloitte does, making a key consideration as part of delivering a good service to all clients.
What John found useful during his ESG journey
Reporting initiatives such as CSRD. These start the conversation at companies with a burning platform and then enable a broader conversation beyond compliance and about company strategy and how to benefit from the changing regulatory and economic environment.