Geneva Claesson

While studying for an anthropology degree, Geneva discovered her true calling was helping to solve problems with how societies and companies interact with the environment.

“I originally intended to become an archaeologist after spending my teens around dinosaur bones excavated by my stepfather's company at the time, Canada Fossils.”

But a class called Humans and our impact on the environment triggered a lightbulb moment. “I thought, ‘I can't dig in the desert and study history! I need to look forward and help solve the problems we create.’ ”

There was no such thing as a degree in sustainability back then, so Geneva had to create one. “I felt such a passion for this topic, so I pieced together a mix of courses, from human ecology, economics, and public policy to urban design and waste management.”

“While studying, I became the campus sustainability director, allowing me to solve campus sustainability issues by implementing ideas for food security, accessible transportation, and energy efficiency.”

“After graduation, I found a master's program in Sweden for Strategic Leadership for Sustainability. With little more than an intuition that I was on the right path, I packed up my life and relocated there for a year.”

Geneva returned to Canada with more than her master's degree. “I met a Swede, my future husband, who came back with me and immediately fell in love with the prairie skies and the Rocky Mountains.”

From there, Geneva started work at a think tank on natural capital public policy but soon realized it wasn't a good fit. She started consulting with energy companies, helping them shape sustainability ambitions and plans.

Knowing that Geneva's true passion was working with others to develop solutions, it was her fiancé who showed her an advertisement for a job at Deloitte.

“The timing was perfect. Deloitte was scaling up its risk advisory and business transformation solutions and tailoring them toward corporate responsibility and sustainability.

“I've been in this space for more than 20 years and despite the fluctuations and challenges, my passion hasn't waned. The 2008 financial crisis was a major setback to growing our sustainability practice, but the momentum swing over the past few years, especially after the release of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), has been nothing short of inspiring.”

Another motivation is Geneva's son. He will be 18 in 2030, when the world will need to have halved emissions to avoid the worst effects of climate change. “I want to tell him, ‘I did everything I could. I didn't sit by.’ ”

Her third source of inspiration is a concept made famous by best-selling author James Clear, who wrote: “If you get one percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you're done.”

People use this approach to effect personal change, but Geneva believes it has a role to play in tackling the immense net-zero challenge.

“How do we change mindsets and people's daily behaviours to reach our climate goals? The power of small, continuous improvements can enable substantive change at the individual, community, and organizational level.”

“The field of sustainability is constantly evolving and it's critical for me to stay abreast of the changes so I can bring relevant and credible insights to my clients. I am a voracious reader and spend much of my downtime reading articles and listening to podcasts covering developments in technology, policy, and sustainability accounting standards, as well as the human and organizational dimensions of change like governance, change management, and culture.”

Geneva recently completed the Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP) certification in Sustainability and Climate Risk to enhance her strategy, risk, and scenario-analysis skills.

“By understanding what's happening and updating my knowledge, I can feel confident in supporting my teams to bring the right solutions to address climate change and the challenges we face with nature and biodiversity loss.”

Elsewhere, Geneva likes to learn about restoring our relationship with the land from Robin Wall Kimmerer and Ernest Callenbach, climate finance reform from Mark Carney, and resolving the conflict between economics and environmental preservation from Dr. Herman Daly. She is inspired by the recent advancements to align climate and nature-positive goals, leading Deloitte Canada's team at the December 2022 UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) in Montreal. “This is full circle for me—linking my passion for contributing meaningfully to environmental and climate challenges.”

Asked about career highlights in tackling climate change and natural capital loss, Geneva exclaimed, “There are literally thousands!”.

When pushed, she talked about helping a North American energy company with carbon-intensive assets make emissions reduction a strategic priority. “It meant significant changes to their operating model and reallocations to green assets. Still, we lifted the energy transition to the top of their agenda by calculating the substantial carbon liability of inaction and the potential for revenue opportunities.”

Geneva sees climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, sustainability, and achieving a just transition as “wicked” problems because of their complexity, high uncertainty, and different potential solutions that only trans-disciplinary teams can help solve.

"Geneva's team supports clients as they transform along their net-zero and nature-positive journeys.

“By helping measure their organization's impacts and dependencies on the environment, including GHG emissions, quantifying transition and physical risks and opportunities, and developing credible plans and reports, we ensure our clients have a solid foundation to continuously improve over time.”

“By redesigning operating models and business processes, we help break down functional silos and improve collaboration between teams not accustomed to working together; this allows us to help clients effect change across their organization and broader value chains.”

“It's not enough for organizations to set a net-zero and nature-positive strategy. We can help them deliver on it by improving and adapting their plans, from governance models, technology integration, and business process improvement to change management and beyond.”

“There's movement on advancing sustainability, creating nature-positive organizations, and tackling climate change in every sector. Organizations must recognize that the ingredients to succeed are already there; they just have to get started. It's going to be disruptive and interesting. It will not be perfect, but I think reaching net-zero and nature-positive goals is possible. We need to stay focused on what we are trying to create together: a sustainable future for everyone.”