If you were the chief sustainability officer of a company, what would be your responsibilities?

Answers will vary. As the world has become more and more outspoken about the challenges of sustainability, companies have followed suit by putting their money where their mouths are, creating whole units to sustain their sustainability efforts. In many cases these efforts are being led by a chief sustainability officer (CSO).
What exactly does a CSO do? Does the job make a difference? Doubts about whether having a sustainability officer matters have been raised in the wake of disasters caused by companies that have appointed them. For example, in 2010 a company that drills offshore oil and operated the Deepwater Horizon rig was responsible for the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the industry.
The company that owned the rig had a sustainability officer who had not sufficiently addressed the issues that led to the disaster. Sometimes disasters occur regardless of what we do to stop them, but it later became apparent that this case could have been prevented.
In other cases, a CSO has brought measurable change. Kathrin Winkler, the CSO of EMC, a global information technology company, institutes sustainability requirements for every software and hardware product, including an energy-efficiency review before launch. To date, these changes have led to more energy-efficient products and increased savings for the company. But Winkler points out that what she does also affects the company's employees, making them more engaged: "People care about their legacy and want to know that their work makes a positive impact. They want to work for companies whose values align with their own."
The section "Sustaining Sustainability" on page 152 discusses the roles of a chief sustainability officer with examples. Students can use this section to make their own interpretation and answer this question.