The Future Is Green: Lucy Eaglesfield Of Eaglesfield ESG On Their Top Strategies for a Cleaner Planet
An Interview With Wanda Malhotra
Knowledge is power — The more people know about the environmental impact of their actions, the greater our ability to make the right choices. We should educate ourselves and others. There are loads of free resources and training materials from reputable organisations out there. Businesses and government could do more to advance our collective awareness of the core issues.
As we face an unprecedented environmental crisis, the need for sustainable solutions has never been more urgent. This series seeks to spotlight the innovative minds and passionate advocates who are leading the charge in environmental conservation and sustainable practices. We aim to explore the most effective strategies, breakthrough technologies, and transformative policies that are shaping a more sustainable future for our planet. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Lucy Eaglesfield.
Lucy is Director of UK sustainability firm, Eaglesfield ESG, and has more than 15 years of experience in environmental management. She has led sustainability efforts for global organisations, such as CBRE and PPHE Hotel Group, delivering practical strategies to improve responsible business practices. ESG is a broad area, so creating the most impact was achieved with her boutique cross-functional and specialised ESG consultancy Eaglesfield ESG, founded in 2020.
Thank you so much for joining us! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’?
Despite a very rural upbringing on the North Devon coast, human impact was all around me: from over development to the pollution of my local beaches. I began volunteering as a marine conservationist in my summer holidays before deciding to study a combined Masters in Environmental Sciences.
I joined the professional world as an Environmental Consultant for a global engineering consultancy, leading strategic environmental assessments on billion-pound projects. I then moved into non-profits, sustainability communications and policy roles. By then, ESG was becoming a must for businesses and I held several in-house ESG roles.
When Covid hit in 2020, I was working in the hospitality sector. Suddenly, 45 hotels I was working with closed overnight, and thousands of staff were laid off without furlough. Not ideal at three months pregnant!
I could foresee the vast sustainability gap facing companies, particularly in managing their ESG programmes so I took matters into my own hands and started my own consultancy. Four years later, it was the best decision I ever made. Our cross-functional team has gone from strength to strength, creating practical ESG strategies for major companies and helping them to integrate effective sustainability programmes into their operations.
Can you share with us the most interesting story from your career? Can you tell us what lessons or ‘takeaways’ you learned from that?
My biggest lessons have come from the blunt conversations that happen in boardrooms when challenging outmoded norms. This can include issues such as climate change, diversity, as well as suggestions that stray into greenwashing.
A lack of understanding, or budget constraints can be a barrier to any programme, so a business case on the value of the impact of any environmental and social initiative must have a proven cost-benefit in terms that those in the boardroom will gravitate towards. I find I have the biggest success when a compelling business case is coupled with practical solutions. In fact, practicality is my watchword. You have to show people the path from a lofty business objective to a reality where progress can be made quickly and easily.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
Firstly, have a clear mission. Without this clear narrative, it’s hard to talk about what you are going to do or how to measure its impact. With a clear direction, you can prioritise where your organisation can make the most impact. I’m often brought into a business where ESG has previously been reactive and ad-hoc in order to focus direction — the results can be huge.
Secondly, like I said, practicality is my watchword. It’s all very well saying “cut your carbon emissions”, but what does that actually mean in your organisation? Identify what you want to happen and create a call to action so others can see how they can contribute.
Lastly, be a doer. Roll your sleeves up, get it done and don’t stop until it is! It can take perseverance — you might have to talk to 20 people to make a small change, but you can make anything happen if you try hard enough.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that might help people?
Most clients want to advance their net-zero goals, building maturity into their greenhouse gas emissions measurement processes, launching carbon reduction initiatives, reporting transparently to stakeholders and evidencing it through initiatives like the SBTi (Science Based Targets).
Several clients are also focused on their people: training staff on sustainability issues, improving wellness and working conditions, aiming for better representation throughout the organisation and developing community strategies to add real value. For example, volunteering, pro bono support and funding community initiatives.
Once a robust sustainability strategy and mission is in place, focused on an organisation’s most material topics, we can get to work on the execution of that strategy, which is where the real reward comes. This is what I love the most — engaging employees and showing them the way to take action.
We often work with businesses across the whole field from strategy set up through to implementation when they are ready to bring in a permanent ESG position, it’s inspiring to see progress in front of our eyes. As part of the process, we also advise companies on the most appropriate governance structures.
Ok, thank you for all that. Now let’s shift to the main focus of our interview. What pivotal moment led you to dedicate your career to sustainability, and how has that shaped your approach to environmental challenges?
I grew up in Woolacombe, UK, where the beach is often voted amongst the best in the world and it has just been declared a World Surfing Reserve. But what people don’t realise is that early in the morning, before everyone arrives, tractors scoop up tons of microplastics and rubbish off the beach. During lockdown, you could see a thick, coloured line of plastic granules stretching for miles. Thousands of broken body boards are cleaned up each year. I knew I wanted to do something that could make a real difference, and I found that I could do this working to change the way businesses operate day-to-day, right from the source of the problem. For example, in the hotel industry, I worked with procurement teams to phase-out of single use bottles saving millions of tons of plastic each year.
How do you navigate the balance between economic growth and environmental preservation in your sustainability strategies?
Start at the beginning: Identify the most material issues which will often be areas where inaction will have financial repercussions, or where there is a financial opportunity.
We can help tease out this knowledge and weave into the wider business strategy. For example, corporate risk management processes should include ESG-related risks (such as the climate-related financial risks reported in TCFD disclosures), or there will be known supply-chain incentives from B2B customers who are looking to achieve their own net-zero targets.
Usually, sustainability is ultimately driven by the market that the company operates within.
I have been working with the UK’s leading buy-to-let provider with a huge pipeline of accommodation growth. Their ambition is to create more sustainable real estate with a lower carbon footprint and sustainability criteria, which will become a major market differentiator. Cost is always going to be a crunch point, but demonstrating how environmental sustainability aligns with growth ambitions is key. My client’s vision was to create the world’s best rental experience, and this linked to providing healthy living accommodation. Fast forward, and the business is now a real leader in its class, holding the most 3-star Fitwell accreditations globally. We have put in place comprehensive building design standards and goals to tackle their future challenges too.
What emerging technologies or innovations do you believe hold the most promise for advancing sustainability and why?
Behaviour change is the biggest lever we can all pull to reduce and reverse human impact. Our best chance is to reduce the psychological distance between the actions we take and the impact we have through education and engagement, including advances in edtech and training, better labelling, supply chain tracking, or even experiential.
It doesn’t have to be revolutionary or cost the world to make a significant change. Working with a London NHS Trust, I was tasked with reducing energy costs through behaviour change. We created a campaign called ‘Operation TLC’. The campaign involved turning off equipment when it was not being used, switching off lights, and closing doors. It linked these energy-saving actions to greater patient wellbeing, safety, comfort and dignity. By concentrating less on the energy message and more on the provision of care, the campaign won the support of staff, saved over £100,000 and the equivalent of 800 tons of CO2 in its first year. The project won the prestigious Ashden Award for behaviour change and was published in the Journal of Business Science and Applied Management.
Based on your research or experience, can you please share your “5 Top Strategies for a Cleaner Planet”?
1 . Transparency — Honesty is key to embedding sustainability into the business ecosystem. The most forward-thinking businesses report on their failures as well as their successes. This makes a company more relatable and trustworthy. Greenwashing is rife, so transparent reporting aligned to rigorous international standards should be the default (evident from the trend towards increased regulation).
2 . Knowledge is power — The more people know about the environmental impact of their actions, the greater our ability to make the right choices. We should educate ourselves and others. There are loads of free resources and training materials from reputable organisations out there. Businesses and government could do more to advance our collective awareness of the core issues.
3 . Circle of influence We can all look at what we can do in our communities or at work — you can make more difference than you may think. It could be something as simple as volunteering your skills for a charity or event, whether you are a photographer or marketing manager — charities really need your special skills. Join a local group and find out what skills they are looking for.
3 . Tenacity. Persistence pays off. Businesses respond to pressure from stakeholders (and if you are a customer, or an employee, then you are a stakeholder too). If you don’t ask you don’t get. Sometimes a sustainable action may have simply been overlooked or lost in layers of accountability, and change could just require someone to identify the solution or act as an internal champion.
4 . Sum it up — Every choice makes a small difference. We can all do better, and it all adds up. Cut your meat intake, turn off unused equipment, turn your washing machine temperature down. There is loads you can do at home and it can even save hundreds of pounds (and tons of emissions).
In your view, what are the key steps individuals, communities, and governments need to take to achieve a more sustainable future?
Keep asking questions, keep pushing, be practical. Good businesses listen and respond to pressure, whether it’s from employees, investors or legislation.
What is the best way for our readers to continue to follow your work online?
If you are interested in taking sustainability to the next level, sign up to our ESG for business introduction course — basics in ESG for your business with step-by-step practical help on how you can champion sustainability in your business and your role.
Find out more about Eaglesfield’s ESG consultancy services online, or for more tips on sustainability in business, follow me on LinkedIn.
This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent on this. We wish you only continued success.
About the Interviewer: Wanda Malhotra is a wellness entrepreneur, lifestyle journalist, and the CEO of Crunchy Mama Box, a mission-driven platform promoting conscious living. CMB empowers individuals with educational resources and vetted products to help them make informed choices. Passionate about social causes like environmental preservation and animal welfare, Wanda writes about clean beauty, wellness, nutrition, social impact and sustainability, simplifying wellness with curated resources. Join Wanda and the Crunchy Mama Box community in embracing a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle at CrunchyMamaBox.com.
The Future Is Green: Lucy Eaglesfield Of Eaglesfield ESG On Their Top Strategies for a Cleaner… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.