As Canada’s leading integrated energy company, we know that, together with our stakeholders, we need to look beyond the energy needs of today and understand what is required for the future. Sustainability is about seeing the big picture and working together towards better, more sustainable solutions.
Martha Hall Findlay joined Suncor as chief sustainability officer in early 2020. In her role, Martha provides leadership in environmental and social performance, in supporting Suncor’s public policy, communications and government relations as well as deepening the company’s Indigenous and stakeholder relationships. With a fresh perspective on sustainability at Suncor, Martha discusses the challenges, what we are doing to continue – and enhance – our track record as a sustainability leader and what the future holds.
-
In 2020 Martha Hall Findlay joined Suncor as chief sustainability officer.
We asked what she has to say about sustainability at Suncor.
What do long-term solutions look like in action?
Martha Hall Findlay (00:08):
We need to talk about long-term solutions. We need to talk about the importance of Suncor being a big part of that solution, those solutions because let's be honest, Suncor is a really big greenhouse gas emitter. But because we are a big emitter, we are therefore perfectly poised to be a really big part of the solution.What will it take to meet long-term solutions? (00:32):
First, we need to be humble and we need to be honest. We need to understand where we are in terms of our environmental footprint, in terms of our greenhouse gas emissions. That's where we start and we go forward from there. It's going to take dedication. It's going to take hard work. It's going to take a culture of trust because listen, we're a big energy company, not everybody trusts us. We need to trust ourselves. We need to engender that trust externally. It will take collaboration with every order of government. It will take collaboration with other organizations. It will take collaboration with our supply chain. That's going to be very interesting because when you ask of your suppliers, traditionally, we want you to provide good quality, we want you to provide it cost effectively. We're now going to be saying, "And we also need you to be environmentally a part of the solution with us so what are your emissions? Where are you going with them?"What does energy transformation mean for Suncor? (01:30):
Energy transformation for Suncor, first and foremost, is to do what we already do really, really well, but we also know the world is changing. What does that look like? What do new energy sources look like? The beauty of Suncor is that we know this business. We know fuels, we know energy. And so as we look at what some of those other energy sources are, of course it includes renewables, we're in wind, but there are some really interesting things out there. But as an energy company, again, we're really well poised to be part of that transformation because we know this stuff.Why are you excited about Suncor’s future? (02:10):
The opportunity to come and work at Suncor, which is a fantastic company with amazing people, with really solid principles, with a fantastic purpose and a track record that isn't just, this is us and this is what we do, but by action and proof. And so my attitude is given the challenges that we're facing in terms of climate, that right now, at this time, in this company, in this country, I'm really, really excited about the opportunity that is with us all now here at Suncor.
