Chief Financial Officer as Sustainability Leader

When Scott Roe, CFO at global apparel and footewear company VF Corporation made front pages of fashion journals this week it wasn’t to talk about ‘usual suspect’ financial results.

Rather, it was to deliver game-changing news: VF has now fully allocated the c €500M green bond proceeds from its February 2020 issuance, funding 13 projects in VF's ‘Made for Change’ sustainability strategy.

When VF closed its €500M offering last year, it did so as an industry first. At the centre of the concept was CFO Scott Roe.

- The bond offer demonstrated one of VF's many progressive initiatives underway. They saddle both environmental and social #esg dimensions and reflect why VF appear (for fifth consecutive year) in Ethisphere Institute’s 2021 “World’s Most Ethical Companies” list.

- The bond offer also illustrated the instrumental #leadership role CFOs can play in a company’s transition to #sustainability.

In a company’s #sustainabledevelopment activity, much focus is on the CEO and Supply Chain, Strategy and Communications Officers. The CFO is often perceived as blocker rather than ally of change.

CFO Scott Roe reflects a very different image.

What role is your CFO playing in driving change? Should there be more? And how can you impact that?