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Good Business

Steve Siravo 鈥�13 works with big business at the intersection of accounting and climate change.

Steve Siravo at Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts.

Steve Siravo 鈥�13 lives just five minutes from bucolic Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts鈥攈ome to Henry David Thoreau, a pioneer of the conservation movement. For Siravo, a 溏心vlog免费B站 College of Business alum, this iconic natural setting symbolizes his work as a corporate sustainability leader.

鈥淏usinesses can and should enhance society and the environment,鈥� says Siravo, who also holds a master鈥檚 in accounting from Northeastern University. For most of his career, he鈥檚 been a consultant for Fortune 500 companies鈥攆rom UPS, Dow Chemical, the World Bank Group, Tyson Foods, and Dick鈥檚 Sporting Goods, among others. Siravo鈥檚 clients seek his expertise on best practices in target-setting, reduction planning, and regulatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions.

Sara Cronenwett, senior vice president for corporate environmental sustainability at Comcast, recognizes the significance of Siravo’s work. 鈥淪teve combines deep knowledge of greenhouse gas emissions reporting with a collaborative style. Our work benefited greatly from his openness, curiosity, and willingness to engage in thoughtful debate,鈥� says Cronenwett.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a common saying in my field: 鈥榊ou cannot manage what you do not measure.鈥� Quantifying environmental impact is the essential starting point for any mean-ingful climate action,鈥� says Siravo.

Siravo started his career as a financial accountant, working at PwC and Deloitte. He then worked on the greenhouse gas protocol team at the World Resources Institute, a global environmental think tank that writes the most widely used standards for calculating corporate emissions. Now, as a senior expert with Sustainability Roundtable Inc., Siravo works with sustainability teams responsible for corporate environmental, social, and governance data and reporting.

Although the concept of 鈥渃orporate social responsibility鈥� has its roots in the mid-20th century, Siravo says corporate sustainability is evolving. In the last few years, he says, 鈥渢he tide has shifted from every company proclaiming to be green to companies need-ing to prove it.

Measurements are meticulous and far-reaching under a three-scope greenhouse gas protocol. Scope 1 holds companies accountable for gases emitted directly into the air from vehicles, machines, and boilers. Scope 2 measures purchased electricity used, for example, for heating and cooling, from all operations a company controls. And Scope 3 tallies supply chain emissions鈥攊ncluding upstream emissions from the production and shipping of goods, and downstream through product use, trans-port, and waste.

With political headwinds blowing, the U.S. Climate Alliance鈥攁 net-zero-focused group of 24 state governors鈥攈as announced an ongoing commitment to the Paris Agreement goals for climate change. In several U.S. states, in the EU, and in a growing number of countries, large companies will be required to publicly report their green-house gas emissions and get them audited.

But fragmented participation begs the question: can selective efforts solve a global problem? Siravo is optimistic but realistic. 鈥淐limate change is an urgent threat,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ut there are exciting new developments: growing deployment of renewable energy and green technologies coming to market in heavy-emitting industries such as transport, steel, cement, chemicals, and agriculture, as well as carbon removals. I hope in 10 years these products will scale to be the more obvious choices.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 strong climate leadership out there鈥攃orporate leaders who are excited about emerging, creative ways to build their businesses,鈥� he adds.

鈥淚鈥檝e found my passion,鈥� says Siravo. 鈥淚 work with companies and like-minded people who care deeply. I guess I鈥檝e always considered myself a Thoreauvian at heart.鈥�

鈥擪aren Carlo Ruhren

Photo: Seth Jacobson