From climate week to action: The new operating model for sustainability

The conversations at Climate Week NYC kept coming back to two themes throughout Rebalance and Rebalance in Action:

1. How can teams find, manage, and protect budget as sustainability moves closer to finance?
2. And how will operating models change as AI scales and scope 3 moves from an abstract target to a near-term operational priority?

Join us for an interactive session where we take time to reflect on all that we heard in New York and how to take new ideas and partnerships forward. After a short framing discussion, we’ll split into two breakout groups focused on the topics that we saw surface the most.

1. Finding and protecting a durable budget

Sustainability teams are feeling more pressure to move from a cost center to a revenue-generating arm of the business — pressure that’s felt most keenly when budgets are up for review. In this breakout, we'll continue the discussion about how leaders build funding that survives budget cycles, leadership changes, and shifting priorities.

• How the sustainability business case needs to evolve to meet the changing needs of stakeholders like the CFO and board
• When, where, and how tools like an internal carbon price can create a durable budget while connecting sustainability to the core business
• Running procurement processes that hold up to scrutiny, delivering maximum impact within the same budget

Best for anyone writing the business case, defending the number, or building the process behind it.

2. Evolving operations and business models

AI is fundamentally changing the way we work, and teams are increasingly looking beyond their immediate operations to take bigger steps on scope 3 decarbonization. In this breakout, we'll continue the conversation on what changes when AI scales inside your workflows and progress depends on suppliers rather than your direct action.

• The evolving role of AI as we graduate from task- to workflow- and even organization-level automation
• How to execute on scope 3 ambition from  from suppliers reporting data to taking action
• Navigating the risks and tradeoffs on both fronts as control and daily tasks move beyond your immediate team's execution

Best for anyone rethinking how their program runs, who owns what, and where to place the next bet.

Take a look at both breakout topics and pick the one closest to what you are working on.

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