Senior legal director, APAC and India | Firmenich
Doris Chen
Senior legal director, APAC and India | Firmenich
Can you talk about you or your company’s efforts relating to renewability, sustainability or other environmentally- friendly activities?
We gave ambitious Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) targets for climate and nature, and for demonstrating the strength of our fundamental values. Our ESG strategy is at the heart of our growth, successfully providing sustainable solutions for our customers and achieving excellence through both our measurable sustainability performance and our record financial results.
Why are in-house lawyers well-placed to drive change in their organisations?
I strongly believe that in-house lawyers can play an important part in driving the strategy and changes in an organization. First, in-house lawyers, in particular general counsel, are normally part of the leadership team globally and regionally. Their voices will be heard by senior management through these platforms. Secondly, in-house lawyers are often passionate about environment and sustainability, and they can leverage their expertise into day-to-day transactions and initiatives to influence the culture.
It can be difficult to truly measure a company’s track record and accomplishments in terms of their environmentally friendly behaviour. What do you think has, until now, been mostly missed when discussing how green a company is?
Our company is probably an exception since we have won countless awards and recognitions in terms of our sustainability and environmental efforts. Personally, I believe it is important to record the data and track all the efforts which shall be done by dedicated sustainability responsible person in the organization. Just like our company has a chief sustainability officer. Clear ownership and responsibilities will help a lot.
Vice president legal APAC, China and India | dsm-firmenich