FIVE MINUTES WITH ...
Rachael Everard
HEAD OF SUSTAINABILITY ROLLS-ROYCE
Everard is in charge of driving sustainability across Rolls Royce global engineering remit as it develops solutions to meet widespread sustainability challenges
Q . TELL US ABOUT YOUR ROLE AT ROLLS-ROYCE
» I ' ve been at Rolls-Royce for about nine years now , working in the sustainability team for about six of those and then in my current role for the last three . Wow ! Time flies !
My role is Head of Sustainability for the Rolls-Royce Group . I have global remit and responsibility for helping the business to understand what sustainability is and how to respond to increasing pressures – internally and externally – around social , ethical and environmental factors , and really help guide the business and its leadership to make a more sustainable decision . That ' s in-line with those increasing expectations , whether that ' s stakeholder demand regulation or just shifting general mood around various topics .
Q . WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR JOB ?
» It is different every day . Everything is different . I also feel like I am contributing to something really positive in the world that potentially could have a small impact or even a really big impact , but either way it feels positive .
Q . DO YOU SEE ROLLS-ROYCE ’ S SUSTAINABILITY TEAM AS EARLY ENTRANTS IN THIS SPACE ?
» I think Rolls-Royce has probably been uniquely placed because we ' ve always been motivated to reduce or improve our environmental performance to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions . Historically , that ' s because , for an airline , all of their operating costs are driven by the cost of fuel . If you can reduce the amount of fuel you need to use in an engine , you reduce their operating costs substantially – about 30 % of an airlines ’ costs are all on the fuel that they consume . So we ' ve always been driven to pursue those technology improvements , which is almost accidental .
Q . WHAT DOES SUSTAINABILITY MEAN TO ROLLS-ROYCE ?
» Sustainability is about balancing the needs of the business with the needs of the system in which we operate . Ultimately , for us , that ' s about driving to net-zero carbon . We are a business with a relatively large CO2 footprint , just given the nature of the products and services that we ' ve provided that have traditionally been fuelled entirely by fossil fuels . But we ' re at this really exciting point in that journey where we ' ve made some really bold commitments .
We ' ve said we want to be net-zero carbon by 2050 , which , for an organisation of our complexity , size and impact , is a
20 August 2022