THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
Making the business case for sustainability At the top level, Christina focuses on ensuring board and executive buy-in – a task she considers essential.“ Aside from having strong programmes, you’ ve got to translate sustainability in a way that makes sense to business leaders,” she says.
When addressing the board, Christina speaks in the language of value creation and risk management.“ We talk about long-term value, risk mitigation, growth – but I also remind them these are programmes with heart,” she adds. That dual emphasis is deliberate.“ ESG isn’ t just numbers on a page,” Christina says.“ We humanise the data. A video showing how our plastic reduction makes a difference matters as much as a chart in a report.”
Governance and the road to 2026 Culligan’ s 2025 double materiality and climate risk assessments marked a turning point, providing data-driven insights into which environmental and social issues most affect the business – and which areas need change.
Now, Christina’ s team is embedding those findings into Culligan’ s global strategy.“ We’ re turning insight into action,” she says.“ Governance is our focus in 2026, ensuring our operations, reporting and compliance systems are integrated globally.”
Christina also emphasises the power of collaboration in this next phase.“ ESG can be lonely work,” she admits.“ Many practitioners are one of one – or one of three – in their companies. That’ s why I’ m passionate about building community. ESG isn’ t a zero-sum game. We all rise when we work together.”
Why language matters in ESG One of Christina’ s personal missions is to preserve clarity and meaning within the ESG field. She worries that the constant rebranding of ESG into newer buzzwords – impact, responsibility, sustainability – risks confusing stakeholders and diluting focus.
“ Renaming ESG programmes isn’ t helping,” she says.“ It’ s not the moment to retreat – it’ s the moment to dive deeper. We build authenticity by staying consistent.”
For Christina, terminology is more than semantics. It’ s about trust.“ Every time we change the language, we lose people,” she says.“ The industry already takes effort to explain – so keeping consistent terminology helps stakeholders understand our purpose.”
The power of purpose in practice Despite the challenges, Christina’ s motivation remains unwavering.“ I’ m most proud of how far our programmes have come,” she says.“ In just three years, we’ ve built something meaningful for employees and consumers alike.”
For her, every bottle refilled and every filter used represents more than product performance – it’ s a collective commitment to a cleaner, safer planet.
“ If you’ re looking for a company that helps you live more sustainably every day,” she says,“ then Culligan is that company.”
30 February 2026