SOPHIE BECKHAM
THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
Is the day of the Chief Sustainability Officer over? According to Sophie Beckham, the answer is a resounding no.“ Sustainability leadership is more important now than ever,” she believes.“ We’ re in a dynamic environment geopolitically and, for many of us, internally. If we continue to provide pragmatic solutions that enable business value, we will be successful.
“ This isn’ t a moment to back away – it is an opportunity to be practical and focused on aligning sustainability with business objectives.”
As Chief Sustainability Officer at fibre-based packaging company International Paper( IP), she is responsible for the sustainability of IP and its products. Founded in New York in 1898, the company follows a customer-centric approach that is reflected in Sophie’ s work.
The evolution of the Chief Sustainability Officer role The seat of the CSO often used to be held by a sustainability specialist who ensured compliance – mostly voluntary, sometimes regulatory. Fast forward to today and, while the CSO role is continually evolving, an organisation’ s sustainability lead must do far more than comply.
Sophie’ s work focuses not just on how the company can reduce its environmental impact, support suppliers in value chain decarbonisation or engage the community, but how her work can drive real business value.
SOPHIE BECKHAM
TITLE: CSO COMPANY: INTERNATIONAL PAPER INDUSTRY: PACKAGING
HEADQUARTERS: MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, US
Over the course of her career of more than 20 years, Sophie has navigated sustainability leadership in global manufacturing and retail sectors in transformational leadership roles across supply chain, corporate affairs, finance and sustainability departments. She holds a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of the Environment.
24 June 2026