Anna Turrell is the Global Chief Sustainability Officer at Mars Snacking. She previously served as Chief Sustainability Officer at Decathlon, Group Sustainability Director at Tesco, and Head of Sustainability at Nestlé. Across these roles, Anna has built deep expertise at the intersection of nature, sustainability, and business transformation in the food, beverage, and apparel sectors.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Anna sits down with Sebastian Leape, Chief Executive Officer at Natcap. Anna reflects on her early career and how she found her way into sustainability. They explore her view of sustainability as fundamentally a change management challenge, and why a deep understanding of the business is essential for sustainability leaders to drive real impact.
Three key takeaways from the conversation:
Sustainability is ultimately about change management. Effective sustainability leaders invest in strong, cross-functional relationships to embed sustainability into core business strategies rather than treating it as a standalone function.
Alignment with the business is critical. Sustainability teams must work hand in glove with commercial leaders and strategy teams to ensure sustainability goals support, and are supported by, broader business objectives.
Real-world events make nature risk tangible. External shocks, such as rising cocoa prices in recent years, are powerful in demonstrating the financial materiality of nature-related risks and accelerating action.