Wells Fargo & Company announced it has appointed Robyn Luhning to the newly created role of Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), underscoring the bank’s commitment to enterprise sustainability, addressing climate change, and increasing focus on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters.
In her new role, Luhning is responsible for leading progress against the company’s enterprise climate initiatives and overseeing the Wells Fargo Institute for Sustainable Finance, which includes climate-aligned philanthropy, climate advocacy, and support for sustainable finance deployment and accounting. She also will have responsibility for the company’s ESG transparency and disclosure initiatives.
“Sustainability and addressing climate change are business imperatives at Wells Fargo and require a dedicated, elevated focus,” said Bill Daley, Vice Chairman of Public Affairs at Wells Fargo. “Robyn’s strong background in corporate responsibility, stakeholder engagement, and environmental and social risk management make her well-suited for this new position at the bank.”
Luhning began her career at Wells Fargo in 2011 as head of Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM), where she implemented the company’s first ESRM policy. She served most recently as interim head of Social Impact & Sustainability and before that as head of Strategy and Transformation within the Public Affairs division. Luhning holds a master’s degree in environmental management from Yale University.
In March of 2021, Wells Fargo set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, including client emissions attributable to its financing; committed to set targets for interim financed emission targets for the Oil & Gas and Power sectors by the end of 2022; and reset its sustainable finance commitment to $500 billion between 2021 and 2030. Wells Fargo has achieved carbon neutrality in its operations (scopes 1 and 2) since 2019, and has invested over $13.3 billion in clean energy projects across the country (between 2005 and 2021), making it a leading provider in the tax equity market.