Previous article
COP26 and Global Impact Day: Meet Janina Nakladal, Director of Sustainability at Celonis.
Janina Nakladal, Director of Sustainability at Celonis, is probably one of the busiest Celonauts this week. On the one hand, we are at the equinox of COP26 and on the other, our first Global Impact Day is happening right now!
I had the chance to chat with Janina to get a closer look at her work and the agenda for this week.
Many people frame COP26 as the world’s best chance to get climate change under control, I learned this in the first minute of my conversation with Janina.
“COP26 is the United Nations climate change conference, it lasts two weeks and takes place this year in Glasgow. The conference gathers global leaders from the private and public sector, and of course society“
What are the main topics on the table?
“The negotiations need to ensure that all stakeholders accomplish the Paris agreement, especially the 1.5-degree goal in temperature rise and figuring out how we actually hold businesses, politics, and countries accountable towards it”.
The latest news would suggest that prospects are not optimistic about the climate discussions and output - some countries didn’t even participate.
However, when it comes to Janina, she said that “there is a lot to be optimistic about, but we need to evaluate COP26 and what it delivered when it's over. We need to make sure that this is the final wake-up call.”
Sometimes it is hard to imagine concrete measures that really drive change.
“Firstly, businesses all over the world are carbon emitters, they have to reduce where they can and do their part. And politics and the public sector have to step in and put up the framework, regulations, and standards. It is not about competition anymore.
In the end, climate change affects everyone, and it doesn’t matter who you are or where you work. And unfortunately, the ones who are most affected are the ones who don’t have a voice at the table at the moment or are not taken seriously”, explains Janina.
We all know that it takes one drop to start a waterfall; what exactly are we doing at Celonis towards this purpose?
“At Celonis, one of our core values is “Earth is our future. We work towards our purpose of unlocking the world’s processes to not only make companies more efficient but to make business execution more sustainable.
We are covering all kinds of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) topics. We keep our house in order: we do our carbon accounting, we are keeping an ambitious goal of being carbon neutral by the end of this year and then getting on a net-zero trajectory.
Meanwhile, we are working towards increasing our diversity, being an inclusive employer, making sure that our policies are in order and that we act with integrity and these are just a few examples. And finally, we are having lots of employees engage with projects such as the Global Impact Day that is running at the moment".
The first time that I heard about Impact Day, I was tremendously excited and curious at the same time.
Janina describes it as a fascinating concept that will occur three days every year where all the Celonauts can work on impactful projects that bring our values to life.
In Janina's words: “every Celonaut is a leader and has the desire to make a difference, create a legacy, and build a better future. It is something that really unites us at Celonis. We’ve found that sustainability is a shared passion and wanted to give each Celonaut the freedom and opportunity to choose how to invest their time most impactfully.”
"The first Impact Day is today, November 5th, and Celonauts are currently driving projects, in person or virtually all over the world. We have Celonauts cleaning up beaches or cities, helping in food banks, engaging in training with children, going to schools, running hackathons to bring innovative solutions to students and partners, and more. We are engaging with the communities we live in, expanding the project beyond Celonis, and at the end of the day, we will have achieved so much with actions and not just words”, highlights Janina.
I can’t wait to tell you more about it, and I will very soon, I promise. But right now, I need to head to my sister’s school, where I will run my activity for Impact Day.
To be continued.
More blog posts on Employee Blog
