IEMA to drive the future of global sustainability body

IEMA confirms it is set to acquire the Global Association of Corporate Sustainability Officers (GACSO)

Taking the lead from its members’ ambition that it widens its focus to include a global perspective on sustainability, the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment (IEMA) has announced today (3 March 2014) that it is to acquire GACSO.

GACSO is a community of corporate professionals who “live and breathe sustainable development”. The founding group of GACSO members has been seeking to bond with an established environmental body to provide necessary resource, traction and drive to stimulate its membership growth and influence.

The founders have been impressed by the strength of IEMA’s membership and its “passion and enthusiasm”. As a result, IEMA will take over the operation and development of GACSO from April 2014.

IEMA will incorporate GACSO's membership, which includes individuals working in sustainability roles for some of the world’s best-known brands such as Coca Cola, KPMG and HSBC, into its existing membership of 15,100.

Speaking about the growth of the IEMA group, its chief executive Tim Balcon, said: “This is a really important and exciting move, both for IEMA and GACSO members, who will soon be a united force. IEMA will prove to be a natural home for those working at the strategic end of sustainability and I guarantee that it will enhance IEMA’s network of senior professionals."

GACSO co-founder Dr Alan Knight, said: “Our board are unanimous in their view that IEMA can and will offer the best mix of preserving the identity and ‘one world’ ethos of GACSO, the strong knowledge-sharing heritage we have developed, while allowing for the most rapid evolution to a professional membership model for corporate sustainability practitioners”.

In response to Knight’s acknowledgement of IEMA’s dedication, Balcon said: “I’d like to thank the team at GACSO who have dedicated their time and energy into establishing this genuinely pioneering community, and for their enthusiasm about GACSO’s future under IEMA’s leadership.

"I see massive potential for the future of GACSO as a membership and as a brand, and I guarantee that it will benefit from being powered by IEMA at a time when organisations around the globe are finally switching on to the intrinsic value of environment and sustainability professionals.”