As GC, I have seen branch-driven ideas reshape our environmental practices company-wide
The prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Doerr once quipped, “Ideas are easy. Execution is everything.” This maxim resonates deeply with our experience advancing sustainability across our organization.
In November 2022, I shared my reflections in Canadian Lawyer magazine on our progress two years after adopting our sustainability framework. These reflections stemmed from a presentation on ESG that I delivered at our global managers' meeting. Fast forward to November 2024, and I’ve just returned from giving a similar presentation to our current group of global managers. It seemed a fitting moment to take stock of our progress, reflect on what’s changed, and look ahead to the future in this rapidly evolving landscape.
In 2022, we were in the final stages of rolling out our sustainability framework company-wide. At that time, it was still a theoretical exercise, ensuring we had the key policies and committees in place and proper oversight responsibilities were mapped out and assigned at the board and senior management levels. While the term ESG had entered the mainstream in the corporate world among senior management and the board by then, it hadn’t yet thoroughly permeated deeper into the organizational ranks.
In late 2024, there’s a palpable sense that the rubber has hit the road. Our branch managers have moved from being primarily in listening mode in 2022 to actively coming to the table with new ideas and best practices to share with colleagues across our global operations. Many sustainability efforts and initiatives are now being developed at the branch level and then taken up across various parts of our company, rather than being developed mainly at the head office. For instance, our Canadian operations developed a technology that allows our drillers to remotely control water flow across long distances on an as-needed basis, significantly reducing water consumption.
Nowhere has this momentum been more evident than in the decarbonization space. As the largest drilling services provider to the mining sector, we’ve had a front-row seat to witness our industry evolve as it plays a central part in the green energy transition. Many of our mining clients have set ambitious decarbonization targets and are committing significant capital to achieve these goals.
As a drilling contractor to these mining clients, we see significant opportunities to partner with them and members of our supply chain to help meet these goals. This is not without its challenges, however. Much of our surface drilling fleet operates on diesel engines in highly remote locations (e.g., the Gobi Desert, at altitude in the Andes, and high up in the Canadian Arctic) – far from commercially viable alternative energy sources. While the green technologies available today to address these operational realities have evolved somewhat since 2022, there haven’t been significant advances.
One of the most inspiring (and admittedly humbling) experiences is sitting in on our newly established decarbonization action plan operations committee calls. Here, the ingenuity and technical expertise of our operations leaders in the field truly shine as they discuss mechanical and logistical challenges and troubleshooting techniques to help curb our carbon footprint.
A key challenge for our company is ensuring that our sustainability framework, initially adopted in 2020, remains fit for purpose. This framework comprises four key pillars:
i) our ESG policy and supporting policies
ii) our global ESG committee
iii) our communications and reporting strategy
iv) board oversight
This framework must adjust to support the shift in our reality: where our field operations are now in the driver’s seat, and the head office’s role is to guide and support these teams on their path. This involves regular policy reviews, continuous engagement with field leaders to understand their needs, and providing the necessary resources, tools and training. By doing so, we can balance centralized oversight with decentralized execution – the model that underpins our approach across all business lines in our nineteen countries of operation.
Another significant challenge lies in navigating the shifting sands of the broader landscape and understanding the potential implications that can ripple out to the local level. For example, the term ESG has become a flashpoint for politicization and polarization in recent years, adding complexity to our communications efforts. More consequentially, the spectre of trade wars and actual conflicts loom, with potential fallout that can reverberate through our operations. In our hyper-connected world, these dynamics have become ever-present in the collective consciousness, creating wide-ranging impacts that we must continuously adapt to and manage.
Reflecting on our trajectory, I am inspired by our progress and our teams' dedication. However, I am also acutely aware of the long, challenging road ahead. We must strive to attract and retain more women in field and leadership positions, further minimize our carbon footprint and water consumption, and effectively navigate an increasingly complex and polarized world. Our success hinges on our ability to adapt and innovate in this challenging operating environment.
John Doerr said execution is everything. Our commitment to sustainability will not be measured by our ideas but by our ability to turn them into effective action.
