What are the key projects that you have been involved in over the past 12 months?

I have led initiatives to advance ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) knowledge and compliance across Haleon, delivering measurable impact through innovation, collaboration, and leadership.

On innovative carbon pricing project, we developed Haleon’s pioneering carbon pricing strategy for evaluating supplier tenders. This provides a commercial incentive for suppliers to decarbonise by ensuring that a product or service with lower emissions has a competitive advantage against alternatives by applying a price per tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2e) to the carbon footprint of a supplier’s product or service.

To strengthen human rights controls, we enhanced them through the roll-out of an updated Human Rights Programme, including improved contractual clauses and codes as well as enhanced due diligence, training, audit processes, and remediation protocols, all backed up by data to track implementation.

We also promoted sustainability standardisation for product claims by launching a set of sustainability product claim standards, introducing a consistent approach to sustainable product claims across all Haleon markets, and delivered targeted training to embed these standards across functions.

Regarding reporting firsts, we published Haleon’s first Responsible Business Report to showcase Haleon’s significant ESG achievements since demerging from GSK in 2022, as well as highlighting its commitments to decarbonisation by publishing its first Climate Action Transition Plan.

We also developed and launched ESG knowledge platforms and established a dedicated ESG and Sustainability intranet site, centralising resources for Legal and Compliance colleagues, and created an active Teams channel that delivers timely ESG legal updates to stakeholders. These platforms have become essential tools, with regular engagement and widespread utilisation.

Finally, we empowered and engaged the legal and compliance community in ESG Issues through ongoing education. We initiated and hosted bi-monthly ESG update calls for the legal and compliance department, each focused on a unique and current topic. These sessions, averaging 50 participants, foster knowledge-sharing, while providing a forum for Q&A and peer updates.

How can general counsel foster a corporate culture that supports ESG principles and compliance across all levels of the organisation?

General counsel can foster an ESG-focused culture by embedding ESG into governance, risk, and compliance frameworks; aligning executive incentives with ESG goals; and ensuring clear, consistent and ongoing communication from leadership on the importance of ESG as well as our achievements. GCs should integrate ESG into contracts, policies, and training; encourage a speak-up culture; and also leverage data tools to monitor ESG performance to strengthen accountability and engagement across the organisation.

What measures has your company taken to incorporate sustainability practices into its core business operations, and how can general counsel contribute to driving such initiatives within the organisation?

Haleon has embedded sustainability into its core operations through ambitious climate targets, ethical supply chain practices, and strong governance structures. Initiatives include introducing carbon pricing in procurement tenders; a sustainability impact assessment tool, which enables R&D to evaluate innovations to understand how their environmental impact compares to previous products; and including ESG targets among the KPIs tracked quarterly by our business units. Lawyers play a key role by embedding ESG in contracts, advising governance bodies, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting disclosures. GCs also shape policies, manage risk, and train colleagues on ethical and sustainable practices, making them essential drivers of Haleon’s responsible business agenda.