Co-creating Climate Justice Interventions between Business and Communities

January 17, 2024

Lizzie Russler

Associate, Climate Change, BSR

Lizzie Russler

Associate, Climate Change, BSR

San Francisco

Lizzie supports BSR’s climate and sustainability work across industries with a primary focus on climate change, climate justice, and collaboration. She has also supported BSR’s Collaborative Initiatives portfolio, facilitating the development and implementation of impactful multi-stakeholder solutions that tackle systemic challenges to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Prior to joining BSR, Lizzie worked at Sephora on its social impact and sustainability teams. Lizzie has also accrued a range of relevant experience from work with the US Mission to the EU; with Reconsidered, an environmental and social impact consultancy; and with Hope of Children and Women NGO in Uganda, an initiative that equips refugees with marketable skills through job training programs and entrepreneurial initiatives.

Lizzie holds a BA in Contemporary European Studies and Sustainability Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is fluent in English and German and is proficient in French and Swiss German.
Anine Bundgård

Manager, Climate Change, BSR

Anine Bundgård

Manager, Climate Change, BSR

Copenhagen

Anine works with BSR member companies across industries on sustainability management with a focus on the intersection of climate change and people, namely climate justice, just transition, and climate and human rights. She supports this work through one-on-one advisory engagement with companies, through facilitation of cross-sector collaborative initiatives like Transform to Net Zero, and through grant-funded resource development.

Prior to joining BSR, Anine worked at Operate A/S, a Danish consulting company, specializing in stakeholder analysis, stakeholder mapping, and stakeholder engagement.

Anine holds a MSc in Business and Development Studies from Copenhagen Business School with a focus on sustainable development and cross-sector collaboration. She also holds a BSc in Business, Language, and Culture, also from Copenhagen Business School.
Melissa Do

Former Manager, Climate Change, BSR
Eileen Gallagher

Director, Climate Change, BSR

Eileen Gallagher

Director, Climate Change, BSR

Hong Kong

With nearly 20 years of experience, Eileen works with multinational companies to address climate change. She specializes in improving business strategy to consider how climate change and its solutions affect society, the environment, and the economy.

Eileen directs BSR’s advisory and grant-funded work where climate intersects with human rights and equity, inclusion, and justice. She also supports companies with climate risk and scenario analysis, emissions reduction targets, and net-zero roadmaps. Eileen is BSR’s climate lead in the Asia-Pacific region, where she analyzed how climate change affects vulnerable nations, its people, and global supply chains.

Prior to joining BSR in 2017, Eileen served as a sustainability consultant, supporting companies on sustainability strategy development, strategic stakeholder engagement, and environmental management. While working at a public policy organization, she gained experience in international development, climate policy analysis, and effective communications.

Eileen holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut.

While businesses are starting to consider the ways in which climate change and climate solutions disproportionately affect people and communities, there are few examples of how the private sector is working with affected stakeholders and little guidance on how to co-create climate justice interventions with affected communities. Co-creation, in the context of climate justice, centers affected communities in identifying challenges and developing solutions to address systemic injustices and advance equitable social, environmental, and climate outcomes.

The issue brief shows business practitioners how to implement climate justice interventions by using a process of co-creation with affected stakeholders. By incorporating a co-creation process in business activities related to climate action, businesses can enable more effective and efficient climate solutions that holistically address interconnected, systemic issues. This issue brief builds a foundational understanding of co-creation with communities in the context of climate justice, specifically what it is, why it is important, and how companies can integrate co-creation into their approach to address climate change. Insights and discussions fostered during BSR-facilitated workshops and collaborative initiatives informed this report. BSR acknowledges 7-Eleven International for their generous support to create this issue brief.

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