Environmental Sustainability: How to align personal convictions with company values

In a world where environmental sustainability casts an ever-growing shadow on public debates, some people have taken up the task to try and make things right. In this column, Guillaume Turri-Werth - Co-lead of the Green Community and Staff Software Development Engineer at Criteo - speaks from the heart, explaining how he is still learning to navigate the delicate terrain of personal convictions and professional commitments. 

"I still remember what the trigger was for me. A few years back, I came across an alarming article about climate change and its social, economic, and environmental backlash. And though my involvement has continued to evolve, I'd say this was the first slap in the face. It was the first time I realized how perilous the path we were heading towards truly was. I remember something shifted inside of me and, from here on out, I have strived to live out my convictions and personal values.  

Before action, there is awareness. I believe being curious and documenting yourself is essential if you want to grasp all the complexity of what is happening here. Climate change, carbon footprint, greenhouse gas, plastic, air contamination, and impact on social justice; The reality is plural, and we don't always know what means what. And, if we don't understand the concepts, what can we tackle in the end? In my experience, many of us get confused and we sometimes fail to make the information circulate among us. When dealing with such complex topics, it's easy to be blinded by outrage and act without being able to get all the ins and outs first; This explains why some activists may appear to be fighting each other. I have always felt that meeting people with a different vision and approach is key. I believe it is crucial to hold a safe space where people, involved or not, can gather and feel free to share their opinions and voice their challenges without being judged. We must support each other rather than point fingers.   

Many say the problem comes from capitalism. Yet, historically, other production-driven economies and industrial philosophies have harmed the environment too. So perhaps, it is not about capitalism as an economic model strictly speaking, but about how consumerism has taken over our cultural behaviors. We need to ask ourselves why we find joy and a sense of accomplishment in possessing and accumulating consumer goods we usually don’t need...  

I wish more people realized that adopting a low-carbon way of life does not have to be a burden but can be an opportunity to have a joyful and meaningful life. Sure, I'm also guilty: before I became more aware of such topics, I also took the plane more than once to spend a long weekend abroad. Several years ago, I committed to no longer travel by plane though - except perhaps in case of a humanitarian crisis. It turned into a real opportunity to discover much more enjoyable ways to spend my holidays, like taking a regional train to spend a few days riding a bike or hiking with friends in the countryside.

Of course, changing your way of life can be seen as a big step but I don’t think it is necessarily the case if it happens progressively. For me, a bigger step was to align 100% of my convictions with work requirements. I'm afraid I won't say anything new here; Environmental sustainability cannot happen if we rely on isolated actions only. We need a structural shift to balance the individual and the collective. And we must combine bottom-up and top-down approaches to make it happen. People should be involved in the transition, yes, but they can't carry it alone. Of course, working at Criteo and pushing advertising has raised many ethical questions for me. When you leave the personal sphere behind and start tackling the professional one, you’re often on to a bigger challenge. It is hard because you want to make a better impact, but you don't always know how or where to start within your company. I know environmental sustainability now stands among the top 7 priorities of the company, but when it is a major priority for you, of course, it is never enough. You always feel we can do more because we can.

Someone once asked me what I would change if I had a magical wand, and I think I'd love it if we could use our cutting-edge technology to support and promote low-carbon products and organizations. Of course, I know such a shift takes time to prepare and must be well thought of, and assessed with caution, economically speaking. But we are experts in spreading the word here at Criteo, right? And I can't help but wonder how great it would be to use our knowledge to support more sustainable projects, goods, and industries, so we can truly build a better future for everyone."