IBM names new Chief Sustainability Officer as Balta retires

IBM has named Christina Shim as its new Chief Sustainability Officer, replacing Wayne Balta who will retire on June 15 after 40 years driving transformation at the company.

Shim joined IBM at the end of 2021 to lead its sustainability software strategy, and brings 20 years of business, technology and impact experience. She also serves on IBM's AI Ethics Board and ESG Executive Steering Committee. She took on her new position on May 2.

Balta was appointed IBM’s Vice President of Corporate Environmental Affairs and Product Safety in the 1990s when the company began to report on its environmental performance, and later became its first Chief Sustainability Officer. 

As such, he is credited with being one of the first stewards of the tech giant’s sustainability commitments and progress: between 1990 to 2010, IBM saved 5.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity consumption and avoided more than 3.6 million tonnes of CO2.

IBM sustainability targets

Since then, the company has reduced operational GHG emissions by 68.5% against its 2010 baseline, achieving its 2025 goal two years early. IBM doesn’t have an SBTi-approved climate goal, but has established a target of net zero operational emissions (including Scope 1 and Scope 2 market-based)emissions, as well as Scope 3 emissions associated with its electricity consumption at third-party co-location data centres) by 2030.

To meet this goal, it plans to reduce these emissions to a maximum of 350,000 tonnes to be offset through removals “in an amount which equals or exceeds IBM’s residual emissions”. The footprint covered by the target was equivalent to 364,000 tonnes in 2023.

IBM’s new CSO to focus on nature and AI impact

With this change in sustainability governance, IBM opens a new page in its strategy, focusing more holistically on its potential impacts.

"IBM serves as client zero for many of the technologies it brings to market, leveraging our own solutions and innovations to make a lasting, positive impact through sustainability and in our business. From minimising climate-related risks to creating and implementing industry solutions that harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and hybrid cloud, we will create more pathways to better conserve natural resources and reduce environmental impact," said Shim, commenting on her new responsibilities as CSO.

"I'm thrilled to take on this new challenge and keep driving forward IBM's important environmental work leveraging the power of technology.”