Strategic impact insights

The new growth architect

The role of the Chief Revenue / Commercial Officer in energy, industrial & transport decarbonisation

Summary

As the decarbonisation imperative accelerates, industrial and transport sectors face both regulatory pressure and market disruption. The Chief Revenue/Commercial Officers (CRO/CCOs) are emerging as pivotal leaders in their respective organisations: they are no longer simply responsible for delivering on the revenue targets, but also for being the architects of the profitable green growth. At Theia Hub we’ve worked with decarbonisation front-runners across the energy, industrial and transport sectors on commercializing and spearheading decarbonization projects, products and services while also redesigning growth engineroom for their evolving CRO/CCO roles and commercial teams, framed by our Green Strategy-to-Sell™ model. We’ve come to see how this evolution unlocks competitive advantage, innovation, and measurable emissions reduction in tandem.

Expanding mandate of the CRO/CCO in decarbonisation

Traditionally focused on sales performance, go-to-market execution, and customer success, CRO/CCOs are now called to lead growth aligned with decarbonization strategies of the businesses they operate in. In practice this could mean:

Embedding sustainability into revenue models by building commercial growth around products, services and pricing strategies that deliver both economic and impact value – often helping customers meet their own net-zero goals.
Aligning product portfolios with net-zero or decarbonisation market demand.
Driving profitable commercialisation of green innovations.
Building ecosystem partnerships for scale-up readiness in decarbonisation.

Example: DHL Germany has expanded its fleet with biomethane-powered Iveco bio-CNG trucks to reduce carbon emissions and support sustainable logistics. The company is driving this initiative by aligning their revenue growth with decarbonisation through strategic investment in renewable fuels. (Iveco Press Release, 2024)

Applying the green Strategy-to-Sell™ framework

Our Green Strategy-to-Sell™ framework provides a roadmap for aligning commercial execution with green transformation goals. The CRO/CCO is central to driving green growth success, with responsibilities across 3 key dimensions:

1. Market activation: turning policy into pipeline

Transform relevant climate policy, ESG regulation, and business’ net-zero targets into value propositions.
Identify and quantify current and emerging low-carbon demand across the key customer segments.

2. Offer innovation: commercialising green solutions

Shape offerings that deliver on both performance and emissions reduction.
Monetise sustainability attributes (e.g., carbon intensity, circular economy, energy efficiency etc.).

3. Frontline alignment: enabling the last mile in commercial implementation

Frontline sales alignment: enabling the last mile in commercial implementation.
Set organisational KPIs that reflect dual performance: both in terms of revenue growth and positive sustainability impact.

Example: Vestas has incorporated carbon abatement value into its customer engagement toolkit, enabling its sales teams to speak directly to customers’ scope 3 goals (Vestas Annual Report, 2023).

CRO/CCO as a sustainability leader

The CRO/CCO role is constantly evolving to adapt to the new market realities and in most regions around the world it is also changing into being an orchestrator of translating sustainability strategy implementation into advanced commercial performance, requiring them to excel at:

Sustainability fluency: understanding carbon accounting, climate finance, and ESG ratings along with the core business value proposition in the sustainability domains that the company operates in.
Portfolio influence: collaborating with product, R&D, and sustainability leaders across all business lines and geographies.
Partnerships builder: co-developing solutions with technology, energy, and supply chain partners externally and internally.

Insight: McKinsey research shared that industrial companies that link ESG targets to commercial incentives grow up to 10% faster than peers (McKinsey & Company, 2024).

Organizing for green revenue growth

To embed decarbonisation into revenue operations, CROs/CCOs could choose to:

Redesign incentive models to include sustainability-aligned metrics.
Create green revenue playbooks across segments and solutions.
Align their commercial excellence tools and processes (analytics etc) to track green pipeline, win rates, and customer impact.

Example: Enel X has implemented a Green Commercial Performance Dashboard used by their sales leaders to track contributions to emissions reductions and revenue targets (Enel X, 2023).

CRO/CCO as the strategic change agent

In the next few years, a vast number of CROs/CCOs globally will:

Be at the core of board-level sustainability strategy discussions.
Oversee dedicated green growth or decarbonization revenue divisions.
Drive M&A targeting green product and capability acquisition.

Successful decarbonisation of the energy, transport and industrial sectors strongly depends on those who can connect vision to execution. Well-equipped, empowered and supported CROs/CCOs are uniquely positioned to do just that. Along with the normal sales and profit KPIs and OKRs, the CROs/CCOs are already expected to leverage the following capabilities within their organisations:

Capability

Description

Strategic Vision

Ability to align revenue generation with long-term impact goals, ensuring business growth while minimizing climate or social impact.

Cross-functional leadership

Leading and integrating diverse teams across sales, marketing, product development, CSR and sustainability departments to achieve unified objectives.

Data-driven decision making

Utilizing all-around analytics to assess environmental and social impact, customer preferences, and market trends to inform revenue strategies.

Customer-centric approach

Understanding and anticipating customer needs related to sustainability and social impact, and tailoring offerings to meet these demands.

Regulatory knowledge

Staying informed about environmental regulations and ensuring compliance while identifying opportunities for innovation within these frameworks.

Innovation management

Leading the development and commercialization of sustainable products and services that meet market demands and contribute to environmental and social goals.

Stakeholder engagement

Building and managing relationships with investors, customers and partners that able to support and scale decarbonisation initiatives.

Conclusion

The decarbonization of industry and transport is not just a technical or an ESG-team led transition - it’s also a commercial engine and an evolution of the sales, business development, marketing and other revenue focussed teams. CROs/CCOs who lead these teams and who are at the same time able to turn sustainability into a lever for profitable growth are the true orhestrators of the green transition. The Green Strategy-to-Sell™ model offers a framework to guide organisations through the change and transformation required in their commercial domains and aids the CROs/CCOs in supporting their commercial sustainability leadership.

Get in touch with us to assess your readiness to lead commercially in the green transition to a new paradigm, where a CRO/CCO who in addition to a growth builder is also a commercial sustainability leader.

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