Driving Sustainability with Systems Thinking and Collaboration

Michael Weber, Senior Director Sustainability, Climate & Environment, Global Sustainability, Mondelēz International

Michael Weber has spent over two decades at Mondelēz International building expertise across Research, Engineering, Business Development, and Mergers and Acquisitions. Today, he leads Global Strategy on Climate, Environment, and Nature. His career reflects a rare end-to-end understanding of how products, supply chains, and sustainability must align to drive meaningful change for both business and society.

From R&D to Global Sustainability Leadership

I have been with Mondelēz International for about 23 years, and my journey has been anything but linear. I began in Research and Development (R&D), working in process and product development. Later, I moved into Engineering, where I gained experience in designing machinery and implementing projects on both regional and global scales. This was where I first started to connect technology with sustainability by looking for ways technical execution could support broader environmental goals.

My path then took me into Business Development, which bridged technical expertise and commercial strategy. Leading Engineering and Business Development across product categories gave me valuable insights, but I also had the opportunity to explore Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). In that role, I assessed companies’ supply chains end-to-end, including their sustainability capabilities, and gained a wider perspective on how sustainability is integrated.

Eventually, I transitioned fully into Sustainability. Today, I am responsible for building Mondelēz International’s roadmap on climate, environment, and nature. The varied experiences from R&D through Business Development and M&A provide me with a holistic lens. I can see sustainability not just as a set of environmental goals but as an interconnected system that touches product design, manufacturing, supply chains, and business growth.

Aligning Global Strategy with Local Action

When it comes to leadership style, I believe the key lies in balancing global frameworks with local realities. At Mondelēz, our approach starts by listening to stakeholders, both internal and external. From there, we define focus areas and build roadmaps that can be owned and executed at global, regional, or local levels depending on what makes the most sense.

I believe it is not about top-down directives, but about creating systems that are flexible, data-driven, and better aligned with the organization’s operational realities.

Scaling Solutions in Agriculture and Collaboration

Within Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) and Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), the biggest opportunities for accelerating climate and nature goals come from scaling Regenerative Agriculture and expanding Landscape Interventions. Like many in our sector, Mondelēz’s Scope 3 Carbon Footprint is mostly influenced by ingredients and agricultural commodities. Regenerative Practices are therefore important to help reduce emissions and improve resilience. Standards are still evolving, which brings additional challenges, but scaling these practices is key to continuing to make progress.

“Sustainability is not something we can deliver in isolation. It needs clear systems, strong data, and above all, collaboration across industries to scale meaningful change”

Beyond agriculture, I see Landscape-Level Approaches as key. These combine environmental and social priorities— whether biodiversity, human rights, or community well-being— into a single framework. I believe the intersection of nature and people cannot be separated if we aim to help create long-term systemic change.

Industry coalitions play an important role here. I serve on the respective steering committees within the Consumer Goods Forum’s Climate Transition Coalition and Forest Positive Coalition, and I have seen how collaboration helps amplify impact. By working together, companies can enhance expectations, share best practices, and help accelerate innovation. By coordinating our communication efforts, we can more effectively engage stakeholders, including NGOs, and communities, on environmental stewardship.

Joint accelerator programs are one example, as they help pilot and scale innovative solutions with startups far faster than single companies can achieve alone. I believe these collaborations do not just benefit a single organization; they help raise the bar for the entire sector.

Lessons for Leaders Driving Change

I believe that sustainability cannot be treated as a separate agenda. It has to be embedded in day-to-day supply chain decisions. One key practice for me is defining clear leading and lagging indicators. For instance, measuring the percentage of Deforestation-Free Sourcing acts as a leading indicator, while tracking carbon reduction provides lagging insights. Setting these metrics at the right organizational level enhances accountability and relevance.

Systems Integration is another key area, especially in the context of linking sustainability data with the datasets used for financial reporting. This enhances reporting and therefore also helps to further strengthen credibility. I believe that when financial and sustainability data align, sustainability becomes part of how companies operate rather than an afterthought.

For leaders working to embed sustainability while maintaining growth and efficiency, my advice is to share with internal stakeholders how to create business value and resilience with sustainability: some projects would deliver against both productivity and sustainability objectives; some other sustainability initiatives would help mitigate future business risks.

Equally important is knowing where to collaborate and where to go it alone. Some solutions can be developed internally, but others require partnerships to achieve scale. And finally, bring your Data and IT teams into the conversation from the beginning. Clean, reliable data is the foundation for tracking progress, building business cases, and reporting with confidence.

As I reflect on my journey, one belief has remained constant. Sustainability is not something we can deliver in isolation. It needs clear systems, strong data, and above all, collaboration across industries to scale meaningful change. This principle has guided my work, and I hope it will help guide our collective future.

Sustainability is not the responsibility of one department but of an entire organization and industry. Embedding it into systems, aligning global and local realities, and building partnerships beyond company walls are key to lasting impact. I believe leaders must treat sustainability as a driver of innovation and resilience, not a separate agenda, and accept that progress relies on collaboration, systems thinking, and a relentless focus on data.