Interview Series: Soline Guérineau

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This week’s read time: 5 minutes

Welcome to the Green Digest Interview Series, our bi-weekly feature showcasing conversations with the industry’s leading voices—CSOs, sustainability directors, and other senior professionals shaping the sustainability landscape. Each edition dives into their professional journeys, hands-on insights, and outlook on the challenges and opportunities defining corporate sustainability.

These interviews are designed to be quick, insightful reads, offering you actionable takeaways and a personal glimpse into the people leading the way. Stay tuned for stories, strategies, and lessons that matter to you.

The insights presented in the Green Digest Interview Series are brought to you by a partnership between Green Digest and The Sustainability Circle, the invite-only community empowering senior sustainability leaders through peer-to-peer professional development. Check if you qualify for membership here.

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PROFILE

This week’s guest:

Soline Guérineau

Head of Sustainability Strategy at ICIS

Soline Guérineau is a sustainability specialist who has served various leadership roles in analytics, media, and events businesses. Currently Head of Sustainability Strategy for ICIS, Soline is responsible for leading the current and future direction of ICIS’ sustainability data, analytics and insights strategy. ICIS (Independent Commodity Intelligence Services) is a global leader in independent data, analytics, and market intelligence for commodity markets, enabling smarter decisions and helping optimise the world’s resources.

Through her work at ICIS, Soline is committed to supporting energy and chemical value-chains on their transition to low emission, circular business models. During her last tenure, she piloted business transformation, commercial enablement, and content strategies for The Economist Group’s flagship Sustainability initiatives, including The Sustainability Project and the World Ocean Initiative.

Throughout her career, Soline has been driven by the power of leveraging data and insights to help customers turn ideas and innovation into action. A globally-minded, curious, and passionate senior executive, Soline brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with a commercial drive at heart. In her own time, Soline is a horse aficionado, an avid reader, and a travel enthusiast.

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You’ve built most of your career in media and market intelligence, navigating complex industries and global challenges. Was a sustainability role always something you were aiming for — or did it emerge naturally as your journey unfolded?

It all started with the ocean. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve had a deep connection to the sea. My first professional step into sustainability was through The Economist’s World Ocean Summit. I was energized by the opportunity to contribute to its success, and that experience lit a fire that would guide the trajectory of my career. Years later, I found myself leading The Economist Group’s sustainability initiatives at Economist Impact. That journey deepened my commitment to advancing sustainability through rigorous, independent data and world-class insights.

Which brings me to my current role as Head of Sustainability Strategy at ICIS. We are a data and analytics business and our commitment to optimizing the world’s resources is the foundation of everything we do. In this role, I’m focused on enabling the energy and chemical value chains to navigate their energy and circularity transition. And my work on recycled plastics indirectly takes me back to my passion for the ocean.

What are some of the biggest challenges clients face when moving toward low-emission and circular models and how does ICIS help them?

Our customers are decision-makers and influencers across the energy, chemicals, and plastics industries—industries that are foundational to modern societies. Chemicals are essential building blocks of our everyday life, from clean water and medicine to electronics and food production, they play a role in almost everything we touch and use.   

Yet the processes that power chemical production are energy intensive and heavily reliant on fossil-based feedstocks like oil and gas. This presents a significant challenge: how can market players reduce emissions, embrace circularity, and adopt low-carbon alternatives—without compromising performance, or economic viability?

At ICIS, we help our clients navigate this complex transition. Our extensive data and analytics—spanning recycled plastics, circular feedstocks, power and renewables, hydrogen, and carbon markets—provide the transparency and insight needed to make confident, sustainable decisions. Whether it's identifying circular opportunities or tracking the evolving green energy landscape, we’re committed to illuminating the path forward for a more sustainable future.

In today’s market dynamics, sustainability is increasingly tied to business value and return on investment. How do you build a sustainability strategy that drives measurable commercial impact?

A sustainability strategy that delivers real impact must be grounded in the economic reality of the markets you operate in. That means staying close to your customer needs and pain points, and bringing a fair, unbiased perspective - especially in a world where geopolitical shifts and evolving global trade rules are constantly reshaping the playing field.

Equally important is understanding the regulatory landscape. Policy is a critical demand driver for greener alternatives, and anticipating where regulation is heading helps you identify and size opportunities.

While driving internal excitement around green growth can be challenging, it’s also highly rewarding. The key is to report back consistently on progress, demonstrating how your sustainability strategy builds resilience and creates long-term value.

Looking ahead, what emerging trends or innovations in sustainability — whether in data, regulation, or industry practice — do you think will define the next five years?

We may soon reach defining moments as environmental tipping points arrive earlier than expected. Climate events are becoming more frequent and more devastating. The recent wildfires in Los Angeles are a stark reminder. At some point, the cost of inaction may outweigh the cost of action—and that realization could be a true turning point.

ICIS expects mechanical recycling of key plastics (PET, PE, and PP) to double by 2050 in North America, Northeast Asia, and Europe, rising from 8% to 16% of overall demand.

Another major shift on the horizon is the rise of AI and LLMs to enhance data-driven decision-making. At ICIS, we’re already seeing how AI tools can support chemical companies in optimizing their value chains—enabling smarter, faster decisions around complex trade-offs like balancing out profitability and decarbonization. Ultimately, and if powered sustainably, AI innovation could drive more intelligent resource use, helping industries do more with less in a world of growing constraints.

What have you learned about staying grounded and effective in the middle of rapid change, and what is one piece of advice for sustainability professionals?

Make your passion your co-pilot! Let it fuel you, but don’t let it burn you out. Channel that fire into step-by-step action. Let both your head and your heart have a say—take your impatience and turn it into a plan.

Sustainability in the corporate world can feel quite lonely at times. But you are not alone. Keep connecting with the Sustainability community. Swap stories, share struggles, and celebrate wins. That sense of connection, it will sustain you too.

Soline’s path, from an early connection to the ocean to her current role shaping sustainability strategy at a global data and market intelligence company, shows how personal values can meaningfully guide a professional journey. Her insights are a reminder that sustainability is both a strategic challenge and a human one, grounded in clear data, real-world impact, and shared responsibility.

We’ll be back in two weeks with more insights from those building a better future. 🟢

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