City of Phoenix, Arizona Hires Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO): 5 Things to Know

The City of Phoenix, Arizona, has hired CPS Energy veteran Carla De La Chapa as chief sustainability officer. De La Chapa succeeds former CSO Mark Hartman, who has retired, according to his LinkedIn account.

Here are five things to know about the city's sustainability strategy, and De La Chapa's executive experience.

1. City Details: Phoenix is Arizona’s capitol and the fifth largest city in the United States, with more than 1.66 million residents, according to the World Population Review. The city employs more than 14,000 employees across 30 departments.

2. Sustainability Strategy: Rewind to 2011, and a booked dubbed Phoenix as the World's Least Sustainable City. Among the areas of concern: "Minimal rainfall, scorching heat, and an insatiable appetite for unrestrained growth and unrestricted property rights," according to author Andrew Ross.

Still, various government policy changes over the past decade were designed to counter many of the sustainability challenges. Fast forward to 2025, and the City of Phoenix Office of Sustainability is "dedicated to enhancing sustainability and resilience across the city and within municipal operations." The office has 2050 sustainability goals that span:

• Building and land use;
• air quality;
• local food systems;
• parks & preserves;
• waste management;
• water management and conservation; and
• transportation.

3. Data Transparency: Phoenix has an ESG Dashboard that provides information about the city's environmental, social and governance efforts. Key dashboard focus areas include:

• Environmental topics such as the carbon transition, waste reduction, physical climate, natural capitl and water management.
• Social topics such as demographics, labor and income, education, housing and access to basic services, and health and safety.
• Governance topics such as institutional structure, policy credibility and effectiveness, transparency and disclosure, and budget management.

4. Executive Experience: New Chief Sustainability Officer Carla De La Chapa previously was senior manager for climate and sustainability at CPS Energy of San Antonio, Texas. CPS, the nation's largest municipally owned energy company. De La Chapa's 17-year career at CPS also involved various environmental and energy conservation roles. CPS rebranded its annual sustainability report as a community impact report for 2023.

5. Executive Perspectives: In a prepared statement, De La Chapa said: “I'm thrilled to join the City of Phoenix. Phoenix is an incredible city, already a leader in sustainability, and I'm excited to help us become the most sustainable desert city in the world. My vision is to bring together community voices, local businesses and city departments to create practical solutions that make Phoenix a more livable, resilient and vibrant city while maintaining our economic vitality and quality of life.”

Added City Manager Jeff Barton: “Carla’s experience identifying and implementing carbon reduction strategies, driving metric-based sustainability objectives and building strong partnerships will help advance Phoenix toward our vision of being the most sustainable desert city on the planet."

Chief Sustainability Officers: Why Technology Partners Should Care

By 2027, 25% of Global 2000 companies will have assigned a chief sustainability officer (CSO) responsible for meeting their organization’s ESG goals and making ESG-related IT purchasing decisions, according to IDC.

Admittedly, we don't know if or how President Donald Trump's policies will pressure CSO roles in the United States. Regardless, we believe that technology partners need to extend their sales, marketing, engagement and support strategies to successfully fulfill CSO needs.