About

Ralph Thurm is a leading professional in sustainability strategies, operational sustainability, sustainability reporting and assurance as well as behavioral change for sustainability . With more than 20 years experience working for major corporates, industry federations, governments and NGOs all over the world, Ralph adds value as a consultant, trainer, moderator, facilitator or writer on a huge variety of sustainability topics. This blog is a structured collection of Ralph’s thoughts about where we come from and what we can learn from the past in order to get to a sustainable future.

Ralph’s interest in sustainability started during his time at university in Nuremburg, Germany, where he studied business administration, with a specific focus on accounting, strategy and banking between 1988 and 1992. It was the time when the first aspects of ethical and moral issues in business were addressed in German universities. Ralph got excited by businbess ethics, thanks to Prof. Horst Steinmann, who tought strategy and ethics and was one of the pioneers in this area. It was also the time of the first global summit on the future of planet earth, Rio de Janeiro, 1992. Since then Ralph’s career path always kept sustainability in its focus:

01/1994 – 06/1995: In-house consultancy for Siemens environmental protection department in Erlangen, Germany
07/1995 – 11/2000: Member of the Siemens Corporate Offices Environmental Protection and Technical Safety in Munich, Germany
12/2000 – 04/2002: Head of Siemens ”Sustainability Strategy Council”  in Munich, Germany
05/2002 – 09/2002: Consultancy for the German Federation of Industries (BDI) for the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa
10/2002 – 07/2004: Senior Associate Business Engagement at GRI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
08/2004 – 07/2007: Chief Operating Officer at GRI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
08/2007 – 06/2008: Associate Director Business Engagement and Development at GRI, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
07/2008 – 11/2010: Director Sustainability Strategies at Deloitte Accountants .V., Amsterdam, The Netherlands
12/2010 – now: Director Sustainability Strategies & Innovation at Deloitte Innovation B.V., Rotterdam, The Netherlands

As part of his engagement for sustainability Ralph has the honor to serve important networks that drive sustainable change. He is a member of the Global Compact Steering Committee of the Netherlands, a member of the Advisory Board of the Global Compact Yearbook, Head of the Judges of the Arabia CSR Awards and member of the Expert Panel of the Katerva Challenge.

Ralph speaks fluent German (mother tongue), English and Dutch. He enjoys living in The Netherlands with his family, has become a big fan of AZ Alkmaar (soccer), and loves rock music (rock and sustainability often have one thing in common – they revolt against the status quo, stereotypes and mental cocooning).