Dhillon Centre Distinguished Fellow Dr. Carol Liao recognized by Canada’s Clean50 for contributions towards business sustainability

This past week marked the announcement that Dr. Carol Liao, Distinguished Fellow at UBC Sauder’s Peter P. Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics, has been recognized as part of Canada’s Clean50 for 2024, and has also been awarded the TELUS Community Service Award.

The Canada’s Clean50 Honour is awarded annually to 50 individual leaders and small teams who have contributed the most to enhancing sustainability and a clean economy in Canada over the prior two years. Winners are chosen from over 1,000 well qualified nominees spanning 16 distinct categories: Advocacy & ENGOs, Angels & Investors, Cities, Building, Clean Tech, Consultants, Education, Financial & Services, Manufacturing & Transportation, Primary Resources, Public Sector, R&D, Renewable and Traditional Energy Generation, Retail & Consumer, Technology & Telecom. Other notable recipients of this year’s Clean50 are Canada’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, and former Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson.

The TELUS Community Service Award recognizes the individual Clean50 honouree who has made the greatest contribution to their community outside of the workplace.

In addition to her Dhillon Centre role, Dr. Liao is an Associate Professor at Allard Law and Principal Co-Investigator of the Canada Climate Law Initiative, dedicated to advancing director knowledge on the latest in climate science and fiduciary obligation. Her research focuses on corporate law and sustainability, climate governance, gender and racial justice. An internationally respected and interdisciplinary scholar, Dr. Liao has delivered over 150 invited talks around the world on sustainable business and has been featured and cited over 100 times in various TV, radio and news media on corporate governance, ESG and equity issues.

"I am humbled to receive the TELUS Community Service Award and the Clean50 Award, particularly to be the third person from the Dhillon Centre to be recognized by Clean50 in educational leadership, which speaks to the breadth of the Centre's impact and our team's cutting-edge research and teaching to help advance a sustainable future and clean economy in Canada," says Dr. Liao.

Dr. Liao’s inclusion in the Clean50 marks the third time that the Clean50 has honoured a recipient with ties to UBC Sauder. Previous winners of the award have included Dhillon Centre for Business Ethics Executive Director Christie Stephenson in 2019, and UBC Sauder Senior Associate Dean, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Sustainability Dr. Katherine White in 2021.

“It’s tremendous – and not a surprise – that Carol has been recognized with this award among the many accolades she has received,” says Christie Stephenson. “It is such an honour for the Dhillon Centre to have the involvement of a thought leader of Carol’s caliber with the impact she has had on the academic and business community.”

Dr. Liao joined 130 past and incoming Clean50 Honourees at the 2023 “Clean50 Summit” in Toronto on September 28. Attendees spent a day amongst peers and colleagues tackling critical sustainability challenges facing Canada. These individuals collectively lead the fight against climate change and embrace a low carbon future, improve both corporate and environmental performance, and enhance Canada’s prosperity.

Canada’s Clean50 Awards were founded by Delta Management Group in June 2011. Delta Management Group is a boutique search firm with the leading practice in “green collar”/“green professionals” search in Canada, including clean tech, corporate social responsibility and sustainability professionals. 

The recognition as part of Canada’s Clean50 adds to Dr. Liao’s impressive list of honours within the fields of responsible business, diversity, and sustainability, which also includes recognition as a recipient of Business in Vancouver’s Influential Women in Business Award, the BCBusiness Women of the Year Award in the category of Equity and Inclusion Champion, and one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women.