James York

Group Corporate Responsibility & Security Director at Costain

Speaker

Since joining Costain as a civil engineer, James has performed a variety of sustainability and corporate roles, and since 2019 has held the position of Group corporate responsibility and security director.

James is responsible for leading ESG at Costain, and in 2023 shaped the engineering company’s ESG programme following the completion of a double materiality assessment. Regulatory reporting is a core part of James’s responsibilities, discharged through Costain’s Annual report and accounts, Supplementary ESG report, Modern slavery statement and Pay gap report.

Since 2021 James has led Costain’s approach to achieving TCFD compliance, integrating the requirements into BAU functions and systems. This project has helped to inform Costain’s business planning and risk management, resulting in increased awareness of the business's material ESG risks and opportunities.

James is currently leading an internal project in preparation for the UK adoption of the ISSB standards, ensuring Costain has a robust system for data management.