Pia Heidenmark Cook

Pia Heidenmark Cook is a globally recognised sustainability leader and keynote speaker who helps organisations turn climate ambition into concrete action. Best known as Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka IKEA Group, she led the development and delivery of the People and Planet Positive strategy which helped IKEA rank among the world’s most sustainable brands while decoupling growth from emissions. Today Pia combines board roles, senior advisory work and authorship, bringing boardroom level insight and real world case studies to every audience.

Pia’s commitment to sustainability began in academia, where she built a strong foundation in both business and environmental management. She holds an MSc in Business Administration and Economics, International Programme, from Uppsala University and a Technical Licentiate in Environmental Management and Policy from Lund University, alongside board training from INSEAD and the Swedish Board Academy. Early in her career she served as a Lecturer at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics at Lund University, teaching on the Masters in Environmental Management and Policy, before moving into applied work as an Environmental Consultant at Tellus Miljömanagement, helping industrial and municipal clients implement ISO 14001 and EMAS. These formative roles gave Pia a rare mix of academic depth and hands on implementation experience that still shapes her practical, accessible style on stage.

Pia’s corporate career gained momentum when she became Global Vice President Responsible Business at The Rezidor Hotel Group, where she created and embedded a full CSR programme across Radisson SAS Blu and Park Inn hotels in nearly 50 countries. She then stepped into a sector wide leadership role as Chairman of the International Tourism Partnership, working with major hotel brands on shared environmental standards. At IKEA she held a series of senior roles, including Head of Communications at The IKEA Foundation, Global Head of Sustainability IKEA Retail and Expansion, and finally Group Chief Sustainability Officer at Ingka IKEA Group, where she led a global team of sustainability professionals and integrated climate and circularity into strategy, investment and operations across 30 retail markets. Pia also acted as Co Chair of The Retailers’ Environmental Action Programme, engaging with European policy makers on the circular economy agenda. Today she enjoys a portfolio career as Non Executive Director at MAX Burgers, Board Advisor at Achilles Information Limited, former Non Executive Director at Bupa and Origin Materials, Chairperson of the Advisory Board at The DO Group and Senior Advisor to Eurazeo’s Planetary Boundaries Impact Fund and Teneo, while authoring the CSO handbook ‘Embedding Sustainability, How to drive organisational transformation’ and receiving honours such as Top 20 Sustainability Voice by CEO Magazine and the Global 50 Women in Sustainability Award.

Organisations book Pia because she understands the pressures of leadership and speaks the language of both the boardroom and the shop floor. She shows how sustainability can drive growth, resilience and talent attraction rather than sit as a side project, using practical examples from IKEA’s circular initiatives, renewable energy investments and low carbon product innovation. Pia covers topics such as corporate sustainability and ESG, climate and net zero strategy, circular business models, responsible leadership, gender and climate, and the opportunities and risks of AI for sustainability. Whether addressing a global conference, an executive offsite or an internal town hall, Pia gives audiences clear frameworks, concrete tools and credible stories that make change feel achievable, leaving leaders with a renewed sense of purpose and a roadmap for action.